According to the initial timetable set up for the next release of Firefox, version 3.0 of the browser should have already been in beta testing phase. Yet, due to quality issues, Gran Paradiso, the codename describing Firefox 3.0 developer milestones and Gecko 1.9, the next generation of Mozilla's layout engine, is still stuck in Alpha stage. Last week, Mozilla came out and revealed that the development of the open source browser is at a stand still because of in excess of 600 bugs. The cumulated issues impacting both Gecko 1.9 and Firefox 3.0 are not all associated with the upcoming release of the browser, but also with the subsequent stages in the product's development.

In this context, Mozilla announced that the code freeze and the release dates of Gran Paradiso Milestone 9 will be pushed back. "The new code freeze date will be set somewhere between October 24th and October 31st depending on our blocker fix rates. In the meantime, the tree remains at threat level "orange" (always see the tinderbox for the current checkin rules) where only patches on blocking bugs and those with driver approval are allowed to be checked in. All contributors and drivers should be limiting risk, and testing their patches for memory leaks and regressions before committing them, then watching the tree afterwards to see the effects", Mozilla revealed.

At this time, there are still 81 bugs blocking Firefox 3.0 M9, and a total of 7 still unassigned. But the real bad news is that the next version of the open source browser will continue to remain in Alpha stage. Gran Paradiso Milestone 9 could still become the first Beta release of the open source browser. Mozilla in fact postponed M9 in order to attempt avoiding another Alpha. Also, at this time, due to the volume of bugs that need to be handled, Mozilla is looking at the possibility of releasing the final version of Firefox 3.0 no sooner than 2008, with just one Beta to hit by the end of this year.

"We pulled back to threat level orange on Thursday due to the number of remaining blockers
M9 Blockers: 81 (7 are unassigned). Some of those bugs can be moved out to post M9; some of those would not block an alpha, so we either need to move code freeze or declare M9 to be another alpha and shift some blockers to M10 - at our current fix rate, we'd need 2 more weeks to contain all the bugs. Impact of this slip would mean only 1 beta in 2007, as our dates would shift beta 2 to be too far into December. Beta 1 criteria: safe for daily browsing, no glaring bugs/omissions in shipped features", Mozilla revealed.

Apple's Safari is currently scheduled to drop by the end of this month, concomitantly with the release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 is also in Alpha stage, and available exclusively in house. IE8 has been into development since January 2007, with the company releasing little to no details at all about the status of the browser. IE8 is planned for launch sometime at the end of 2008, early 2009.