Mozilla Firebird evolves into the new Firefox 0.8 release. and Thunderbird 0.5 released.
February 9, 2004 (the Internet) - The Mozilla Foundation today announced the immediate
availability of a new preview release of its next generation web browser, Mozilla Firefox.
Mozilla Firefox 0.8 represents the bleeding edge of Internet technology and raises the bar
for ease of use, performance, robustness and standards compliance.
The new release marks a significant milestone on the development roadmap towards the highly
anticipated 1.0 release of the Mozilla project’s next generation web browser. New features
in this release include:
- A powerful new download manager that makes tracking multiple downloads easier;
- Numerous improvements to bookmarks handling, making it easier than ever to keep track
of your favorite sites;
- Improved handling of extensions - small, easy to download applications that can be
installed with a few simple mouse clicks and extend the browser’s functionality.
Community members have created more than 200 such extensions, including add-ons that
remove ad banners, add spell-checker functionality, and add the ability to search
Amazon.com, eBay or other popular sites from the Firefox toolbar;
- An easy to use installer for Microsoft Windows users;
- A new default theme for Mac OS X users that integrates seamlessly with the OS X desktop
environment.
Firefox 0.8 continues to build increasing levels of performance and stability into the
browser. Hundreds of volunteer developers and testers contributed numerous bug fixes,
new features and security improvements during this development cycle, again demonstrating
the strength of the open source community’s commitment to powerful, stable and secure
applications.
The new release also marks a name change for the new browser, which was previously known
as Mozilla Firebird. “We are pleased to release a new preview version of Mozilla
Firefox,” commented Mitchell Baker, President of the Mozilla Foundation. “To avoid
overlap with another open source project, we have decided to change the name of
this product from Mozilla Firebird to Mozilla Firefox.”
Along with the new name, Firefox sports a new logo and the Mozilla Foundation is kicking
off a grass-roots Get Firefox campaign to spread word about the new browser.
Mozilla Thunderbird 0.5: Enterprise-grade email
The Mozilla Foundation also announced the latest preview release of its new email
application, Mozilla Thunderbird.
Responding to strong interest in Thunderbird among enterprises and educational
institutions, Thunderbird 0.5 includes numerous improvements aimed at enterprise users:
- The ability to synchronize address books with Palm devices;
- IMAP performance and interoperability improvements;
- Secure password authentication using SSPI NTLM for SMTP and POP3;
- Improved LDAP support;
- Improved migration from Netscape 4.x;
- Improved spell checker and English dictionary;
- Numerous other bug fixes and improvements.
Mozilla 1.6: 1,000 reasons to get it; closing in on 1,000,000 downloads in 20 days
While Mozilla Firefox 0.8 and Mozilla Thunderbird 0.5 are preview releases of the
Mozilla project’s next generation standalone web browser and email application, Mozilla
1.6 is a mature Internet suite that combines a web browser, email client, easy to use
web page editor and Internet Chat software. In the twenty days since its release,
Mozilla 1.6 has been downloaded close to a million times, setting a new record for
the Mozilla project – a powerful testament to the pent-up user demand for an
evolutionary, feature-rich, stable and secure web browser suite. Mozilla 1.6 has
received rave reviews from users and media alike and includes close to 1000 bug fixes,
new features and performance enhancements.
Getting Mozilla
Firefox 0.8, Thunderbird 0.5 and Mozilla 1.6 can be downloaded for free from the Mozilla
Foundation’s web site, at www.mozilla.org. All source code and documentation is freely
available under the open source Mozilla Public License.
ABOUT THE MOZILLA FOUNDATION
Established in July 2003 with start-up support from America Online's Netscape division,
the Mozilla Foundation exists to provide organizational, legal, and financial support
for the Mozilla open source software project. The Foundation is based in Mountain View,
California and is the heir to the great legacy and tradition of the Internet’s first
widely used browser, Netscape.
Mozilla and the Mozilla logo are trademarks of the Mozilla Foundation.
