The Mozilla Foundation has updated its Firefox web
browser, offering new extension and theme managers, a changed
default look and improved migration capabilities.
Firefox 0.9, made available by the open-source software project,
builds on the previous release with bug fixes and fine-tuning.
The download size for Windows users has been pared down to
4.7Mbytes, although Linux users have a heavier 8.1Mbyte download.
The browser is available for free download at the group's website
at www.mozilla.org.
A new online help system has been added, and migration from
other browsers has been improved because the latest version imports
data such as favourites, history, settings, cookies and passwords
from Internet Explorer.
The release of 0.9 lays some important groundwork in
anticipation of the Firefox 1.0 releases, expected in a couple
months, according to Bart Decrem, a spokesman for the group.
"We are doing fit and finish work and debugging [on 1.0] so we
expect the user experience to be improved but most of the major
feature work is now complete," Decrem said.
Given that Firefox is unlikely to undergo any major changes
between the 0.9 version and 1.0, Firefox's estimated three million
users will have to be satisfied with the work the Mozilla
Foundation has already put in.
Decrem said that one of Firefox's greatest features is the
ability it gives users to modify and change it through extensions,
making it their own.
"We may bring some third-party tabbed browsing extensions back
to the browser, but there's no decision yet," he added.
Firefox users will have to wait for 1.0 to see exactly what it
has in store. In the meantime, the Mozilla Foundation is preparing
to release its Mozilla 1.7 internet suite, which includes a web
browser, mail client, internet relay chat client and web page
editor, later this week, as well as a preview release of its
standalone e-mail application, Thunderbird.
Scarlet Pruitt writes for IDG News Service