Tech Watch | InfoWorld Staff » Firefox 2.0 released a day early

October 23, 2006 | Comments: (0)

Firefox 2.0 released a day early

TAGS: Browsers

updated | Mozilla has now officially released Firefox 2.0 following the company's backdoor release a day early.

Mozilla confirmed to me Tuesday that this post's original link (above) was to the actual final version, after saying yesterday: "Mozilla does not guarantee that any set of files currently found within its Web site or elsewhere will be the final release."

The chief concern with pointing directly to the download was that someone hosting the mirror may get stung with excess bandwidth charges, highlighting Mozilla's grassroots methods.

Well, at least no one was stung with malware. With Microsoft's release of IE7 last week, a Trojan-loaded site spoofed the release a day early.

I spoke with Mozilla today about is global launch party, and Flock about its "better browser" and will post on this separately...

You might ask, what does a crop circle, space balloon, sidewalk chalk and a NY Times ad have in common? They highlight the long lists of wacky events Firefox fans have organized to celebrate major milestones for the Firefox browser. To celebrate the release of Firefox 2, Firefox fans are being equipped with the tools to plan launch parties around the globe at www.firefoxparty.com. There are currently over 375 parties playing host to approximately 3300 Firefox fans who will be celebrating the launch of Firefox 2 this week. Enthusiasts as far south as Antarctica and as far north as Norway have registered thus far and the attendee list is still growing. You can check out a map detailing the party locations in real-time at the Web site.

But InfoWorld's Kevin Railsback ferreted out the back-door soft-launch to get the party started.

Not to be mistaken for the usual weight put on a 2.0 such as Web 2.0, this latest version of Firefox adds some handy features, but don't expect anything earth shattering.

The real message here with Firefox 2.0 coming out just days after Microsoft released IE7 is that the browser wars seem back on, which hopefully means some new features will add some genuinely new life to browsers.

A day early? Hopefully Mozilla dotted its Is and crossed its Ts, to avoid the bad news Microsoft got when holes were thought to have been found in IE7 within 24 hours of its release.

Microsoft says the bug is not in the browser but Outlook Express, its e-mail client. Finer points...

Back to the state of browsers: OK, so IE7 now has tabs -- finally. And Firefox has added a nifty new feature that recovers pages and data from the browser following a crash.

A PR guy for the social web browser firm Flock e-mailed to point out how the two leaders are "really about incremental changes to an outdated model." He said browsers had been stagnant for 10 years.

Flock's focus: "The Web's evolution from a passive to a fluid, participatory medium ... [Marking] the change in Web user behavior and experience -- from just 'looking' at the Web to 'making' the Web."

Very true, and little is reflected in IE7 or Firefox 2.0, but I will update after talking through some of this with Mozilla tomorrow, so check back then.

If you have questions for the Mozilla or IE teams, leave them with us below and we'll see if we can get an answers or roadmaps. I'll also set up a chat with Flock so they can have their say as to why their browser is it.

Posted by Mike Barton on October 23, 2006 03:48 PM

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