Test the New Firefox Channel Switcher with a Fake Firefox 5 Beta

Mozilla is transitioning to a new fast release cycle, with a new Firefox version coming out every six weeks. It's been going well so far, but it's still in the early stages and there's plenty that can go wrong and plenty to test.

Mozilla is now asking users to help with testing a crucial feature of the new Firefox, the channel switcher.

The browser maker is moving to a multiple-channel approach, most people will use the stable versions, but those looking for the cutting edge will choose the Beta or the Aurora builds.

To encourage people to try out new feature, the process of switching from one channel to the other needs to be smooth and fast.

The latest Firefox 5 Aurora builds feature a channel switcher enabling users to go from one channel to another with a few clicks and a browser restart. The channel switcher can be found in the About dialog in Aurora builds.

But this feature has only now been implemented and, in practical terms, there is only one functioning channel at the moment, Aurora, there are no beta builds to speak of for the moment.

So Mozilla is employing a dummy beta to test the functionality, it chose a snapshot Aurora build, labeled as Beta and released it via the regular methods.

This way, Aurora users can switch to the fake beta and then back again to ensure that the process goes smoothly, both on their computers but also on the Mozilla servers.

"Aurora should now find a Beta update and install it. Please note that this is not a real beta of Firefox. The update package is a snapshot of Aurora branded as Beta for testing," Mozilla explained.

"Please file any bugs you find with the channel switching or update process in bugzilla or, by clicking on the Help menu to submit feedback," it added.

"Once you are done testing, do the same steps above to switch back to Aurora to keep helping us test that channel. If you fail to do so, you will stay on the Beta channel which is less cutting-edge than Aurora," Mozilla warned.