Firefox v3.6 and v4.0 hit by release delays

by Stevie Smith - Dec 29 2009, 15:35

After proudly boasting of the popularity attributed to its Firefox browser, Mozilla Corp. has week yanked the rug from beneath its own feet by announcing that both the latest updated version of Firefox and its full platform successor won’t arrive on time.

First up on the twin podium of disappointment is Firefox v3.6, which was supposed to hit before the close of December but has now been bumped to a tentative Q1 2010 release.

News of the delay comes as something of a shock for consumers and industry folk alike – not least because the stability and performance of Firefox v3.6 has already been subjected to no less than five beta tests.

Mozilla has not yet indicated whether the delay to Firefox v3.6 will have a knock-on effect for Firefox v3.7, which is currently positioned on the release schedule for March 2010. We fancy that it may get similarly nudged in the near future.

And following close behind for today’s tut-and-eye-roll treatment is Firefox 4.0, which was due for a mid-2010 launch but now won’t reside on mass-market computers until late 2010 at the earliest – or perhaps some time during the first quarter of 2011.

However, a beta version of Firefox 4.0 is still expected to arrive some time during the summer of 2010.

While Mozilla’s decision to put the dampeners on Firefox’s evolution in order to craft a better platform may be bad news for fans of the popular browser, it’s news that’s likely sent executives at Microsoft Corp. bouncing off the walls.

With Internet Explorer 8 steadily spreading alongside the traction of Windows 7, the delays will enable Microsoft to further entrench its dominant browser, which currently holds around 64 percent of the market compared to Firefox’s 25 percent (Net Applications as of December 29).

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