14 DAY TRIAL // At the end of June 2009, more than a year since the release of version 3.0 of its open-source browser, Mozilla offered for download Firefox 3.5. By July 2nd, version 3.5, formerly codenamed Shiretoko, and Firefox 3.1, managed to jump to no less than eight million downloads, according to Asa Dotzler, community coordinator for Firefox marketing projects. That's eight times more users than the estimated number of testers that jumped from Beta 4 to Release Candidate 1 for Firefox 3.5. But with the final build of v3.5 out of the way, Mozilla has started looking to the immediate future. In this regard, the Firefox 3.5.1 is already cooking.
With Firefox 3.5 Mozilla will follow the same versioning model as it did with Firefox 3.0, meaning that the first security and stability update will be 3.5.1, the second 3.5.2 and so on and so forth. At this point in time, plans are in place for the release of Firefox 3.5.1 in the second half of July, no way of telling when exactly. Still, the first updates following the release of a major version hold particular importance because of the Major Update milestone.
Mozilla has not yet selected the Build for the Major update to Firefox 3.5. It could be 3.5.1 but it could also be 3.5.2. Major Update will mark the moment in which Mozilla will start pushing Firefox 3.5 as an automatic update to all users of older versions of Firefox, the vast majority of whom are running 3.5. If 3.5.1 is nominated to get the job done, current users of Firefox 3.0 and earlier will start being upgraded automatically to the latest version by the end of this month.
“Firefox 3.5 is a terrific upgrade for the 300 million+ current Firefox users, and will radically improve the Web experience for everyone who migrates to Firefox in the months to come. Most of all, Firefox 3.5 is a compelling expression of the values that underlie Mozilla’s ongoing mission to improve the Web itself,” revealed Paul Kim, VP of marketing for Mozilla.
Firefox 3.5 Final for Windows is available for download here. Firefox 3.5 Final for Linux is available for download here. Firefox 3.5 Final for Mac OS X is available for download here.