Firefox 4: Beta 12 Is Coming, Will be the Last Beta

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 25 Feb 2011

Earlier this month Mozilla rolled out the 11th Firefox 4 Beta version, which came with the following new bits and pieces (according to the release notes):
  • Support for the proposed Do Not Track ("DNT") 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

Today, the 25th of February, Engineering Project Manager with Mozilla, Christian Legnitto, announced that there will be yet another Beta release, a 12th Firefox 4 Beta. Legnitto explained that Firefox 4 Beta 12 will be the last Beta release.

“I just wanted to send a quick note clarifying again that Firefox 4 beta 12 is the last planned beta. It may be confusing that nightly builds after beta 12 identify themselves as version 2.0b13pre. The versioning is merely a product of automation. This DOES NOT mean we are having a beta 13,” said Legnitto.

What’s next after Firefox 4 Beta 12? Why Firefox 4 RC (Release Candidate) and then Firefox 4 Final. Speaking of Firefox 4 Final, once it’s out, Firefox Director Mike Beltzner will leave Mozilla and join DownUnder GeoSolutions, a small startup that builds geological modeling software. Beltzner announced this earlier this month.

“It’s not a choice I made lightly, I can assure you,” said Beltzner. “I’m incredibly eager to see how Mozilla continues to evolve, shifting its strategy to the new world in which the Web is not just alive and thriving, but evolving and transforming daily. Changing to delivering those Web upgrades by shipping smaller pieces more quickly, providing a new stable of Firefox-ish services – it’s clear that Mozilla’s future is filled with exciting new challenges and opportunities. Add to that the dear friendships I have with so many people in this community, and the simply incredible global work environment we’ve created together … you may assume that the decision took time, consideration, and involved more than a few tears.”

In further Firefox 4 Final news, back in January Platform Engineering Director Damon Sicore said that the final version of Firefox 4 has to be out by the end of February. Looks like that’s not going to happen.

If you would like to get Firefox 4 Beta, you can grab it straight from Mozilla here.
The browser available for download in 76 languages for or Windows, Linux and Mac users.


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