Firefox early version history


The project that became Firefox today began as an experimental branch of the Mozilla Suite called m/b. Firefox retains the cross-platform nature of the original Mozilla browser, using the XUL user interface markup language. The use of XUL makes it possible to extend the browser's capabilities through the use of extensions and themes. The development and installation processes of these add-ons raised security concerns, and with the release of Firefox 0.9, the Mozilla Foundation opened a Mozilla Update website containing "approved" themes and extensions. The use of XUL sets Firefox apart from other browsers, including other projects based on Mozilla's Gecko layout engine and most other browsers, which use interfaces native to their respective platforms. Many of these projects started before Firefox, and probably served as inspiration.

Phoenix and Firebird

Hyatt, Ross, Hewitt and Chanial developed their browser to combat the perceived software bloat of the Mozilla Suite, which integrated features such as IRC, mail, news, and WYSIWYG HTML editing into one internet suite. After it was sufficiently developed, binaries for public testing appeared in September 2002 under the name Phoenix. This name carried the implication of the mythical firebird that rose triumphantly from the ashes of its dead predecessor, in this case Netscape Navigator which lost the "First browser war" to Microsoft's Internet Explorer. The name Mozilla began as the internal codename for the original 1994 Netscape Navigator browser aiming to displace NCSA Mosaic as the world's most popular web browser. The name for this would-be "Mosaic killer" was meant to evoke the building-crushing Godzilla. The name Mozilla was revived as the 1998 open sourcing spinoff organization from Netscape.
The name Phoenix remained until April 14, 2003, when it was changed because of a trademark dispute with the BIOS manufacturer Phoenix Technologies. The new name, Firebird, met with mixed reactions, particularly as the Firebird database server already carried the name. In response, the Mozilla Foundation stated that the browser should always bear the name Mozilla Firebird to avoid confusion with the database software.
VersionCodenameRelease dateRelease type and highlights
0.1PescaderoSeptember 23, 2002First release.
Gecko version 1.2
  • Customizable toolbar
  • Quicksearch
0.2Santa CruzOctober 1, 2002Official version 0.2 release.
  • Web form auto-complete
  • Sidebar
  • * Downloads Sidebar
  • * Bookmarks Sidebar
  • * History Sidebar
  • Extension management
  • Toolbar customization
  • Search bar
  • Improved preference defaults
  • Speed improvements
  • Ctrl+Mousewheel to resize fonts
    • 0.3LuciaOctober 14, 2002Official version 0.3 release.
  • Image Blocking
  • Pop-up Blocking Whitelist
  • Bookmarks Changes
  • Global Go Menu and Other Menu Changes
  • Tabbed Browsing Improvements
  • Size and Speed Improvements
    • 0.4OceanoOctober 19, 2002Official version 0.4 release.Gecko version 1.3
    • Improvements to pop-up blocking
    • Improvements to toolbar customization
    • Improvements to tabbed browsing and shortcut keys
    • Type ahead find returns
    • Address bar gets smarter
    • Themes
    0.5NaplesDecember 7, 2002Official version 0.5 release.
  • Multiple homepages
  • Intellimouse 5-button support
  • Sidebar remembers its state across sessions
  • Download fixes
  • History improvements
  • Accessibility improvements
  • Size and memory reduction
  • Performance improvements
  • Stability improvements
  • Better Windows appearance
  • Many more new themes
    • VersionCodenameRelease dateRelease type and highlights
    0.6GlendaleMay 17, 2003Official version 0.6 release.
    Gecko version 1.5
    • New default theme
    • Redesigned Preferences window
    • Improved Privacy Options
    • Improved Bookmarks
    • Talkback enabled to tell Mozilla why the browser crashed
    • Automatic Image Resizing
    • Smooth Scrolling
    • Access to more preferences through about:config
    • Custom profile save location
    • Mac OS X compatibility
    0.6.1July 28, 2003Bugfix release.
    0.7IndioOctober 15, 2003Technology Preview.First publication on October 26, 2003
    • Advanced preferences panel
    • Download/helper applets preferences panel
    • Cookie whitelisting
    • New password manager
    • Web panels
    • Alternate stylesheet support
    • Send Page, Send Link, and Send Image menu items
    • Autoscroll
    0.7.1Three KingsOctober 26, 2003Bugfix release for Mac OS X only.

