14 DAY TRIAL // True to its word, Mozilla has already started working under the new four-channel development model with the fast, six weeks release cycles. And it's made it official too, with a post on the main Mozilla blog. The page detailing the different channels for regular users is up as well.
Yesterday saw the official release of the first ever Aurora build, also the first official release of preview version of Firefox 5. Six weeks from now we'll be seeing a Firefox 5 Beta and a further six weeks later the final, stable version.
That is, if all goes according to plan, but Mozilla, surprisingly, has been on schedule so far.
"Following the amazing release of Firefox 4, Mozilla Firefox is moving to a rapid release development cycle to deliver new features, performance enhancements, security updates and stability improvements to users faster," Mozilla explained.
"Today, we launch the Aurora channel as part of a broader initiative to create channels which deliver features to users at various levels of quality and polish. The Aurora channel is where users can test the latest features and innovations," it announced.
Already, anyone can download the Firefox 5 Aurora build, labeled Firefox 5.0a2, to take the upcoming version for a ride. Don't expect to be blown away by anything you see, it's only a minor update to Firefox 4 and "includes performance, security and stability improvements," as Mozilla notes.
Firefox will come in four flavors from now on, all co-existing. The most cutting edge, where all the latest features land, are the Nightly builds. Mozilla expects to have some 100,000 people testing this release on a regular basis.
The next step is the just released Aurora channel. This will feature slightly more stable builds and will focus on feature polish and development. Mozilla is hoping to get about 1 million people running this version.
The beta channel will occupy roughly the same role as it currently does, though we won't be seeing 12 betas over 9 months anymore, and will be the place where all the bugs are ironed out before the big push to users. 10 million testers is what Mozilla is hoping to get for Beta versions.
You can check out the new website Mozilla has set up which explains the differences between the versions and provides download links for all of them.
At this point, you can only get the Firefox 5 Aurora build and the stable Firefox 4, but in about six weeks' time, the list should read Firefox 6 Aurora, Firefox 5 Beta and Firefox 4 Stable.
In fact, Firefox 6 builds are already available in the Nightly channel. No matter what channel you're using though, you'll be able to switch between them with just a few clicks from the About Firefox box.