Mozilla Firefox 2.0 Final to Hit Web Tuesday

Mozilla, maker of the popular open-source browser Firefox, will on Tuesday release its most recent upgrade to the software, dubbed Firefox 2.0, The Seattle Times reports.

Mozilla’s last browser upgrade, Firefox 1.5, was released during the fall of 2005, according to the Times, and independent and company estimates say between 11 percent and 15 percent of the browser market employs Firefox.

Mozilla last week announced the availability of its latest test, or beta version of its browser, dubbed Firefox 2.0 Release Candidate 3 (RC3),and various experts and pundits speculated that the release could be the last test version before the final edition release.

Among Firefox 2.0’s new features will be improved phishing safeguards and enhanced spellcheck options, as well as boosted search capabilities, according to the Times.

Microsoft, which owns the browser space with its Internet Explorer (IE) browser, last week released its latest version, IE 7, and many of its new features are similar to those that will be featured in the Firefox 2.0 release. Microsoft also debuted a tabbed-browsing function, which enables users to view multiple webpages in one browser window—a feature that’s already offered in Firefox 1.5.

Firefox 2.0 will be available for free download and will run on Microsoft, Apple and Linux operating systems.

Related Links:

• Mozilla Firefox Gaining Ground on Microsoft IE

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 Browser Released

• Firefox 2.0 RC3 Launched by Mozilla

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