    Firefox

    Due to continuing pressure from the Firebird community, on February 9, 2004 the project was renamed again to Mozilla Firefox. The name "Firefox" was chosen for its similarity to "Firebird", and its uniqueness in the computing industry. To ensure that no further name changes would be necessary, the Mozilla Foundation began the process of registering Firefox as a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in December 2003. This trademark process led to a delay of several months in the release of Firefox 0.8 when the foundation discovered that Firefox had already been registered as a trademark in the UK for Charlton Company software. The situation was resolved when the foundation was given a license to use Charlton's European trademark.
    Firefox version 1.0 was released on November 9, 2004. The launch of version 1.0 was accompanied by "a respectable amount of pre-launch fervor" including a fan-organized campaign to run a full-page ad in The New York Times.
    Although the Mozilla Foundation had intended to make the Mozilla Suite obsolete and replace it with Firefox, the Foundation continued to maintain the suite until April 12, 2006 because it had many corporate users and was bundled with other software. The Mozilla community continues to release new versions of the suite, using the product name SeaMonkey to avoid confusion with the original Mozilla Suite.
    VersionCodenameRelease dateRelease type and highlights
    0.8Royal OakFebruary 9, 2004Technology Preview.
    Gecko version 1.6
    • Rebranded with new logo.
    • Windows installer
    • Download Manager
    • New Add Bookmark Dialog
    • Work Offline
    • Better Handling of File Types
    • New XPInstall Frontend
    • New default theme for Mac OS X.
    0.9One Tree HillJune 15, 2004Technology Preview.Gecko version 1.7
    • New default theme "Winstripe".
    • Comprehensive Data Migration from Internet Explorer.
    • Extension/Theme Manager
    • Online help system
    • Linux installer
    0.9.1June 28, 2004Bugfix release
  • Updated default theme.
    • 0.9.2July 8, 2004Vulnerability patch for Windows only.
    0.9.3August 4, 2004Vulnerability patch.
    0.10GreenlaneSeptember 14, 2004Bugs with higher complexity/risk, localization impact, RSS/Atom feed support, find toolbar, plugin finder.
    0.10.1October 1, 2004Vulnerability patch.
    VersionCodenameRelease dateRelease type and highlights
    1.0PhoenixNovember 9, 2004Official version 1.0 release.
    • Better Tabbed Browsing Controls
    • Official localized builds
    1.0.1Rose & CrownFebruary 24, 2005Regular security and stability update.
    1.0.2March 23, 2005Regular security and stability update.
    1.0.3April 15, 2005Regular security and stability update.
  • Installer improvements.
    • 1.0.4May 11, 2005Regular security and stability update.
  • Fix to DHTML errors encountered at some web sites.
    • 1.0.5July 12, 2005Regular security and stability update.
    1.0.6July 19, 2005Off-cycle stability update.
  • Restored API compatibility for extensions and web applications that did not work in Firefox 1.0.5.
    • 1.0.7September 20, 2005Regular security and stability update.
    1.0.8April 13, 2006Regular security and stability update.
  • Last release for Mac OS X 10.0–10.1

