Firefox, the third most popular Internet browser, released version 10 today which is now available for download. The browser is quite the step up from Internet Explorer and especially great for power users who rely off of plug-ins.

Previously, their release cycle was a bit lengthy, but thanks to recent changes, they’ve sped up the release process and are delivering new versions on a much quicker basis. Due to Google Chrome increasing in popularity, the browser has dropped in market share, though that doesn’t mean it’s not as popular. There’s still and will continue to be a very dedicated base of users.

Via Betanews:

“Version 10’s headline new feature will appeal to those frustrated with having to wait for browser extensions to be recognized as compatible by new builds: from version 10 onwards, browser extensions will automatically be considered compatible unless specifically marked otherwise. It will also see a minor interface tweak, the loss of the browser forward button, and some new tools that will appeal to developers.”

Most of the changes are bug fixes and minor improvements, as to be expected. For developers, there’s some benefits:

“On the other hand, web developers will be particularly pleased with Firefox 10, thanks to a number of major new tools, all accessible from the Firefox > Web Developer menu. The most notable of these is an Inspect option that allows developers to visually inspect pages with the help of a Highlighter tool that makes checking a page’s CSS and HTML code that much easier. “

Do you use Firefox? If not, what’s your Internet browser of choice?

Firefox 10 Now Available For Download is a post from: The Inquisitr

As a person who basically routes their entire life through the internet- professional, personal, lifestyle- one of the things that gets me agitated about the whole SOPA brouhaha is how little the average web user is concerned with the ostensible end of the internet as we know it.

The few outside communities like Reddit who are aware of even the existence of SOPA don’t really seem to comprehend how seriously it could impact even basic web use, and many worryingly seem to believe that the delayed passage does not mean- in the words of a Daily Kos writer- that the bill is “favored to pass.” (Which, you guys, it still is.)

The continued failure of the bulk of web users to realize the threat SOPA poses means that the few who understand the impact need to do everything in their power to wake the web up to its imminent potential destruction. And it seems that some of the biggest entities are considering a “nuclear option” to get users active, to spur political action and maybe- just maybe- convince lawmakers to ignore special interests and ditch SOPA.

AOL, eBay, Facebook, foursquare, Google, IAC, Linkedin, Mozilla, OpenDNS, PayPal, Twitter, Wikipedia, Yahoo! and the Zynga Game Network are all members of an organization called the NetCoalition, and there is said to be chatter about shutting off the sites for a time to drive home the message that a future with SOPA sucks for everyone. Daily Kos quotes:

When the home pages of Google.com, Amazon.com, Facebook.com, and their Internet allies simultaneously turn black with anti-censorship warnings that ask users to contact politicians about a vote in the U.S. Congress the next day on SOPA, you’ll know they’re finally serious…

“There have been some serious discussions about that,” says Markham Erickson, who heads the NetCoalition trade association that counts Google, Amazon.com, eBay, and Yahoo as members. “It has never happened before.”

Scarily, not even the action proposed is guaranteed to stop SOPA or the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), but it would be a hell of a newfangled protest and could be a political game-changer.

Are you concerned about SOPA?

SOPA-Opposing Web Giants Consider ‘Nuclear Option’ to Thwart Law is a post from: The Inquisitr

Mozilla on Wednesday announced a new customized version of their Firefox internet browser that defaults to the Bing search engine rather than Google.

The announcement comes nearly one year after Mozilla said they would begin including Bing and Yahoo search results in Firefox 4 through an option which can be set within the browser itself.

In a statement on their website Mozilla announced:

“Mozilla and Bing are pleased to make available Firefox with Bing, a customized version of Firefox that sets Bing as the default search engine in the search box and AwesomeBar and makes Bing.com the default home page.”

The statement continues:

“Existing Firefox users can also make these changes by installing the Bing Search for Firefox Add-on.”

Firefox is already distributed with nearly 20 versions in different geographies and through various partners including options for Twitter, yahoo, Yandez and United Internet integration.

Also on the horizon is an upcoming version of Firefox for Android which includes a native UR instead of the company’s XUL implementation. The Android change is expected to produce faster startup times.

Will you be switching to the Bing version of  Mozilla Firefox browser if it’s released en masse as a secondary option instead of the Google search?

