It seems that the first mainstream version of Mozilla Firefox will be arriving on computers around the world fairly soon.
Previous releases have been dubbed ‘Technology Preview’ and pre version 1.0 versions are often beta releases which should not be relied upon for mission-critical tasks.
Already many people have been using Firefox, I was first introduced to Firebird, version 0.6 of Firefox, a year ago this month. Since then it has gained many fans and recognition as a critical update from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Even my univeristy now has it pre-installed!
The official Firefox website houses a roadmap to Firefox version 1.0. The road map documents major milestones in the browsers evolution, specifically version releases. The current release, version 0.9, has been out since the 15th June, but the roadmap specifies this month as the release date of version 1.0.
According the roadmap, a “Preview Release” (PR) is available, probably for in-house testing. The first release candidate (RC) is scheduled for September 20th. The RC will be the first chance many Firefox fans will be able to try the new version. October 11th is the date pencilled in by the Mozilla organisation for the official release.
The final version of Mozilla’s Firefox will arrive September 14
This’ll make a nice birthday present for me, only a week to find out!