    • Firefox 1.5

    Firefox 1.5 was released on November 30, 2005. Originally, it was planned to have a version 1.1 at an earlier date as the new Firefox version after 1.0, with development on a later version in a separate development branch, but during 2005 both branches and their feature sets were merged, resulting in an official release date between the original dates planned for both versions.
    Version 1.5 implemented a new Mac-like , the subject of much criticism from Microsoft Windows and Linux users, with a "" action to allow someone to clear their privacy-related information without manually clicking the "Clear All" button. In Firefox 1.5, a user could clear all privacy-related settings simply by exiting the browser or using a keyboard shortcut, depending on their settings. Moreover, the software update system was . There were also in the extension management system, with a number of . In addition, Firefox 1.5 had preliminary SVG 1.1 support.
    Behind the screens, the new version resynchronized the code base of the release builds with the core "trunk", which contained additional features not available in 1.0, as it branched from the trunk around the 0.9 release. As such, there was a backlog of bug fixes between 0.9 and the release of 1.0, which were made available in 1.5.
    There were also changes in operating system support. As announced on 23 June 2005 by the Mozilla Foundation, Firefox 1.1, which later became 1.5, and other new Mozilla products did no longer support Mac OS X v10.1, in order to improve the quality of Firefox releases on Mac OS X v10.2 and above. Firefox 1.5 was the final version supported on Windows 95.
    Alpha builds of Firefox 1.5 did not carry Firefox branding; they were labelled "Deer Park" and contained a different program icon. This was done to dissuade end-users from downloading preview versions, which are intended for developers only.
    VersionCodenameRelease dateRelease type and highlights
    1.5Deer ParkNovember 29, 2005Official version 1.5 release.
    Official localized builds.
    Gecko version 1.8
    • Private data clear data
    • Back and forward now fast
    • Improved web standards
    • * Improved HTML
    • * Improved CSS
    • * Improved HTTP
    • * Improved JavaScript/DOM
    • * SVG compatibility
    Changes during alphas
    • Support for SVG and canvas.
    • Sanitize privacy feature.
    • Improvements in JavaScript 1.5 and CSS 2/3.
    • Broken website reporter tool.
    • Blazing fast backwards and forwards, drag-and-drop tab reordering, improved pop-up blocking, error pages instead of error dialogs.
    Changes during betas
    • New update system. Prettier error pages, more Luna-like Winstripe theme.
    • Improvements to automated update system, website rendering and performance. Several security fixes.
    1.5.0.1February 1, 2006Regular security and stability update.
    1.5.0.2April 13, 2006Regular security and stability update.
  • Native support for Intel-based Macintosh computers by shipping universal binary.
    • 1.5.0.3May 2, 2006Off-cycle security update.
  • Fix for a .
    • 1.5.0.4June 1, 2006Regular security and stability update.
    1.5.0.5July 26, 2006Regular security and stability update.
  • Added changes for Frisian locale.
    • 1.5.0.6August 2, 2006Off-cycle security and stability update.
  • Fixed an issue with playing Windows Media content introduced by previous update.
    • 1.5.0.7September 14, 2006Regular security and stability update.
    1.5.0.8November 7, 2006Regular security and stability update.
    1.5.0.9December 19, 2006Regular security and stability update.
    1.5.0.10February 23, 2007Regular security and stability update.
    1.5.0.11March 20, 2007Regular security and stability update. Regression fixes.
    1.5.0.12May 30, 2007Regular security and stability update.
  • Last release for Windows 95

    • Firefox 2

