Latest Version of Firefox Now Available

Mozilla today posted the latest release candidate for its Firefox Web browser, which is now available for free downloading.

For the Mozilla Foundation and the Firefox community, the posting of Release Candidate 3 (RC3) is a major milestone, because it represents the final code for the long-awaited Firefox 2.0 browser.

"If there are no showstoppers, RC3 will be it"--the final version of the Firefox 2.0 release--said Mike Schroepfer, vice president of engineering for the open-source Mozilla Foundation.

The first release candidate for Firefox 2.0 became available on September 26, while the second was released on October 6, as developers sought additional input and bug reports from users.

Here Comes Firefox 3.0

Even as Firefox 2.0 approaches its debut, work is under way on the next full version of the browser, Firefox 3.0.

To help create Firefox 3.0, the development team assembled a Firefox Feature Brainstorming Web page on the Firefox community wiki last week, where developers and beta users can add comments about features they would like to see in upcoming versions of the browser. Similar wiki pages were available to users who wanted to offer input about features in Firefox 2.0, but the latest brainstorming wiki page will help formalize new-feature requests for all future versions of the browser.

"Anybody who has a good idea and wants to participate" can enter comments on the wiki page, Schroepfer said. "We're just looking for as wide a range of feedback as people want to give. We've generally tried to solicit ideas in the past. It's part of how we work in general."

As the release of Firefox 2.0 approaches, the release date for the next version, Firefox 3.0, remains undetermined.

"It's pretty far on the horizon at this point," Schroepfer said of Firefox 3.0. "I'd be thinking [about a release] late next year."