Firefox 2.0 ready for take-off
- Author:
- Tash Shifrin
- Posted:
- 16:43 23 Oct 2006
- Topics:
- Google | Yahoo | Open Source Software | Windows Vista | Desktop Operating Systems | Spam & Phishing | Operating Systems | Internet Portals & Search | Web Browsers
The Mozilla Foundation is set to launch version 2.0 of its open source Firefox browser on Tuesday 24 October, just days after Microsoft launched the latest version of Internet Explorer.
Internet Explorer 7 was launched on 18 October against a background of increased rivalry between the two leading browsers. Industry analyst figures have shown Firefox continuing to gain ground on IE, with nearly 14% of market, against Internet Explorer’s 76%.
The final version of Firefox 2.0 is expected to be little different to Firefox 2.0 Release Candidate 3, which was made available for download last week.
This introduced a new look, with toolbar buttons that glow when users hover over them, and a series of new features, including built-in phishing protection designed to warn users when they encounter suspected fake websites.
The new version of Firefox offers enhanced search capabilities - suggesting search terms when the Google, Yahoo or Answers.com search engines are used – and changes to the tabbed browsing system, including new “close tab” buttons.
Firefox 2.0 also includes new features allowing users to preview and subscribe to web feeds and to check spelling in online forms.
In August it emerged that Microsoft had written to Mozilla offering support to allow the Firefox browser to run on the forthcoming Windows Vista operating system.