    On October 24, 2006, Mozilla released Firefox 2. This version included updates to the tabbed browsing environment, the extensions manager, the GUI, and the find, search and software update engines. It also implemented a new session restore feature, inline spell checking, and an anti-phishing feature which was implemented by Google as an extension and later merged into the program itself.
    In December 2007, Firefox Live Chat was launched. It allowed users to ask volunteers questions through a system powered by Jive Software, with guaranteed hours of operation and the possibility of help after hours.
    Firefox 2.0.0.20 was the final version that could run under an unmodified installation of Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, and Windows ME. Subsequently, Mozilla Corporation announced it would not develop new versions of Firefox 2 after the 2.0.0.20 release, but continued Firefox 2 development as long as other programs, such as Thunderbird mail client, depended on it. The final internal release was 2.0.0.22, released in late April 2009.
    VersionCodenameRelease dateRelease type and highlights
    2.0Bon EchoOctober 24, 2006Official version 2.0 release.
    Official localized builds.
    Gecko version 1.8.1
    • Visual Refresh of main theme
    • Built-in phishing protection
    • Enhanced search capabilities
    • Improved tabbed browsing
    • Resuming your browsing session
    • Previewing and subscribing to Web feeds
    • Inline spell checking
    • Live Web Titles
    • Improved Add-ons manager
    • JavaScript 1.7
    • Extended search plugin format
    • Improved security with extension system
    • Client-side session and persistent storage
    • SVG text support
    • New Windows installer
    "Changes during alphas"
    • Links default to open in new tab.
    • Close button on every tab.
    • Inline spell checking for text boxes.
    • Session restoration after browser crash.
    • Search suggestion for Google and Yahoo!.
    • New search plugin manager and add-on manager.
    • Web feed previewing.
    • Bookmark microsummaries.
    • Updates to extension system. Support for Sherlock and OpenSearch.
    • Support for SVG text using svg:textPath.
    • Anti-phishing protection. Search suggestions appear with search history in the search box for Google and Yahoo!. Support for client-side session and persistent storage.
    Changes during betas
    • Improved feed support. New NSIS-based installer. JavaScript 1.7. Enhanced security and localization support for extensions.
    • New Winstripe theme refresh: new navigation icons, URL bar refresh, Search bar refresh, Tab bar refresh, Alltabs button.
    2.0.0.1December 19, 2006Regular security and stability update. Windows Vista support.
    2.0.0.2February 23, 2007Regular security and stability update.
    2.0.0.3March 20, 2007Regular security and stability update. Regression fixes and security fixes.
    2.0.0.4May 30, 2007Regular security and stability update.
    2.0.0.5July 17, 2007Security and stability update.
    2.0.0.6July 30, 2007Regular security and stability update.
    2.0.0.7September 18, 2007Off-cycle security update.
    2.0.0.8October 18, 2007Regular security and stability update. Mac OS X 10.5 support.
    2.0.0.9November 1, 2007Off-cycle security and stability update.
    2.0.0.10November 26, 2007Off-cycle security and stability update.
    2.0.0.11November 30, 2007Off-cycle stability update.
    2.0.0.12February 7, 2008Regular security and stability update.
    2.0.0.13March 25, 2008Regular security and stability update.
    2.0.0.14April 16, 2008Off-cycle stability update.
    2.0.0.15July 1, 2008Regular security and stability update.
    2.0.0.16July 15, 2008Off-cycle security update.
    2.0.0.17September 23, 2008Regular security and stability update.
    2.0.0.18November 12, 2008Regular security and stability update.
    2.0.0.19December 16, 2008Regular security and stability update.
    2.0.0.20December 18, 2008Off-cycle security update.
  • Bug fixes
  • Fixed security and stability issues.
  • Last release for Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, and Mac OS X 10.2–10.3