Mozilla Has Developed A Bing Default Search Engine is a post from: The Inquisitr

Mozilla Thunderbird 5 Finally Available For Download is a post from: The Inquisitr

It has only been 12 weeks since we received the most recent version of Mozilla’s Firefox browser and now the company has already made available Firefox 5 via the Mozilla ftp server.

With Firefox 5 users receive support for CSS animation and an easier to access do-not-track setting which has been made available at the top of the privacy pane, however most of the previous versions UI remains in place.

While you can grab Firefox 5 right now, you might want to wait until June 21 when the company will officially launch version 5, just in case there are any last minute changes to the browser before it goes viral.

Are you excited for Mozilla Firefox 5?

Firefox 5 Gets Outed Early, Download Available Now is a post from: The Inquisitr

Starting late last year the ICE department within Homeland Security started seizing domains whether they were legal or not. This prompted a couple of developers came up with a clever add-on for Firefox, called MAFIAA Fire, that will redirect users to alternate sites, if set up, of those that have been seized by ICE.

Well, it appears that Homeland Security caught wind of the add-on and went to Mozilla to have the add-on taken offline.

“Recently the US Department of Homeland Security contacted Mozilla and requested that we remove the Mafiaa Fire add-on,” explained Mozilla General Counsel and Vice President of Business Affairs Harvey Anderson. “The ICE Homeland Security Investigations unit alleged that the add-on circumvented a seizure order DHS had obtained against a number of domain names.”

However, where ICE might have expected a swift take down from Mozilla, the legal and business affairs department of the tech company was not planning to honor the request so easily.

“Our approach is to comply with valid court orders, warrants, and legal mandates, but in this case there was no such court order,” Anderson explains.

According to Anderson complying with the request without any additional information would threaten open Internet principles. So, instead of taking the add-on offline they replied to ICE with a set of 11 well-crafted questions.

Interestingly enough, Mozilla never heard from ICE again.

via TorrentFreak

Right on Mozilla, this almost makes me want to actually start using my installed version of Firefox.

I said almost.

Homeland Security wants Add-on pulled, Mozilla says not so fast. is a post from: The Inquisitr

Mozilla Developer Calls Out “Sneaky” Plugin Creators, Including Large Tech Firms is a post from: The Inquisitr

Google’s Chrome browser has passed Apple’s Safari out into third place for US browsers, a milestone the newer browser option achieved in the UK last October.

Chrome, which debuted in October 2008, has been steadily gaining on Mozilla’s Firefox as an Internet Explorer alternative. IE now has a 52% market share, with Firefox following at an impressive 28.5% of users. Chrome edged in ahead of Safari in recent StatCounter data, with 8.97% to Safari’s 8.88%. StatCounter pulled the data from 847 million page views in the US.

The breakdown is a bit different among UK users, with about 55% still using IE. Firefox grabs a much larger share of the (steak and kidney?) pie across the pond, with just over 38% of users favoring it. Even the admittedly underrated Opera is trouncing Safari over there, with 4.4% to Safari’s 3.9% share.

Chrome’s rapid rise is impressive in the browser arena- while Firefox has burrowed deep into the market as a place users go when they graduate from IE, it’s had over seven years to get there. Chrome hasn’t even been available for two, and some of that time is beta only, and without options for Mac or Linux.

Have you ditched Firefox to come over the the Google side? What’s your go-to browser? Is anyone still using Flock?

Chrome surpasses Safari in US popularity, now ranked third is a post from: The Inquisitr

Mozilla CEO John Lilly confirmed today via an e-mail to employees that he is stepping down from his position.

Lilly moved into the CEO role from his position of COO in January of 2008, and during his tenure, Mozilla has continued to gain on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer for marketshare. (A recent study indicated Mozilla’s got an impressive near 25% to IE’s near 60% piece of the pie.) He did not announce a definitive timeline for the departure, but said he was moving to venture capital firm Greylock Partners, citing a strong match of ideals. Lilly confirmed that he will remain in place until the company finds a suitable replacement, and that he will stay on the Board of Directors at Mozilla.

