Firefox 2 Thread *Updated Post* l News:"Microsoft to force IE7 onto XP"

**:mn:** · 10-24-2006

Firefox 2 has been Released!!!!.

The award-winning Web browser is now faster, more secure, and fully customizable to your online life. With Firefox 2, we’ve added powerful new features that make your online experience even better.

Link to download: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

Firefox News---
Firefox 2.0 out early

The Mozilla Foundation is releasing the final code for the Firefox 2.0 later web browser later today.

The release is earlier than expected and comes less than a week after Microsoft releasedIE7, its first browser upgrade in over five years. Firefox currently has 10-20 per cent of the browser market compared to Microsoft's 80 per cent.

The new browser has anti-phishing and spoofing technology build in, improved tabbed browsing, a built in spell checker that can be used on any text in the browser and improved JavaScript handling.

Final code will be released at 0100 BST tomorrow but preliminary code can be downloaded here. It will be pushed out to existing users shortly.

From: http://www.itpro.co.uk/applications/...out-early.html

Related News---
Must-Have Browser Upgrades

Your view of the Web is in for a change -- in some cases, whether you like it or not.

This can happen with either of two new browsers. One's the second major update to Mozilla Firefox in a year. The other is more of a surprise: It comes from the company that sat out the last half decade of browser innovation, Microsoft. And it will be automatically installed on Windows XP machines starting next week.

Don't be alarmed. If you're still using Internet Explorer 6, much less any older version, you need this upgrade. You've been stuck with a browser that lends you too little help in staying on top of the Web, and out of trouble on it.

Competing browsers, such as Firefox, Opera and Safari, have provided solutions for those problems for years. As a result, Firefox in particular has carved a chunk out of IE's once-overwhelming market share.

But some users can't or won't make the effort to download and install new software. So now Microsoft will do it for them. Starting Wednesday, its new, Windows XP-only Internet Explorer 7 ( http://www.microsoft.com/ie ) will be automatically installed on their computers through XP's Windows Update mechanism. (The one exception: An illegitimate copy of XP that fails Microsoft's "validation" test can't get this version of IE.)

Microsoft's mandatory upgrade is a gutsy, perhaps pushy move. Unlike almost every other patch or bug-fix sent through Windows Update, IE 7 brings major new features and a new front end. This update forcefully yanks an obsolete browser into the 21st century -- which may confuse some IE vets.

From:washingtonpost.com
Read Rest of article: washingtonpost.com

I would think that this is a desperate attempt by microsoft.

(I will remove this IE7 News On tuesday.)

**proof** · 10-24-2006

Ive been using this for months. Followed it through the betas. I used to use IE7, but this is so much better. Better than FF 1.5 too

**ginno** · 10-24-2006

Woooo, thanks for this ive always known 2.0 was on the horizon but never knew when, or what it was about... hope to see it very soon!

**:mn:** · 10-25-2006

Yeah the Post has been updated

News from the old post.

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Firefox browser for web 2.0 age

A new version of the Firefox browser for the web 2.0 age is to make its debut on 24 October.

Built in to the updated software is anti-phishing technology, to prevent fraud, as well as built-in spell checking and a search engine manager.

It is released less than a week after Microsoft unveiled Internet Explorer 7.

The Mozilla Corporation, which oversees the development of Firefox, says more than one million people helped refine the final release.

Firefox 2 is released at 1700 PST (0100 BST).

User testing

The first version of Firefox was released in November 2004 and since then has steadily been chipping away at the dominance of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser.

Now it is believed to enjoy a 12-15% market share of the net browsing market globally. But, said Mike Schroepfer, vice-president of engineering at Mozilla, in some nations the share is far higher.

Mr Schroepfer said that there were about 12 big improvements in Firefox 2.0 along with thousands of minor tweaks and bug fixes.

Big changes include a phishing finder that alerts people when they stray on to a site that tries to trick them into handing over login details for a bank or other valuable service.

Another change was a spell checker that keeps an eye on every bit of text typed in almost any Firefox browser box be it in a web-based e-mail program or an add-on that lets people post blog updates directly.

Firefox 2.0 also has an improved session restoration system that will let users resurrect tabbed webpages they accidentally closed or will re-start a net session at the point before a crash.

Other changes include improvements to the web feed, search engine and add-ons manager.

The project to create Firefox 2.0 kicked off in June 2006, said Mr Schroepfer and the software was released once the work was finished. It was mere coincidence that the work was done so close to the release of IE 7, he said.

'Didn't target'

"We really didn't target a specific date," said Mr Schroepfer.

David Weeks, Windows client marketing manager, said IE7 had been downloaded two million times in the first four days since it was made available to the general public.

The number of users is also likely to get a boost in early November when the software is automatically downloaded as part of that month's security updates. Those downloading automatically will get the choice of installing the software.

He said that the development of IE 7 was driven in part by the work Microsoft was doing on Vista - the next release of the Windows operating system. Those adopting IE7 would find that the "Internet Explorer experience" would remain the same on XP and Vista.

Although IE7 was the first new version of Microsoft's browser since 2001, Mr Weeks pointed out that the software changed significantly in the two big updates, or service packs, that had been released for Windows XP.

'Exploitation'

"But," he added, "since IE6 came out the world has changed a lot. Broadband has taken off and so has exploitation by less desirable characters on the net."

He denied that the near simultaneous release of IE7 and Firefox 2.0 was a return to the days of "browser wars" when Microsoft and Netscape slugged it out for dominance.

"It's great to have the Firefox people out there keeping us on our toes," he said. "We can learn a lot from each other."

Mr Schroepfer said the browser had been developed with the demands for a rich web 2.0 age in mind.

Customising software

As an open-source software project, the development of Firefox is led by the non-profit, Mozilla Foundation, but most of the development work is done by keen volunteers.

Mozilla Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation which generates revenue from the success of Firefox and other actitivies.

"We live and die by whether each individual wants to download and run it," said Mr Schroepfer.

Many have contributed to the project by customising the software for their own language, said Mr Schroepfer. At launch the software will be available in 36 languages.

Many users also create add-ons for the browser which add all kinds of functions that people see a need for. There were now more than 1,900 add-ons for Firefox, said Mr Schroepfer, which made it possible to keep the core software slim.

From: BBC

**jlippone** · 10-25-2006

I really like Firefox 2, have been using it for a while now and it is my primary web browser.
IE7 is good update as well, it was about time to get rid of the IE6.

**MiDNiGHTS** · 10-25-2006

I dont see how this is in PC Gaming...wouldnt it be better suited for Technology?

**ginno** · 10-27-2006

Does it matter?... Im downloading the official one now, cant wait to see what its like =D thanks again for this :mn:

**ttech10** · 10-28-2006

FireFox is so much better than IE7 or any other web browser I've used. I like the add-ons you can download, the one I use the most is the AdBlock. I think I have pretty much every ad blocked on every site I visit now... gotta love the wildcard *. I also like how it can automatically put in your username and password for sites... I'm lazy. The only problems I've had is with Vista I can't install some of the plug-ins so I can't view some videos on FireFox.

**Killller** · 10-28-2006

Thanks for the link. I just installed it.

EDIT: Does anyone remember the best settings for the 'tweak network settings' plugin? I think it got reset..

**badz_ps3** · 10-28-2006

2.0 seems arite. ill use it regardless cause i was big on 1.5

woah..... wtf we have a spell check on the forums now?? this is bad cause now every other word i write has the red dotted lines underneith haha.