    • Firefox 3

    Firefox 3 was released on June 17, 2008, by the Mozilla Corporation. Firefox 3 uses version 1.9 of the Mozilla Gecko layout engine for displaying web pages. This version fixes many bugs, improves standard compliance, and implements new web APIs. Other new features include a redesigned download manager, a new "Places" system for storing bookmarks and history, and separate themes for different operating systems.
    Development stretches back to the first Firefox 3 beta which had been released several months earlier on November 19, 2007, and was followed by several more beta releases in spring 2008 culminating in the June release. Firefox 3 had more than 8 million unique downloads the day it was released, setting a Guinness World Record.
    VersionCodenameRelease dateRelease type and highlights
    3.0Gran ParadisoJune 17, 2008Official version 3.0 release.
    Gecko version 1.9
    • One-click site info
    • Malware Protection
    • New Web Forgery Protection page
    • New SSL error pages
    • Add-ons and Plugin version check
    • Secure add-on updates
    • Anti-virus integration with download manager
    • Vista Parental Controls
    • Effective top-level domain service better restricts cookies and other restricted content to a single domain.
    • Better protection against cross-site JSON data leaks.
    • Easier password management – save passwords after successful login
    • Simplified add-on installation from third parties
    • New Download Manager
    • Resumable downloading after closing the browser
    • Full page zoom
    • Podcasts and Videocasts can be associated with your media playback tools
    • Tab scrolling and quickmenu
    • Save what you were doing – Firefox 3 will prompt users to save tabs on exit.
    • Optimized Open in Tabs behavior
    • Location and Search bar size can now be customized with a simple resizer item.
    • Text selection improvements
    • Find toolbar: the Find toolbar now opens with the current selection.
    • Plugin management with the add-on manager
    • Improved integration with Windows
    • Improved integration with the Mac
    • Integration with Linux GTK theme
    • Bookmark star button
    • Bookmark tags
    • Smart Location Bar
    • Library of bookmarks, history, etc.
    • Smart Bookmark Folders
    • Web-based protocol handlers for mail:to
    • Download & Install Add-ons from the Add-on manager
    • Easy to use Download Actions
    • New graphics and font handling in Gecko 1.9 provide rendering improvements in:
    • Color management of images with capabilities
    • Offline support for web applications
    • Improved speed
    • Reduced memory usage
    • Increased reliability
    • 25000 total code changes
    • Security fixes
    • Stability fixes
    Changes during alphas
    • Cairo graphics library. Cocoa Widgets in OS X builds. Updated threading model. Changes to how DOM events are dispatched, how HTML object elements are loaded, and how web pages are painted. New SVG elements and filters, and improved SVG specification compliance. Windows 95, 98, ME and Mac OS X v10.2 no longer supported. Moving DOM nodes between documents require a call to importNode or adoptNode as per the DOM specification.
    • Reflow refactoring among numerous layout bug fixes. Web Apps 1.0 API for changing stylesheets support. Inline-block and inline-table values of CSS 2.1's display property implemented. XML documents can be rendered during download. Greatly improved Mac widgets support since Alpha 1. Improvements in Cairo graphics layer. Non-standard JavaScript "Script" object no longer supported.
    • Support for allowing web pages to store resources in the browser's offline cache. Support for Animated PNG images. Support for the "HTTPOnly" cookie extension which provides enhanced cookie privacy. Improvements to layout and scaling precision across numerous screen and printer resolutions.
    • Adding of FUEL JavaScript library for extension developers. Rewrite of Page Info dialog. Upgrade to Cairo 1.4.2. More Cocoa regression fixes.
    • Places used by default, but no front-end changes. Breakpad used as crash reporter on Windows and Mac OS X, superseding closed-source Talkback. Password manager rewrite. Support for Growl and native widgets within forms for Mac OS X.
    • Upgrade of SQLite to version 3.3.17, leading to increased cookie performance due to transition of cookie service to SQLite. Site-specific preference service, used initially for text zoom, allowing zoom setting to remain on each website. Support for native widgets within forms for Linux. New Quit dialog handles multiple windows more elegantly and allows users to save session. Autoscroll rewrite: numerous bug fixes and significant performance gain. Fixes to the use of units within the download manager. Various Places bug fixes.
    • More APIs implemented from WHATWG specs, such as ability to read files from file selection fields without need to upload and cut/copy/paste events, and cross-site XMLHttpRequest. New protocol-handling dialog. Experimental full-page zoom support, but no UI to control it. Numerous Mac OS X bug fixes, but Mac OS X 10.3 no longer supported for Gecko 1.9. General bug fixes.
    • New, basic UI for tagging bookmarks. Remember password prompt changed to non-modal information bar. Malware blacklist support. New UI for FTP and File protocol listings. Applications pane added to preferences. Basic support for web-based protocol handlers.
    Changes during betas
    • New UI improvements, including redesigned location bar, Places Organizer, Smart Bookmarks. Various stability and performance improvements.
    • New UI improvements, including redesigned buttons and location bar. Different default native themes for each operating system. Upgraded to SQLite 3.5.4. Various stability and performance improvements.
    • New UI improvement, including improved default themes for different operating systems. Various improvements in speed and resource usage.
    • Further improved themes to match various operating systems, JavaScript engine optimizations for speed, improved Places organizer.
    3.0.1July 16, 2008Security and stability update.
    3.0.2September 23, 2008Regular security and stability update.
    3.0.3September 26, 2008Bug fix for retrieving and saving passwords.
    3.0.4November 12, 2008Regular security and stability update.
    3.0.5December 16, 2008Regular security and stability update.
    3.0.6February 3, 2009Regular security and stability update.
    3.0.7March 4, 2009Regular security and stability update.
    3.0.8March 27, 2009Off-cycle security update.
    3.0.9April 21, 2009Regular security and stability update.
    3.0.10April 27, 2009Off-cycle stability update.
    3.0.11June 11, 2009Regular security and stability update.
    3.0.12July 21, 2009Regular security and stability update.
    3.0.13August 3, 2009Regular security and stability update.
    3.0.14September 9, 2009Regular security and stability update.
    3.0.15October 27, 2009Regular security and stability update.
    3.0.16December 15, 2009Regular security and stability update.
    3.0.17January 5, 2010Off-cycle stability update.
    3.0.18February 17, 2010Regular security and stability update.
    3.0.19March 30, 2010Regular security and stability update.

