Testing Delays Arrival Of Firefox 4 Beta 2

Mozilla has confirmed that Firefox 4’s latest beta will be delayed a week, as it undergoes more testing.

“Hi! We’re glad you’re interested in Firefox 4 Beta 2 – it’s not quite ready yet,” read a posting on the Mozilla Wiki. “Our candidate builds (FTP links below) are still going through quality assurance tests.” The release is now tentatively scheduled for 29 July, a week later than the original estimate.

Firefox 4 Beta 3 is scheduled for release on 6 August.

Firefox 4

Mozilla plans on rolling out additional versions of Firefox 4 every few weeks, as it seeks to refine the browser. The beta’s new features offer a mix of aesthetic and performance improvements, including Stop and Reload icons merged into a single button, and a Smart Location Bar that allows users to search for – and switch to – any open tabs. In addition, the browser segregates browser plug-ins into separate processes, in order to better protect against certain types of crashes, and includes native support for HTML 5.

“Your feedback is essential to help shape the product, which is why we’re launching now to hear from you early in our development process,” Mike Beltzner, director of Firefox development at Mozilla, posted 6 July on the Mozilla blog.

On the web-development side of the equation, Firefox 4 includes an “experimental Heads Up Display” analysis tool that offers developers a “peek into dynamic websites,” as well as an HTML5 parser and Jetpack SDK (software development kit).

Chrome Competition

While Firefox sits in a relatively comfortable position with regard to its competition – according to research company Net Applications, the browser holds 23.81 percent of the market, lagging behind Internet Explorer at 60.32 percent but well ahead of its other single-digit rivals – it faces a growing threat from Google Chrome, which has been rapidly trending upward from 2.84 percent in August 2009 to its current 7.24 percent. Other browsers, notably Safari and Opera, are also gaining market-share, albeit more slowly.

The other front in the browser wars is taking place in mobile. On 17 July, Apple approved Mozilla’s Firefox Home for the iPhone app, allowing users to sync their desktop’s Firefox history, bookmarks and open tabs with their iPhone. Opera Mini is already available in Apple’s App Store, introducing the possibility of other mobile browsers finding their way onto the iPhone in the near future; but Mozilla may not be among them.

“We do not have plans to ship the Firefox browser on the iPhone,” reads a statement on Mozilla’s website. “Due to constraints with the OS environment and distribution, we cannot provide users Firefox for the iPhone.”