Firefox 3 Ready To Set Browser World On Fire

The Mozilla Foundation, which distributes the open source Firefox Web browser, has reportedly set June 17 as the official release day for Firefox 3, the third version of the popular browser Firefox which has been under development for the past 34 months.

With the release of its new Firefox 3 browser which is based on the Gecko 1.9 Web rendering platform, Mozilla hopes to give a huge challenge to Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer, whose next version won't come to market until later this year.

Mozilla, which currently has some 18 per cent of the global browser market, hopes the release of Firefox 3 will strengthen its position in the surging browser market.

According to the most recent Net Applications survey, Firefox currently accounts for about 15% to 18% of Web visits globally, followed by Safari with 6.2%. On the other hand, Microsoft IE accounts for about 76% to 83% of Web site visits globally. However, in 2004, it accounted for about 95% of Web site visits.

The beta testing and release candidates of the upgraded Firefox 3 browser have been publicly available to users over the past few weeks. Earlier in the week, Mozilla VP of engineering Mike Schroepfer said in a blog post that there were already two million daily users of Firefox 3. With this huge count, the upgraded Firefox 3 browser can secure a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most downloads in a single day.

Based on the Gecko 1.9 Web rendering platform, Mozilla claims its next generation Firefox browser is more secure, more stable, speedier, and easier to use. The browser will have more than 15,000 updates, including some major re-architecting for improved performance, stability, rendering correctness, and code simplification and sustainability.

The browser has also a number of ease of use enhancement, including one-click bookmarking and tag support in bookmarks, smart location bar, the ability to save and restore browser sessions, smart zoom that instead of just text enlarges all web page content and significantly improved protection against phishing attacks and malware. This malware and forgery protection feature warns users when they arrive at sites known to install viruses, spyware, trojans or the like.

To celebrate the big day, dubbed "Download Day," Mozilla has invited those who appreciate Firefox to attend the celebration of the Firefox 3’s completion and a Nintendo Wii tournament at its headquarters in Mountain View, California.

The latest version of Firefox browser will be shipped for both Mac and Windows on the same day.