Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 (Mac) Now Available – Download Here

Today, Mozilla has released the second Beta for Firefox 3.1, Mac version. The changelog for the latest release is currently unavailable.

Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 was an imminent release this time around, one indication being the President of Mozilla Europe running Firefox 3.1 Pre-Beta 2 right before our eyes during an interview last week. Additionally, on Thursday, Mozilla plans to offer Firefox 3.0.5, an upgrade pack to users of Firefox 2.0.0.18, the latest version of the company's 2006 browser.

During our interview with Tristan Nitot, president of Mozilla Europe, we asked whether Firefox 2.0 would have a fate similar to that of 1.5, or whether it would be discontinued before 2009. As it turned out, it would be discontinued. There was absolutely no chance to get support for Firefox 2.0 past December, the President of Mozilla Europe told us.

According to Tristan Nitot, a lot of effort is needed to support 2.0 and 3.1 users at the same time. With bugs emerging all the time, the work will get doubled, and sometimes even tripled. “It's boring, demotivating, and it's slowing us down. […] So [pause] seriously, I mean... let's move on! [laughs]”

Mozilla has recently issued its last warning to users of Firefox 2.0, urging them to upgrade as discontinuing Firefox 2.0 is imminent. Some three quarters of Mozilla's users are running Firefox 3.0 at the moment, according to data released by Net Applications. During last month, Firefox 2.0 accounted for 4.8 percent of all browsers used, while Firefox 3.0 made up for some 15.6 percent market share.

“Right now, we're planning on doing one additional Major Update offer in early 2009, with slightly modified text that explains to users that (at that time) Firefox 2 will no longer be supported,” said Mike Beltzner, director of Firefox.

There is one final set of security patches to be had for the older browser, after which it's “good bye Firefox 2.0.” As noted by the President of Mozilla Europe, constantly patching older versions is not the way to go. The last two security updates (Firefox 2.0.0.17 and 2.0.0.18) saw no less than 26 vulnerabilities patched maintaining the browser through October and November, respectively. It seems that moving on is really just the only way to go right now.

Download Mozilla Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 / 3.0.4 / 2.0.0.18 for Mac OS X (Free)