14 DAY TRIAL // With the release of Firefox 3.0 on June 17, 2008, Mozilla has virtually signed off the death sentence of Firefox 2.0. However, the migration of Firefox 2.0's install base to the latest version of the open source browser, although a natural process of transition, will not be left unattended by Mozilla. In fact, the transition from version 2.0 to 3.0 is going to be catalyzed through the introduction of a major refresh served through the Firefox update infrastructure. In this context, Firefox 3.0.2 is currently being considered as the potential candidate to kill off Firefox 2.0.
On July 16, approximately one month since the launch of Firefox 3.0, Mozilla made available the first security and stability update for the latest version of its open source browser. Even at that time, there were talks about making Firefox 3.0.1 the key element in a major update designed to move Firefox users away from version 2.0. Now, with Mozilla cooking Firefox 3.0.2, it looks like the major update is just around the corner.
"Firefox 2.0.0.17 / 3.0.2 - code freeze is Friday, Aug 15th simultaneous release 3.0.2 will be the version which we eventually offer as a major update," reads a fragment from the details made public at the Mozilla status meeting on August 12.
Just like Firefox 2.0 was automatically pushed to all Firefox 1.5 users, Mozilla plans to serve the Firefox 3.0.2 bits to all those running Firefox 2.0.0.17 or earlier versions. At this point in time, the release date for both Firefox 2.0.0.17 and Firefox 3.0.2 is September 3, 2008. However, time is effectively running out for Mozilla to move users to Firefox 3.0 as, come mid-December 2008, no more security and stability updates will be offered for Firefox 2.0. Still, although it also attempted to kill off Firefox 1.5 at six months since the release of version 2.0, such a scenario proved impossible for Mozilla. This is why there is the possibility that Firefox 2.0 will survive well into 2009, as long as end users are slow to perform the migration to Firefox 3.0.
Firefox 3.0.1 for Windows is available for download here. Firefox 3.0.1 for Linux is available for download here. Firefox 3.0.1 for Mac OS X is available for download here.