The Mozilla developers have now released a beta version which they have called Firefox 3.6.3 Plugin 1 Lorentz. It is a beta release and therefor not available on the main site or through the Firefox automatic update checker.

The version that has been released is basically Firefox 3.6.3 with the Out-of-process plugin feature enabled.

The new feature currently supports the three popular plugins Adobe Flash, Apple Quicktime and Microsoft Silverlight. If those are installed they are running in their own process with the new release. The user will be notified about plugins crashing on the page where it happened. The page and the rest of the browser will continue to work as usual.

Firefox 3.6.3 Plugin 1 Lorentz can be downloaded from the Mozilla developer pages where it is available for all supported operating systems. Please note again that this is a beta release and should not be installed in a productive environment.

In recent days, the Firefox 3.6 branch became Lorentz, the code name for the first Firefox release to feature out of process plugins, which aims to improve overall stability by running plugins like Adobe Flash, Silverlight, and Java in their own independent process.

The inclusion of a features such as out of process plugin (OOPP) in a maintenance release (.6.x), is a departure from Mozilla’s classic update model which would leave new features for major updates (like 3.7 for example). In fact, OOP was backported from Mozilla trunk, the code base of Firefox.next (nightly trunk builds are labeled 3.7 right now, also a first.

Firefox 3.6.4 final release is targeted for early May.

The monthly security update will also tackle a further 25 holes in Windows, five of which are rated as “critical”.

Read more details available at news.bbc.co.uk

The goal of the new Mozilla Drumbeat effort is to go beyond open source code to encourage and nurture projects that help to expand understanding and participation in the open Web. While Drumbeat is today only in its early stages of development, Mozilla is budgeting more than $1 million in funding for the effort – a project that it thinks could help to direct the very future of the Internet.

More details available at itmanagement.earthweb.com

The release notes have not been updated yet and it is not easy to find information about the changes in the release candidate.

Firefox users who want to read up on the changes before updating their web browser to Firefox 3.6 RC1 might need to wait up to 48 hours before the release preparations have been completed. The release is currently only available at Mozilla ftp servers but it is likely that it will be picked up soon by download portals like Betanews who usually host new versions of the web browser before it is officially announced at the Mozilla website.

It is expected that the announcement will be made later today and that Firefox 3.5.6 browsers will pick up the new version release and prompt their users to upgrade the browser.

The beta release notes classify the upgrade as a performance and stability update. It fixes three bugs of which one has been classified as critical and two as major.

Fixed a common stability issue.
Fixed a problem with how updates were being presented to users.

Firefox users who do not want to wait that long should monitor popular software download portals like Betanews or MajorGeeks as these are usually the first to offer the new Firefox version for download.

The release notes are accessible here. They link to the bugzilla listing of bugs that have been fixed in this version of Firefox.

A release of Firefox 3.0.17 is also expected to hit the Firefox ftp servers soon as it has been scheduled for release today as well.

The plan in 2010, Mozilla plans to spend two to three updated versions of Firefox. this version of Firefox 3.6, 3.7 and 4.0.

As reported by Softpedia, Thursday (31/12/2009), Mozilla designed the three by using the code name Lorentz. According to the Mozilla development team members, Benjamin Smedberg, all three are the latest breakthrough that Mozilla, presents new features like the new toolbar menu and user interface more responsive.

According to schedule, Release Candidate (RC) Firefox 3.6 will be released in January 2010 and ending football tejang Firefox 3.5 in the first month. Update version 3.6 will be divided in Firefox 3.6.2 and 3.6.3.

Meanwhile, Firefox 3.7 is expected to be launched in mid 2010, while Firefox 4.0 will be launched end of 2010.

Mozilla as a browser developer now haunt Microsoft’s dominance. In fact, recent data reveal StatsCounter, the number of users Firefox 3.5 browser to pass the number of users of Internet Explorer 7.

StatsCounter global express Firefox 3.5 user control 21.9 percent of the market, while IE7 is only 21.2 percent. Meanwhile, two other versions of IE, IE6 and IE8 which mastered each 13.9 and 20.9 per cent. Clear that if Terliht In total number of users of IE6, 7, and 8 are still dominant.

IE, according to StatsCounter United States dominate the market, while Mozilla Firefox is more dominate the European market. In continental Europe, Firefox 3.5 dominates approximately 28.4 percent of the market while IE 8 over 21.6 percent. The Americas is happening is the opposite, in which IE8 over IE7 followed by 25 percent, 21.8 percent and Firefox 3.5 with 21.7 percent market domination.

Firefox

Firefox 4 is still a long time away but some dedicated developers and designers are already at work to take the web browser to the next level. One of the improvements that the developers seem to concentrate on is the look and feel of the web browser. Some say this moves Firefox 4 nearer to Google Chrome and Opera which share some design elements like a compressed menu button that contains most tools and options or the removed title bar.

Firefox 4 developer Stephen Horlander published some new design mockups of Firefox 4 on his personal blog. The major element in this mockup series of Firefox 4 seems to be the App button as he calls it. This is the same one-button approach that the other web browsers have already implemented or started to implement.

Firefox 4 redesign

The Firefox button in the mockup above is the App button that leads to all the menus that are usually found in the menu bar of Firefox 3. Some users might argue that it is a waste of space to put the app button in single toolbar instead of placing it into an existing toolbar. The removal of the title bar would have barely any effect on the available screen estate otherwise.

Stephen posted some app button variations that place the app button next to the tabs instead or next to the title bar; Something that would free up screen estate.

Firefox 4.0 Mockup Win7 i03 AppButton Variations

A visual comparison between the latest Firefox 4 mockup and the current Firefox 3 design shows that the developers aim at reducing the header area of Firefox by 40-50%.

Firefox 3.5 & 4.0 Visual Comparison

Additional changes in the mockups include:

• Refining Toolbar Button Appearance: Some initial work has gone into making the toolbar buttons more visible on light backgrounds and more crisp and dimensional (pressable).
• Location Bar: Created some very early visuals for reevaluating site identity. Also the location bar is now properly recessed instead of floating.
• Retain Separate Search Bar: With the LocationBar containing an increasing amount of functionality it may be best to retain a clear distinction between the two fields.
• Bookmarks Widget: On a default profile or existing profile that hasn’t modified the Bookmarks Toolbar it will be hidden by default and the Bookmarks Widget placed in the Navigation Toolbar.

What are your thoughts on the new mockups of Firefox 4? Long needed changes or something that better remains untouched?

Firefox

Mozilla has started spreading a new beta release of Firefox 3.6 to worldwide ftp mirror sites only a day after releasing updates for their Firefox 3.1 and 3.5 web browser series. The new version of the web browser is as usually available for all supported operating systems and languages. The release notes lead to a non existing page at the moment which makes it difficulty to find information on the changes that have been introduced in the new beta version.

The missing release notes are an indication that it will take anywhere from 24-48 hours before the new version of Firefox 3.6 will get officially announced by Mozilla. This will also be the time frame for the discovery of the new version by the automatic update check in the web browser.

The new beta release could be related to the updates yesterday which would suggest that the update fixes security and stability issues in Firefox 3.6. The only option to know for sure is to wait until the developers are publishing information on the Mozilla website.

Users who want to update the web browser right away need to wait until it gets posted on various download portals which usually pick up the new releases faster than the official Mozilla page.