Mozilla is currently making headway with the development of Firefox 3.0, having released the fourth beta development milestone at the beginning of March and pressing on for the delivery of Beta 5 by the end of this month. Version 3.0 of the open source browser is set to be ready for general adoption, and will be made available by the end of June 2008. At the same time, Mozilla is already hard at work on Firefox 4.0, the next iteration of the open source browser designed to replace version 3.0. Chris Beard, Vice President of Mozilla Labs, revealed to Webware that Firefox 4.0, as well as the general evolution of Firefox, is heading in a direction designed to take the product in the playground of platforms and out of the browser corner. At this point in time, Mozilla pointed to a period beyond 2008 for the delivery of Firefox 4.0. Microsoft has just dropped Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 earlier this month and is getting ready for IE8 Beta 2 by summer.

The vision that Mozilla has over Firefox is of a platform intimately connected with the desktop machine, but also stretching into the cloud and being able to support both applications, as well as web-based services and programs. In this regard, Mozilla is exploring the next-gen Firefox with two projects Prism and Weave. Prism, for example, is designed to bring to the table cross-platform functionality that will enable the end user to run web-based programs directly onto the desktop, ripping them out of the browser.

"We believe that the Web is a powerful platform for innovation, and our goal with Prism is to drive the development of enhancements to that platform that bring the advantages of desktop apps to the Web. To that end, Prism is not a new platform or product but rather a vehicle for Mozilla Labs to experiment with new technologies to extend the capabilities of the Open Web. Web developers shouldn't have to lift a finger to desktop-enable their web applications (although they can specify settings to enhance the experience), while users have the choice to use their favorite web apps in their browser, on their desktop of choice, or in both places," revealed Mark Finkle, Mozilla Platform Evangelist.

Weave is a project set to keep up the pace with the general tendency of the migration of traditional content online. Weave means nothing less than to make the browser the critical connection between the desktop and cloud-based applications. "This project will be known as Weave and it will focus on finding ways to enhance the Firefox user experience, increase user control over personal information, and provide new opportunities for developers to build innovative online experiences. Just like Mozilla enables massive innovation by making Firefox open on many levels, we will aim to do the same with Weave by developing an open extensible framework for services integration," Beard explained.

Firefox 3.0 Beta 5 Pre-Release is here.
Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 is available for download here.