Jan 13, 2011 16:01 GMT  ·  By

Mozilla is just a few months away from offering Firefox 4.0 Final to users worldwide, with the browser maker looking to wrap up the next iteration of its open source browser by the end of February 2011. Firefox 4.0 should have been completed no later than November 2010, but consistent delays plagued the project as the developers struggled to resolve a plethora of blockers, namely bugs severe enough that they managed to push the release of version 4.0 all the way into the first quarter of 2011.

But with Beta 8 already out of the way, and Beta 9 just around the corner, the open source browser vendor seems confident enough to indicate that it could go through the remaining development milestones by the end of the coming month.

We have to reach Release Candidate status as quickly as possible, ideally finishing the hard blockers by the beginning of February and shipping final before the end of February,” revealed Damon Sicore, Mozilla senior director of platform engineering. (emphasis added)

“We'll need your help to balance these targets against the need to build a high quality product.”

Mozilla still has to put together Firefox 4.0 Beta 10, which doesn’t have a schedule at this point in time.

Beta 10 will be followed by RC1, and additional Release Candidate builds are bound to follow, although nowhere near the number of Betas that Mozilla shipped for Firefox 4.0.

Builds of Firefox 4.0 Beta 9 have already been put together, and the launch of the ninth development milestone is imminent.

If I were to put my money on it I’d say that Firefox 4.0 Beta 9 will be offered to early adopters for testers between the time when this article is published and the end of this week, most probably later today or tomorrow.

“We've worked tremendously hard on Firefox 4, and it's time to ship it. I'm seeing the same burst of excitement and activity that we've seen in the endgame of every release.

“Over the past several days, component leads have again reduced their blockers by identifying hard blockers and those we can live without. We've around 160 hard blockers remaining, and historically it has taken us six weeks to reach RC once we have 100 blockers left. We must press hard now,” Sicore stated.

Of course, yet again, nothing is set in stone. Firefox 4.0 could be offered to end users in February 2011, and then again, it could be postponed yet again.

It all depends on the quality of the browser, and the pace at which Mozilla engineers are capable of dealing with blockers without causing more problems to appear.

“We must ship the best possible product we can. If a blocker needs more time, tell release drivers and component leads immediately. If you disagree with a blocking call, say so loudly. Do not be timid. This is your product, we need you to own it,” Sicore said to the developers working on Firefox 4.0.

“I know you're all tired and stressed. You all do incredible work every day, and you've built an amazing product. Stay focused. Be nice to each other. Firefox 4 is gonna kick ass, and you should be fiercely proud of it.”

Firefox 4.0 Beta 8 for Windows is available for download here.

Firefox 4.0 Beta 8 for Linux is available for download here.

Firefox 4.0 Beta 8 for Mac is available for download here.