Mozilla unveils Release Candidate 1 for Firefox 3

by Stevie Smith - May 19 2008, 11:31

Fans of Mozilla’s Firefox browser, the popular mainstay alternative to Microsoft’s all-conquering Internet Explorer, will be glad to learn that Mozilla Corporation has today confirmed it is shifting into the Release Candidate availability stage of development with Firefox 3.

With the full and complete Firefox 3 package expected to be made available for download this coming June, this new Release Candidate 1 (RC1) version exists as the Firefox team’s initial (and potentially final) straddling point between beta and official release.

“This milestone is focused on testing the core functionality provided by many new features and changes to the platform scheduled for Firefox 3,” outlines Mozilla in its official release.

In terms of assessing Firefox 3’s latest release from a developer perspective, Wired News reports that the Release Candidate stage is generally used by developers as a platform to put code through its paces while also enabling add-on developers to update browser extensions without the added weight of having to tackle future coding alternations.

Of course, beyond the separate application of developmental spit and polish, everyday users can snap Mozilla’s hand off and download RC1 without worry of negative effects. Indeed, while RC1 is likely to arrive as just as stable as the last beta version of Firefox 3, the release candidate does offer up a tad more appeal thanks to a selection of related improvements.

Specifically, Mozilla Corp. has: processed user feedback in order to incorporate aesthetic interface alterations for Windows Vista, XP, Mac OS X, and Linux-based operating systems; the team has also tweaked and fixed issues connected to location bar features; enhanced JavaScript performance levels, increased security; Web compatibility and stability; and smoothed out page rendering issues across various platforms.

Available in more than 45 different languages, the Firefox 3 Release Candidate 1 builds can be downloaded by clicking HERE.

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