    Firefox 3.5

    Version 3.5, codenamed Shiretoko, adds a variety of new features to Firefox. Initially numbered Firefox 3.1, Mozilla developers decided to change the numbering of the release to 3.5 in order to reflect a significantly greater scope of changes than originally planned. The final release was on June 30, 2009. The changes included much faster performance thanks to an upgrade to SpiderMonkey JavaScript engine called TraceMonkey and rendering improvements, and support for the and tags as defined in the HTML5 specification, with a goal to offer video playback without being encumbered by patent problems associated with many video technologies. Cross-site XMLHttpRequests, which can allow for more powerful web applications and an easier way to implement mashups, are also implemented in 3.5. A new global JSON object contains native functions to efficiently and safely serialize and deserialize JSON objects, as specified by the ECMAScript 3.1 draft. Full support has been added. Firefox 3.5 uses the Gecko 1.9.1 engine, which includes a few features that were not included in the 3.0 release. Multi-touch trackpad support was also added to the release, including gesture support like pinching for zooming and swiping for back and forward. Firefox 3.5 also features an updated logo.
    VersionCodenameRelease dateRelease type and highlights
    3.5ShiretokoJune 30, 2009Official version 3.5 release.
    Gecko version 1.9.1
    • Support for the HTML5
    • Improved tools for controlling your private data, including a Private Browsing Mode
    • Better web application performance using the new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine
    • The ability to share your location with websites using Location Aware Browsing
    • Support for native JSON, and web worker threads
    • Improvements to the Gecko layout engine, including speculative parsing for faster content rendering
    • Support for new web technologies such as:
    • * Downloadable fonts
    • * CSS media queries
    • * New transformations and properties
    • * JavaScript query selectors
    • * HTML5 local storage and offline application storage
    • * text
    • * ICC profiles
    • * SVG transforms.
    Changes during alphas
    • Web standards improvements.
    • Text API for the element.
    • Support for using border images.
    • Support for DOM query selectors.
    • Improvements to Smart Location Bar.
    • New tab-switching behavior.
    Changes during betas
    • Web standards improvements in Gecko layout engine.
    • Added support for CSS 2.1 and CSS 3 properties.
    • New tab-switching shortcut that shows previews of the tab user is switching to.
    • Improved control over Smart Location Bar using special characters to restrict your search.
    • Support for new web technologies.
    • Available in 54 languages. Added new Private Browsing Mode. Added functions to facilitate clearing recent history by time as well as to remove all traces of a website. New support for web worker threads. New TraceMonkey JavaScript engine on by default for web content. Improvements to Gecko layout engine, including speculative parsing for faster content rendering. Removed new tab-switching behavior based on user feedback. Support for new web technologies.
    • Available in 64 languages.
    • Improved new Private Browsing Mode.
    • Improvements to web worker thread support.
    • Improved performance and stability with the TraceMonkey JavaScript engine.
    • New native JSON support.
    • Improvements to Gecko layout engine, including speculative parsing for faster content rendering.
    • Support for new web technologies such as
    • Available in 70 languages.
    • Improved tools for controlling private data, including Private Browsing Mode.
    • Better performance and stability with new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine.
    • Ability to provide Location Aware Browsing using web standards for geolocation.
    • Support for native JSON, and web worker threads.
    • Improvements to Gecko layout engine, including speculative parsing for faster content rendering.
    • Support for new web technologies such as HTML5
    3.5.1July 16, 2009Off-cycle security and stability update.
    3.5.2August 3, 2009Regular security and stability update.
    3.5.3September 9, 2009Regular security and stability update.
    3.5.4October 27, 2009Regular security and stability update.
    3.5.5November 5, 2009Off-cycle security and stability update.
    3.5.6December 15, 2009Regular security and stability update.
    3.5.7January 5, 2010Off-cycle stability update.
    3.5.8February 17, 2010Regular security and stability update.
    3.5.9March 30, 2010Regular security and stability update.
    3.5.10June 22, 2010Regular security and stability update.
    3.5.11July 20, 2010Regular security and stability update.
    3.5.12September 7, 2010Regular security and stability update.
    3.5.13September 15, 2010Off-cycle stability update.
    3.5.14October 19, 2010Regular security and stability update.
    3.5.15October 27, 2010Off-cycle security update.
    3.5.16December 9, 2010Regular security and stability update.
    3.5.17March 1, 2011Regular security and stability update.
    3.5.18March 22, 2011Off-cycle security update.
  • Blacklists a few invalid HTTPS certificates.
    • 3.5.19April 28, 2011Regular security and stability update.

    Firefox 3.6

    Version 3.6, released on January 21, 2010, uses the Gecko 1.9.2 engine and includes several interface improvements, such as "personas". This release was referred to as 3.2 before 3.1 was changed to 3.5. The codename for this version was Namoroka. This is the last major, official version to run on PowerPC-based Macintoshes.
    One minor update to Firefox 3.6, version 3.6.4 is the first minor update to make non-intrusive changes other than minor stability and security fixes. It adds Out of Process Plugins, which runs plugins in a separate process, allowing Firefox to recover from plugin crashes. Firefox 3.6.6 lengthens the amount of time a plugin is allowed to be unresponsive before the plugin quits.