On his blog, Lilly posted the e-mail he sent out today about his impending departure from Mozilla:

Everyone,

As my five year anniversary at Mozilla approaches, I’ve decided that it’s time for me to move on to my next role sometime later this year. This won’t happen today or tomorrow — I expect to be here and working for several months yet, and I’m planning to stay on the Board of Directors.

This is a tough note for me to write — I feel so incredibly lucky and humbled to have worked on such an amazing project, with such spectacular people, for the last few years.

But I’ve always been a startup guy at heart — Mozilla was originally going to be a quick volunteer effort for me, but quickly turned into a full time job, and at the beginning of 2008 turned into the CEO job that I have now. I’ve really been missing working with startups, and want to learn how to invest in and build great new startups, so am planning to join Greylock Partners as a Venture Partner once we transition here.

I’m in no rush, and the most important thing to me is to build the strongest Mozilla we can, with the best leadership possible. So my plan is to stay through that transition — we’re starting a CEO search now, and plan to do it in as transparent a way as possible — which means I’ll continue in my CEO role as normal for several more months, at least.

I’ll have more to say on the transition as we figure things out more clearly, but for now, business as usual. We’ve got Firefox 4 to ship, and Firefox on multiple mobile platforms. We’ve got our web services like Weave to stand up and make available to millions of users.

For now, though, I really want to communicate a deep gratitude to each of you — over the past few years we’ve done an amazing amount together, and changed the world in so many meaningful ways. 400 million users are directly touched every day by the work we’ve done so far, and many, many more are using better browsers because of our work. There are many more contributions and victories to come.

John

[via Mashable]

Mozilla CEO John Lilly stepping down is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Nokia N900 ushered in the Maemo operating system and now Mozilla, makers of the super popular Firefox internet browser have announced that the Maemo OS is first to receive the mobile version of their browser.

Firefox 1.0, known as Weave Sync, is currently available for download and allows users to sync their desktop computer with their mobile browser, pulling in bookmarks, tabs, history and passwords.

According to Engadget:

Flash support is still somewhat shaky, and does not come enabled by default, though you’re free to flip the switch and ride the lightning as it were.

Thankfully Mozilla actually responds to crash reports and their browsers always improve with each new release. Browsing on the N900 was already great, Mozilla has just managed to make it even better.

Firefox Mobile Comes To Maemo, Other Mobile OS’s Later is a post from: The Inquisitr

Firefox 3.6 has finally been released after months of beta testing and bug fixes plus a few release candidates.

The new version of the popular web browser offers a host of new abilities, including a 20% increase in pageload times compared to Firefox 3.5. The browser also uses Gecko 1.9.2 web-rendering which adds to startup speed and stability, while offering faster and smoother Javascript controls.

The new version also includes a feature called “Personas” which lets users customize their Firefox setup with single clicks, not requiring a restart, while an auto-complete form function is available and support for the HTML5 platform is also shown off.

Check out the full set of new Firefox 3.6 features here.

It’s a bit surprising that the 3.6 version of the software is already available with release candidates only arriving at the start of this month, but regardless it’s here to stay and can be downloaded from the official Firefox homepage.

Firefox 3.6 Officially Released Today is a post from: The Inquisitr

Coming soon to a mobile phone near you – the Firefox Mobile (otherwise known as Fennec) and with the promise, at least in Mozilla’s eyes, of no more App Stores. This of course is an obvious shot at Apple and its massively successful App Store.

They are basing this on the fact that Firefox Mobile will be launching with the fastest Javascript engine of any mobile browser and the belief that this will encourage developers to develop apps using Javascript and HTML instead of having to develop for each platform. In an interview with PC Pro Jay Sullivan, vice president of mobile at Mozilla said that anyone with knowledge of Javascript and HTML will be able to develop a great app.

Sullivan claims developers are frustrated by the difficulties of writing for multiple mobile platforms. “We look at the problems it creates for small innovators,” he said. “You have to create an iPhone app, an Android app, a Windows Mobile app…”

“As developers get more frustrated with quality assurance, the amount of handsets they have to buy, whether their security updates will get past the iPhone approval process… I think they’ll move to the web.”

Sullivan says it will take time to wean developers away from the app store model, which has been heralded as one of the chief reasons for the iPhone’s success. “In the interim period, apps will be very successful. Over time, the web will win because it always does.”

