| Firefox browser hits preview release, Thunderbird email client turns 0.8 |
Sep. 15, 2004
 The Mozilla Foundation this week released a "Preview Release" of the Mozilla Firefox web browser and version 0.8 of the Mozilla Thunderbird email client. Additionally, the Mozilla Foundation released an update to the Mozilla 1.7 suite, which includes the latest security enhancements.
Firefox, described as an "innovative, secure, lightning fast web browser," has seen growing market share in recent months. Thunderbird is the Mozilla project's next-generation email client. This week's releases bring both Firefox and Thunderbird nearer to their 1.0 releases, scheduled for later this fall, the group says.
In conjunction with the new releases, the Mozilla Foundation has launched Spreadfirefox.com, a web site that will serve as a hub for Firefox marketing efforts. The site's first goal is to achieve one million downloads of the Firefox Preview Release in the next 10 days. Also this week, the Mozilla Foundation also announced the first awards in its recently launched Security Bug Bounty Program, which is already resulted in a number of security improvements to Mozilla software, the group says.
"We are delighted to announce these milestones for Firefox and Thunderbird," commented Mitchell Baker, president of the Mozilla Foundation. "These new releases, along with the launch of the Spreadfirefox.com web site and the success of our Security Bug Bounty Program, demonstrate the power of open source to harness the creative energies of volunteer contributors from around the world."
New features in the Firefox Preview Release include: - Improved pop-up blocker -- new pop-up blocker blocks even more pop-ups while making it easy to view pop-ups when necessary.
- Security improvements -- the new release provides additional protection to users against spoofing attacks, the practice of tricking users into believing they are on a trusted site when they are not. When a user visits a secure site, Firefox now highlights the web site address and clearly displays the name of the web site. Firefox also includes a number of other security improvements and fixes, several of which were identified as part of the Mozilla Foundation's new Security Bug Bounty Program.
- Live Bookmarks, which help users discover a new dimension to the web by allowing them to create bookmarks that display dynamically updated content such as news headlines. Live Bookmarks let users view RSS feeds, a technology that web content providers use to easily create and disseminate news headlines and summaries. RSS feeds are offered by thousands of sites, including Yahoo News, BBC.co.uk, CNET News.com and most weblogs.
- Plugin finder service -- Firefox now includes a plugin finder service that makes it a breeze to install plugins, starting with the Macromedia Flash Player for Windows. Additional plugins will be added in the coming weeks.
- Improved searching within web pages -- Firefox now highlights search terms when the user is looking for keywords within a page.
New Features in Thunderbird 0.8 include: - Global inbox -- POP3 users can now combine all of their POP3 accounts into a single global inbox.
- Comprehensive data migration -- switching to Thunderbird has never been easier since Thunderbird can now migrate all of a user's email data, including settings, mail folders and address book data from common mail applications such as the Mozilla 1.7 Suite, Outlook Express, Outlook and Eudora.
- RSS integration -- Thunderbird now features a built-in RSS reader which allows you to easily subscribe to and read news and weblogs that support RSS.
- Improved Quick Search -- this new version Thunderbird makes it even easier to manage your email. Quick Search now supports many different types of search criteria including the ability to search message body text. Thunderbird can also highlight the quick search terms in the message body.
- Numerous security and performance improvements and bug fixes.
Wave of support
The Mozilla Foundation reports that it is riding a wave of user and industry support. Mozilla Firefox 0.9 was downloaded almost 5 million times over the last two months, the group says.
In August, Firefox received the "Best In Show" award at LinuxWorld. In its September issue, Wired Magazine declared Firefox officially "Wired" (and labeled Internet Explorer as "Expired"), while, last week, both the Wall Street Journal and USA Today encouraged security-conscious users to try out Firefox.
The Firefox Preview Release, Thunderbird 0.8, and Mozilla 1.7.3 can be downloaded for free at www.mozilla.org. Users can also purchase a CD edition from the Mozilla Foundation's web site.
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