    Firefox 4

    On October 13, 2006, Brendan Eich, Mozilla's then-Chief-Technology-Officer, wrote about the plans for "Mozilla 2", referring to the most comprehensive iteration of the overall platform on which Firefox and other Mozilla products run. Most of the objectives were gradually incorporated into Firefox through versions 3.0, 3.5, and 3.6. The largest changes, however, were planned for Firefox 4.
    Firefox 4 was released on March 22, 2011, originally Firefox 3.7 during its alpha stage, brought a new user interface and is said to be faster. Early mockups of the new interface on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux were first made available in July 2009. Other new features included improved notifications, tab groups, application tabs, a redesigned add-on manager, integration with Firefox Sync, and support for multi-touch displays.
    Firefox 4 was based on the Gecko 2.0 engine, which added or improved support for HTML5, CSS3, WebM, and WebGL. It also included a new JavaScript engine and better XPCOM APIs.
    VersionCodenameRelease dateRelease type and highlights
    4.0TumucumaqueMarch 22, 2011Official Firefox 4.0 release.
    Gecko version 2.0
    • Firefox 4 is available in over 80 languages
    • Uses JägerMonkey, a faster JavaScript engine
    • Support for Do Not Track header that allows users to opt out of behavioral advertising
    • Firefox Sync is included by default
    • Graphic rendering is now hardware-accelerated using Direct3D 9, Direct3D 10, and OpenGL on Mac OS
    • Direct2D Hardware Acceleration is now on by default for Windows 7 users
    • WebGL is enabled on all platforms that have a capable graphics card with updated drivers
    • Native support for the HD HTML5 WebM video format, hardware accelerated where available
    • Firefox button has a new look for Windows Vista and Windows 7 users
    • Tabs are now on top by default on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux
    • You can search for and switch to already open tabs in the Smart Location Bar
    • The stop and reload buttons have been merged into a single button on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux
    • The Bookmarks Toolbar has been replaced with a Bookmarks Button by default
    • Crash protection when there is a crash in Adobe Flash Player, Apple QuickTime or Microsoft Silverlight plugins
    • You can turn any tab into an "App Tab"
    • The default homepage design has been refreshed
    • Overhaul of the bookmarks and history code, enabling faster bookmarking and startup performance
    • Per-compartment garbage collection is now enabled, reducing work done during complex animations
    • Additional polish for the Firefox add-on Manager
    • Improved web typography using OpenType with support for ligatures, kerning and font variants
    • Web developers can animate content using CSS Transitions
    • Responsiveness and scrolling improvements from the new retained layers layout system
    • HTML5 Forms API makes web based forms easier to implement and validate
    • Support for the new proposed Audio Data API
    • Support for HSTS security protocol allowing sites to insist that they only be loaded over SSL
    • A new feature called Panorama gives users a visual overview of all open tabs, allowing them to be sorted and grouped
    • An experimental API is included to provide more efficient JavaScript animations
    • Firefox now supports the HTML5 video "buffered" property
    • Changes to how XPCOM components are registered in order to help startup time and process separation
    • New Addons Manager and extension management API
    • Significant API improvements are available for JS-ctypes, a foreign function interface for extensions
    • CSS Transitions are partially supported
    • Core Animation rendering model for plugins on Mac OS X
    • Web developers can update the URL field without reloading the page using HTML History APIs
    • More responsive page rendering using lazy frame construction
    • Link history lookup is done asynchronously to provide better responsiveness during pageload
    • CSS :visited selectors have been changed to block websites from being able to check a user's browsing history
    • New HTML5 parser
    • Support for more HTML5 form controls
    • Web authors can now get touch events from Firefox users on Windows 7 machines
    • A new way of representing values in JavaScript that allows Firefox to execute heavy, numeric code more efficiently.
    Changes during alphas
    • Support for WebGL. Support for new CSS, DOM and HTML5 web technologies.
    • On Windows and Linux, plugins are now isolated from Firefox. Plugin crashes will not kill Firefox itself, and unresponsive plugins are automatically restarted. The SSL security system has been changed to fix a renegotiation flaw. Link history lookup is now performed asynchronously on a thread. Loading the HTML5 specification no longer causes very long browser pauses. Some JavaScript engine improvements. The stop and reload buttons have been merged when they are adjacent on the toolbar. More performance and stability improvements.
