SHARE
Follow this article on Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Bookmark and Share
Home >> Departmental and End User Computing

Firefox 4.0 makes early appearance

Firefox 4.0 makes early appearance

By:  Joab Jackson  On: 21 Mar 2011 For: IDG News Service (New York Bureau) Creator
 

While Firefox 4.0 won't officially be released until Tuesday, it is already on Mozilla public FTP servers. The Mozilla Foundation, however, is cautioning people not to download the new browser from its sites yet

While not due to be released until Tuesday, Firefox 4.0 has already been discovered on Mozilla public servers by eager Web surfers.

The Mozilla Foundation, however, is cautioning people not to download the new browser from its sites yet, as the public copies now available are meant to be copied to mirror sites. A lot of traffic to these seed servers may slow propagation to more servers better equipped to handle a large amount of traffic. 

This is not the first time that people have noticed that a new version of Firefox can be found online early. In fact, it is Mozilla's usual routine to post the browser first to the public FTP (File Transfer Protocol) so it can be copied to mirrors. 

"C'mon Internet, we do this every time. We are seeding our FTP mirrors, but Firefox 4 isn't ready until www.mozilla.com/firefox says so!" said Mozilla's director of Firefox, Mike Beltzner, in a message posted on Twitter.

Those who truly cannot wait could also check with alternate file-sharing sites, such as FileForum, which has posted copies for WindowsLinux and Mac platforms.

More than nine months in development, Firefox 4 is a major upgrade to the open-source browser, featuring a revamped user interface, overhauled JavaScript engine, the ability to synchronize bookmarks across different copies of the browser and a wide range of other new features.

Sign up for our Newsletters

 












Print |  Views: 1740   |   Rating:offoffoffoffoff  (0 votes)
Rate this article on a scale of
1 to 5 stars,5 being the best.




joab jackson Joab Jackson is a contributor to the International Data Group (IDG) News Service, which publishes global technology stories from bureaus around the world to more than 300 publications in more than 60 countries.

Recent Canadian IT Jobs




Related Content

Critical Firefox bug fixed one month after disclosure
Critical Firefox bug fixed one month after disclosureOpen source browser provider Mozilla has released Firefox 3.6.2, which is meant to fix a bug that could potentially crash your browser. The bug was discovered by Evgeny Legerov, who said it affected Firefox browsers running on Windows XP and Vista.
Attack code published for Firefox flaw
Attack code published for Firefox flawA hacker published code on Tuesday that exploits a vulnerability found in the latest version of the Mozilla Corp.'s Firefox browser.
Firefox 1.5 released on time
Firefox 1.5 released on timeThe wait is over for the Firefox faithful, as the Mozilla Foundation released the new version of the browser as planned Tuesday. Firefox 1.5 is available now at www.getfirefox.com and www.mozilla.com.
Latest Safari release could be “easy pickings”
the winner of the 2008 pwn2own hacking contest has his sights set on apple inc.’s newest launched safari 4 beta. security researcher charlie miller, who took home $10,000 for hacki
blog comments powered by Disqus