Firefox 3.5 to get first update later this month

Firefox 3.5.1, due in mid to late July, is planned as a “quick turnaround” update that “fixes topcrashes and bugs [Mozilla] almost held ship for.” These topfixes are a cryptography issue under Windows XP, disconnected Arabic letters in edit fields as well as crashes caused by the TraceMonkey JavaScript engine. Mozilla has not yet decided whether 3.5.1 will be labeled as a major update or if that phrase will be reserved for version 3.5.2.

There no reasons given why Firefox 3.5 shipped without those. However, TG Daily was told that one of the key reasons was the initial release schedule, which stated that the browser would ship in Q2. And Mozilla apparently found 3.5 mature enough to be released to the public on June 30.  

Meanwhile, Mozilla is also working on updates for the still offered 3.0.x browser. According to a weekly status update, the code freeze for the upcoming version 3.0.12 was missed and is now targeted for a July 21 release. Firefox 3.0.13 is scheduled for a September 1 release.

With Firefox 3.5 out the door and about 7.5 million completed downloads at 9 am EDT today, Mozilla is shifting more resources to its next-generation browser “Firefox.next”, which is currently available as a Firefox 3.6 pre-alpha1. This version is targeted for a mid- to early 2010 release and will likely be called Firefox 4.0. Code-named Namoroka, the software will focus on increased performance, easier and more flexible browser customization, task-based navigation, web application support and seamless integration with the host operating system.

Also new in Namoroka is the updated rendering engine Gecko 1.9.2 (Firefox 3.5 is based on Gecko 1.9.1).

More speed will remain a major focus area in this browser. Mozilla promises much faster “human perceivable” startup times as well as accelerated performance during “user tasks” such as opening a tab, loading a bookmarked page, auto-completing a URL, or play rich media content. Animation and “other interaction techniques” will be used to “reduce lag between action and feedback.”