14 DAY TRIAL // As Microsoft is working to produce the first Release Candidate Build of Internet Explorer 8, Mozilla is pushing the next development milestone of Firefox 3.1 back because of the issues still plaguing the Beta 3 of codename Shiretoko. In this context, Firefox 3.1 Beta 3 will not be made available for download by the end of January 2009, as initially planned, but at the start of February. Even as early as the second week in January, Mozilla warned that the previous deadline for offering the Beta 3 build was problematic, in light of the many still unresolved bugs affecting the development milestone.
However, at the start of the year plans were still in place to deliver Firefox 3.1 Beta 3 on January 26. This is no longer the case, as Mozilla indicated on January 14, when it pointed to February 2, 2009, as a more likely date for the delivery of the third Beta for Firefox 3.1. The added week of development is bound not to impact the overall development of the open source browser by consistently delaying the final release of version 3.1.
Mozilla provided the following update for the development of Firefox 3.1, explaining that delivery was postponed due to “large outstanding set of P1 blockers (lion's share in TraceMonkey/JS Engine). Goal will be to get to 0 P1s in all components ASAP and then cut into P2s until freeze; this should prevent significant delay to final release date for Firefox 3.1.”
According to Mozilla, the largest number of show-stopping bugs are residing in the new TraceMonkey JavaScript Engine of the browser. With the Beta 2 release of Firefox 3.1, Mozilla has switched on TraceMonkey by default in the browser, allowing users to benefit from the added boost in JavaScript performance from the box, without having to require them to manually turn on the engine.
Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 for Windows is available here.
Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 for Linux is available here.
Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 for Mac OS X is available here.