| Firefox 1.5 goes gold |
Nov. 29, 2005
 The Mozilla Foundation Tuesday released the eagerly-anticipated final edition of the Firefox 1.5 web browser, right on the schedule it set last summer. As promised, the stable Firefox v1.5 features faster navigation of the Web, improved customization functions, and tighter security, Mozilla said.
Other additions include upgrades to back- and forward-button performance, as well as drag-and-drop reordering for browser tabs. Improvements to general usability include: more descriptive error pages, a further redesigned options menu, enhanced RSS feed discovery capabilities, and a "safe mode" for greater protection from potential threats.
Mozilla also has added new automated updating features for the software in an effort to streamline transitions to future editions of the browser. The project said that update notifications have also been made more prominent in the program, including the addition of pop-ups that inform users of new features.
Better pop-up blocking included
Other enhancements in v1.5 include improved pop-up ad blocking tools, the addition of the Answers.com site to the browser's search engine listings, extended capabilities for reporting Web sites that do not work with the software, and new support for Mac OS X -- including profile migration from the Safari and Mac Internet Explorer browsers.
For more technical users, Firefox 1.5 offers improved accessibility support, which includes DHTML, security enhancements, and new support for Web standards -- including SVG, CSS 2 and CSS 3, and JavaScript 1.6, Mozilla said.
New extensions available
With Firefox 1.5 rollout, Mozilla streamlined its extensions Web page and is showcasing the following new extensions:
Still lean, and mean
In a PC Magazine review of the final Firefox 1.5 release candidate (RC3) last week, Matthew Sarrel pointed out that, despite the addition of new features, "Firefox has not fattened up with its success; it's still lean, mean, fast, and clean. The core application itself is less than 5MB. By comparison, Internet Explorer 6 SP1 (including Outlook Express) ranges from 11MB to 75MB -- depending on which files are needed," he writes.
Mozilla said that it plans to adopt a more aggressive product introduction cycle in 2006, with Firefox 2.0 launching by mid-year, and Firefox 3.0 expected during the first quarter of 2007. Mozilla also has said that it will begin releasing regularly scheduled security and stability updates for Firefox 1.5 every six to eight weeks.
Growing market share
Firefox, which marked its 100 millionth download on Oct. 19, continues to gain market share slowly but steadily.
OneStat.com, an Internet traffic analyst and consultant, recently reported that Firefox's piece of the worldwide browser market has now topped the 11 percent mark -- up more than 3 percent from six months ago. Microsoft's Internet Explorer still dominates, however, at 85 percent. Netscape, Opera, Safari (for Macintosh), and several others make up the remainder of the market.
Worldwide and US web browser market share
(Source: OneStat.com)
"The global usage share of Mozilla's browsers is still growing, and it seems that Netscape users and some Internet Explorer users are switching to the Firefox version," OneStat.com reported.
Final 1.5 download
You can pick up your update for Linux, Mac OS X, or Windows here.
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