14 DAY TRIAL // Mozilla had noted previously that it would deliver updates to its fully supported versions of the open source browser by the end of this year, and it managed to live up to its promise. Today, December 15th, Firefox 3.5.6 and Firefox 3.0.16 became available for download. Mozilla has yet to officially announce the availability of the two downloads, however, the bits are currently live and up for grabs. Both Firefox 3.5.6 and Firefox 3.0.16 are bound to serve users well while they’re waiting for the next iteration of the open source browser, version 3.6, codenamed Namoroka.
Because the downloads are so fresh, Mozilla hasn’t had a chance to publish the information adjacent to Firefox 3.5.6 and Firefox 3.0.16. However, users need to know that both v.3.5.6 and v.3.0.16 are designed as stability and security updates, set up to integrate with previous releases of Firefox.
3.0.16 is the first refresh for Firefox 3.0 since the release of 3.0.15 at the end of October 2009. Concomitantly with the availability of Firefox 3.0.15, Mozilla also offered customers Firefox 3.5.4, just a week after Windows 7 was released to the public. However, in the first half of November, Firefox 3.5.5 was served to users in an attempt to resolve issues introduced by Firefox 3.5.4. With the latest updates, Mozilla is taking Firefox up to versions 3.5.6 and 3.0.16. Still, at the same time, all is quiet on the Firefox 3.6 front.
Mozilla was initially planning to offer both the Release Candidate (RC) build and the RTM (Release To Manufacturing) development milestone to users by the end of December 2009. It’s already December 15th, and Firefox 3.6 RC is nowhere in sight, with the company cooking yet another Beta release, the fifth one, but having delivered no specific availability deadline.
“We're down to 26 code-related blockers for mozilla1.9.2/firefox3.6, the lion's share of which are in JavaScript. I'd like to propose that we lift the restriction on mozilla-central, returning us to a state where any reviewed patch can be landed, to allow many excellent pieces of technology (out-of-process plugins, Direct 2D, Web GL, Tab Matches in Awesomebar) to start landing and baking for a future release,” Mike Beltzner, director of Firefox at Mozilla, explained on December 8th. “If we do this, our sheriffs will need to be EXTRA vigilant in watching for test and build failures, and quite aggressive about backing out anything that's causing problems.”
Firefox 3.5.6 and Firefox 3.0.16 are available for download here.