14 DAY TRIAL // Mozilla is moving onward with the development of its open source browser, and is cooking a consistent evolution to the latest finalized version of Firefox. Breaking from the traditional minor, stability and security update cycle, Mozilla is gearing up to release an upgrade to Firefox 3.6. Fact is that, even before Firefox 3.6 Final was released for the public on January 21st, 2010, planning for a major update was underway. At this point in time, early adopters can download the first Beta Build of Firefox codename Lorentz, which brings to the table an important, new feature that is bound to positively impact stability and reliability.
“A beta of the Firefox ‘Lorentz’ project is now available for download and public testing. Firefox ‘Lorentz’ takes the out of process plugins work from Mozilla Developer Previews and builds it on top of Firefox 3.6.3. This beta offers uninterrupted browsing for Windows and Linux users when a problem causes a crash in any Adobe Flash, Apple QuickTime or Microsoft Silverlight plugin instance. If a plugin crashes or freezes when using Firefox ‘Lorentz,’ it will not affect the rest of Firefox. Users can submit a plugin crash report, and then reload the page to restart the plugin and try again,” Mike Beltzner, director of Firefox, explained.
Codename Lorentz Beta’s Out of Process Plugins for Firefox 3.6 can be test-driven immediately by downloading the latest release. Mozilla has labeled Lorentz Beta as Firefox 3.6.3 Plugin 1, but the fact of the matter is that the 3.6.3 update was already delivered. In this context, Lorentz (Out of Process Plugins) will be incorporated in the next update to Firefox 3.6, namely Firefox 3.6.4.
“We encourage users to test Firefox ‘Lorentz’ on their favorite websites, and give us feedback by filing a bug or filling out this form. As always, we appreciate the help we get from the community in evaluating these beta releases. Users who install Firefox ‘Lorentz’ will eventually be automatically updated to a future version of Firefox 3.6 in which this feature is included,” Beltzner added.
The current plan is to have Firefox 3.6.4 code complete by next week, on April 12. By April 14th, Mozilla will most likely dump the codename Lorentz and Firefox 3.6.3 Plugin 1 monikers, and will release the first Beta of Firefox 3.6.4. According to Mozilla’s current schedule, Firefox 3.6.4 Final will ship in approximately a month, on May 4, 2010.
Firefox 3.6 Lorentz Beta (3.6.3 Plugin 1 / v3.6.4) for Windows is available for download here.