    • An experimental Direct2D rendering backend on Windows is available, turned off by default. Significant API improvements are available for JS-ctypes. Mozilla now uses an infallible allocator. Additional fixes for multi-process plugins.
    • CSS :visited selectors have been changed to block ways that websites can quickly check a user's browsing history. Currently loaded web pages are shown in the location bar autocomplete list, allowing switching to existing tabs. The beta version of Adobe Flash is now run in a separate process on Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Full-screen video on Windows is now rendered using hardware acceleration when available. Mozilla has implemented the Core Animation rendering model for plugins on Mac OS X. Linux builds are now built with -fomit-frame-pointer. Support for new SVG and HTML5 web technologies.
    • Added WebM video playback.
    • First official release to include linux-x86_64 and mac-x86_64 builds and first regular release to include WebM video playback. New Addons Manager. Tab on Top can now be implemented. Firefox now uses hardware acceleration for video playback. Cocoa NPAPI support. ChromeWorker with jsctypes support. Lazy frame construction for faster dynamic pages. JavaScript performance improvements. Loading the URL about:memory now shows how much memory is used by different parts of Firefox. More Performance improvement and support for new CSS and HTML5 web technology.
    Changes during betas
    • Tabs are now on top by default on Windows. On Windows Vista and Windows 7 the menu bar has been replaced with the Firefox button. The Bookmarks Toolbar has been replaced with a Bookmarks Button by default. Support for more HTML5 technologies.
    • Tabs are now on top by default on OSX. App Tabs can now be created. Content animation using CSS Transitions can now be implemented. Responsiveness and scrolling improvements from the new retained layers layout system. JavaScript speed improvements due to engine optimizations. Changes to how XPCOM components are registered in order to help startup time and process separation.
    • Web authors can now get touch events from Firefox users on Windows 7 machines. A new way of representing values in JavaScript that allows Firefox to execute heavy, numeric code more efficiently.
    • Firefox Sync is now included. Panorama, a new feature that gives users a visual overview of all open tabs, allowing them to be sorted and grouped, is now included. An experimental API is included to provide more efficient Javascript animations. Firefox now supports the HTML5 video "buffered" property.
    • Support for the new proposed Audio Data API. Direct2D Hardware Acceleration is now on by default for Windows 7 users. Firefox button has a new look for Windows Vista and Windows 7 users. Support for HSTS security protocol allowing sites to insist that they only be loaded over SSL.
    • Fixed a stability issue affecting Windows users. Fixed an issue causing rendering errors with plugins affecting Mac OS X users.
    • Uses JägerMonkey, a new, faster JavaScript engine. WebGL is enabled by default on Windows and Mac OS X. Certain rendering operations are now hardware-accelerated using Direct3D 9 on Windows XP, Direct3D 10 on Windows Vista and 7, and OpenGL on Mac OS X. Improved web typography using OpenType with support for ligatures, kerning and font variants. HTML5 Forms API makes web based forms easier to implement and validate.
    • The Firefox Sync setup experience has been greatly improved across desktop and mobile devices. Speed, functionality, and compatibility improvements to WebGL. Additional polish for the Firefox Add-ons Manager.
    • Overhaul of the bookmarks and history code, enabling faster bookmarking and startup performance. Per-compartment garbage collection is now enabled, reducing work done during complex animations.
    • Compatibility and stability improvements when using Adobe Flash on Mac OS X. Improvements in memory usage. Support for a graphics driver blacklist to improve stability.
    • Support for the proposed Do Not Track header. Connection status messages are now shown in a small overlay. WebGL has been re-enabled on Linux. The default homepage design has been refreshed. Firefox no longer switches into offline mode automatically.
    • Increased performance while viewing Flash content. Improved plugin compatibility with hardware acceleration enabled. Hovering over links now displays the URL at the bottom of the window rather than in the location bar. General stability, performance, and compatibility improvements.
    Changes during release candidates
    • General stability, performance, and compatibility improvements.
    • Blacklisted a few invalid HTTPS certificates.
    • Updated localizations for 29 locales.
    • Added Vietnamese localization, bringing the total languages available in Firefox 4 to 83.
    4.0.1MacawApril 28, 2011Regular security and stability update.
  • Fixed several security issues
  • Fixed several stability issues
    • on June 21, 2011.