This of course is dependent on their being a viable ecosystem that will allow developers to make money since this is really the big driving force behind the success of the App Store.

Mozilla promising an app store free mobile future is a post from: The Inquisitr

It was expected that Microsoft would attempt in some fashion to downplay Google’s Chrome Frame plugin that is designed to replace Internet Explorer’s web rendering engine with the one that power’s Google’s own Chrome browser. Of course they didn’t let us down in that fashion calling the plugin as a security threat for users of IE and the Internet. What wasn’t really expected was for Mozilla to come out publically on the same side of the fence as Microsoft.

Google’s reasoning for creating and releasing the plugin is that they just couldn’t get IE to play nice with their upcoming release of Google Wave so rather than wasting valuable time trying they created the Chrome Frame plugin.

While Mozilla agreed with Microsoft about the security issues Mitchell Baker, CEO of the Mozilla Foundation, argues that it could end up being detrimental to the user experience

According to Baker, Chrome Frame’s browser-in-a-browser will confuse users and render some of their familiar tools useless. "Once your browser has fragmented into multiple rendering engines, it’s very hard to manage information across Web sites. Some information will be manageable from the browser you use and some information from Chrome Frame. This defeats one of the most important ways in which a browser can help people manage their [Web] experience."

Source: Computer World – Mozilla slams Google’s Chrome Frame as ‘browser soup’

In addition vice president of Mozilla Mike Shaver had this to say in a cnet interview

Specifically, Shaver said Chrome Frame can disable IE features and muddle users’ understanding of Web security matters. And users of the reviled IE 6 browser, he added, often won’t be able to run Chrome Frame anyway because their computer is locked down to prohibit changes or lacks sufficient power in the first place.

"As a side effect, the user’s understanding of the Web’s security model and the behavior of their browser is seriously hindered by delegating the choice of software to the developers of individual sites they visit. It is a problem that we have seen repeatedly with other stack plug-ins like Flash, Silverlight and Java, and not one that I think we need to see replayed again under the banner of HTML5," he said.

Wow … Mozilla sides with Microsoft over Google’s Chrome Frame plugin is a post from: The Inquisitr

At some point this had to happen – browser plug-ins with opposite agendas coming into some sort of conflict. Such is the case of the recent updating of the well known NoScript plug-in and the equally well known Adblock Plus plug-in, both for the Firefox browser.

The simmering war of words has been most apparent on the Adblock Plus blog where Wladimir Palant, the author of the plug-in, keeps in touch with the users of the plug-in (I was unable to find a blog for NoScript). It was a recent post that Wladimir first talked about the problem that a lot of plug-in authors face, especially if their work becomes popular as is the case with his; and the NoScript, plug-in has. It is a problem of time versus earning a living.

Many of the most well known plug-ins are still a labor of love with their authors doing all the work in their spare time. The problem is that once you cross the line from being just one of the many available plug-ins to being one of the plug-ins that devoted fans of browsers like Firefox install by default. It is these plug-ins that require more and more of the author’s time. Time that some authors are trying to find ways to get paid for.

In his post Wladimir made it quite obvious that he understands why some authors may go the monetization route but what worried him was the methods that would be used.

So far, getting money for your work ranges from begging for donations over post-install pages with ads (where some go pretty far to make sure these ads are seen) to showing ads in the extension itself. Now I am afraid that we might see another development that we already know from desktop applications: extensions that change your homepage/default search engine or install unrelated extensions if you aren’t careful enough to opt-out.

It wasn’t long after that post that he found himself having to deal with a competing plug-in that in order to monetize itself was making modification to his plug-in, Adblock Plus. From today’s post on the escalating war of words

What followed was a small war — the website would add various tricks to prevent Adblock Plus with EasyList from blocking ads, EasyList kept adjusting filters. Then, a week ago a new NoScript version was released. A few days later I noticed first bug reports — apparently, Adblock Plus “glitches” were observed with this NoScript version, especially around NoScript’s domains (but not only those). When I investigated this issue I couldn’t believe my eyes. NoScript was extended by a piece of obfuscated (!) code to specifically target Adblock Plus and disable parts of its functionality. The issues caused by this manipulation were declared as “compatibility issues” in the NoScript forum, even now I still didn’t see any official admission of crippling Adblock Plus. Clearly, NoScript is moving from the gray area of adware into dark black area of scareware, making money at user’s expense at any cost.

