Firefox 2.0 coming your way on Tuesday

Stan Beer
Saturday, 21 October 2006 15:18

Your IT - Home IT

The world's second most used Web browser is set to unleash the final build of its new version on Tuesday. Firefox 2.0, from the not for profit open source Mozilla Foundation, will be available for download from the Firefox website at getfirefox.com.

Users of the current version of the browser Firefox 1.5 will find that not much has changed as far as the user interface is concerned. There have been some improvements with the tabs feature, such as enabling users to close and reopen individual tabs more easily and a history list of previous tabs that have been opened.

Mozilla is also touting the anti-phishing security feature of Firefox 2.0, which warns users in advance when they look like they might be visiting a malicious web page. IE7, released last week, also has a similar feature.

Looking at the new Firefox and IE7 versions, the two browsers are now much closer in functionality than previously. What's more, IE7 will be pushed out to existing IE6 users with the next round of automatic updates in November.

The question on the lips of many market watchers is whether Firefox can continue to take market share off Microsoft's browser now that the gap has been closed.