14 DAY TRIAL // Firefox 3.0 Beta 4 might very well be just around the corner, but it is not out at this point. And with Beta 4 still cooking, Mozilla is now getting ready to put Firefox 3.0 Beta 5 into the oven. That's right, Beta 5. Initially, Mozilla planned to release the next version of its open source browser by the end of 2007. Citing quality concerns, the development of Firefox 3.0 was pushed into 2008, and judging by the current Beta pace, the final version of the browser will drop sometime after March 2008.
"The development team decided that a fifth beta milestone would be required based on the number of blockers remaining. This additional beta will ensure that changes which may affect website compatibility and changes which affect the user experience will get exposure to a wider audience for feedback and regression testing," Mozilla explained. "The following development deadlines were set for Firefox 3 Beta 5: string freeze will be on Friday, March 7th, 11:59pm PST and code freeze will be on Tuesday, March 18th, 11:59pm PST."
Firefox Beta 4 went into code freeze on February 26, 2008. Mozilla subsequently kicked off the Firefox 3 Beta 4 release process on March 3, 2008. As of March 4, 2008, the first Release Candidate for Firefox 3.0 Beta 4 has been made available for developers. Keep in mind that this is nothing more than Firefox 3.0 Beta 4 RC1, not the full Beta 4, which is scheduled for release in the coming days. Once Beta 4 is out of the way, Mozilla will move onward to Beta 5 by the end of this month, having hinted that the next Beta might be the final development milestone for Firefox 3.0.
"Developers should note that this will be the final milestone for string changes and so any changes to strings should be put up for review as soon as possible in order to meet the string freeze deadline this Friday," Mozilla added. "All P1 blockers are to be fixed for Firefox 3 Beta 5. For the next two weeks the tree will remain under 'blocker rules', but developers should check the tree status before checking in a patch. After code freeze, we expect a shorter baking period before handing off to the Build and QA teams for release."