Now Wladimir has added an update to that post letting everyone know that this current battle has been won in that NoScript, through some pushing from the people responsible for the Mozilla Add-ons Policy, has had to stop modifying the Adblock Plus subscription filter. How long this quiet period will last is anyone’s guess but it belies a larger problem in the plug-in landscape; which Wladimir talked about – how do popular plug-in authors justify their time spent on these often complex pieces of code?

There are literally thousands of plug-ins available for just Firefox alone, often doing similar jobs and vying for user attention. Trying to set oneself apart from the pack is a difficult proposition even without having to consider if you want to make any kind of money from your work. Granted a large majority of plug-in authors are firm believers of the Open Source and GPL licensing model; but when you get to the level of popularity experienced by plug-ins like Adblock Plus and NoScript it can be harder to justify all the time spent on the project.

Throw in the fact that many of the users of one plug-in are going to be users of a similar; and to a degree competing, plug-in things might get a little nasty. This might only be one little skirmish but is is also a window onto a larger problem that the plug-in authors may be facing more and more as the popularity of plug-ins increases across the board. At some point people are going to want to find some way to be compensated for their time and warm and fuzzy words of encouragement aren’t going to be enough.

I expect we will see more things like this recent war of words happen more and more on the road forward.

The war of browser plug-ins is a post from: The Inquisitr

Firefox 3.5 Beta 4: What’s New

Despite the impressive number jump, Firefox 3.5 Beta 4 is just a stepping stone up in the beta development chain. The release incorporates a handful of fixes and improvements from its predecessor, Firefox 3.1 Beta 3, including better private browsing functionality and a more stable build of the TraceMonkey JavaScript engine.

The new beta also adds support for geolocation-based location award browsing and native JSON. It’s said to feature faster content rendering as well.

Full release notes about the changes follow. Visit this page to download the release.

Firefox 3.5 Beta 4 is based on the Gecko 1.9.1 rendering platform, which has been under development for the past 10 months. Firefox 3.5 offers many changes over the previous version, supporting new web technologies, improving performance and ease of use, and adding new features for users:

This beta is now available in 70 languages – get your local version.

Improved tools for controlling your private data, including a Private Browsing Mode.
Better performance and stability with the new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine.

The ability to provide Location Aware Browsing using web standards for geolocation.
Support for native JSON, and web worker threads.

Improvements to the Gecko layout engine, including speculative parsing for faster content rendering.

Support for new web technologies such as: HTML5

Firefox 3.5 Beta 4 Is Finally Here is a post from: The Inquisitr

Firefox 3.0.9 fixes a number of security and stability issues. It also repairs a bug in which a corrupted database would cause stored cookies to disappear, as well as a glitch that prevented embedded images from showing up within e-mails on various Web-based mail services.

Two other issues are corrected in the update: one in which new windows would not focus properly, and another in which large forms would submit too slowly.

As for Firefox 3.5 Beta 4, it should be on the way any day now. The fourth beta was originally set to have its code frozen last week, but that was evidently delayed.

Mozilla Releases Firefox 3.0.9, Preps 3.5 Beta 4 is a post from: The Inquisitr

Firefox 3.1 Beta 3: What’s New

Firefox 3.1 Beta 3 was behind schedule because of problems with its TraceMonkey JavaScript engine. Mozilla now seems to think those issues are largely resolved, noting that TraceMonkey’s “performance and stability” are improved in the new release. Other changes in the third beta include:

• An improved “Private Browsing Mode” (commonly called “porn mode”). The history sidebar now has a button to “Forget This Site” as well.

• Improvements to Web worker thread support.

• The addition of native JSON support.

• Improvements to the Gecko layout engine that’ll deliver faster rendering.

• Support for video and audio tags and other new technologies.

You can read more about the new Firefox 3.1 Beta 3 and download a copy here. Remember that this is not a final release and may still have problems — Mozilla does not recommend it for general public use.

Firefox 3.1′s New Number

This beta will be the last release under the Firefox 3.1 designation. Starting with the fourth (and as of now final) beta, the program will become Firefox 3.5. Developers decided to make the jump because of the vast amount of changes within the release.

As for timing, Mozilla has stated it does not expect to make its original first quarter goal for the final Firefox 3.5 release. No specifics have been determined thus far, though, so stay tuned.

Firefox 3.1 Beta 3 is Here is a post from: The Inquisitr

Mozilla’s frequently delayed Firefox 3.1 release may now become Firefox 3.5, the company has revealed. Engineers are considering renaming the next major Firefox update to reflect the significant changes within the program.

Firefox 3.5 Discussions

The idea for skipping ahead to the Firefox 3.5 designation came up at Mozilla meeting Wednesday. The proposal would leave the upcoming beta 3 under the 3.1 name, then bring in the 3.5 branding beginning with the (apparently now definite) fourth beta.

“The increase in scope represented by TraceMonkey and Private Browsing, plus the sheer volume of work that’s gone into everything from video and layout to places and the plugin service make it a larger increment than we believe is reasonable to label ‘.1,’ Mozilla’s Mike Shaver writes in a company discussion forum.

“3.5 will help set expectations better about the amount of awesome that’s packed into Shiretoko, and we expect uptake help from that as well,” he says.

The new numbering, Shaver notes, would not indicate plans for additional features to be added into the upcoming release; rather, it would simply better represent the work that has already been done.

As of now, Firefox 3.1 Beta 3 is expected to be made publicly available late next week, on March 12. That date, however, has been set and changed before, so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, Firefox 3.0.7–a minor security and stability update–was released this week. It is available for download at the official GetFirefox.com Web site.

Mozilla Changing Firefox 3.1 to Firefox 3.5 is a post from: The Inquisitr

I’ve been stewing over this bucketful of crap about the European Union wanting to give Microsoft the good old underhanded grab because Opera is whining about how it can’t get any market share away from Microsoft because of Internet Explorer being shipped as part of the Windows OS. Then Mozilla decides that ya that sounds like a great idea and jumps on the EU bandwagon like a bunch of whiney little brats. Now today Google decides is doesn’t want to be left out of any parties so it petitions to join in on the anti-trust case.

Sorry but the whole argument that Microsoft has a monopoly on the browser market because it ships IE with Windows is nothing short of bullshit – plain and simple. The idea behind a monopoly is that Company ‘A’ has a complete stranglehold on a segment of the market that not a single competitor has a chance to gain customers away from them.

Well excuse me all to hell but perhaps nobody is paying attention to the numbers in this lala-land but tell me the name of the one company that has been losing browser market share over the past year.

C’mon .. it’s not hard. Hell just Google for it and the numbers are there for those that aren’t frikken blind.

The only company to see its numbers go down; and no Opera you don’t count anymore, is Microsoft. Mozilla’s Firefox has continually climbed with numbers of  anywhere between 20% to 30% being commonly tossed around. Even Google’s Chrome in its short life has been taking away users from Internet Explorer so what the hell do they have to bitch about. Then we have Apple’s Safari browser which is also showing strong gains, and speaking of Safari if the big whine point everyone has against Microsoft is that they ship their own browser with their own operating system how come Apple is getting a pass?

The fact is that the browser market is one of the strongest ones out there as far as software is concerned. All the players – the serious ones anyway – hard pushing hard and producing great products. Firefox continues to grow but is facing some stiff competition from both Google and Apple. As far as I am concerned this whole EU nonsense is nothing more than them trying to return to the Microsoft ATM to see if they can grab a few more billion and Microsoft’s competitors are only to willing to tag along.

The EU, Google, Mozilla and especially Opera are a bunch of asshats is a post from: The Inquisitr

Firefox 3.1: The Latest

Mozilla delayed Firefox 3.1 Beta 3 a few weeks ago. Engineers then targeted February 18 for the release. That, of course, did not happen, and the third beta is currently tentatively slated for March 2.

As for a final release, VP of Engineering Mike Shaver now tells InfoWorld the current schedule on the table would put the date well out of its original early 2008 timeframe.

“To make it in Q1, we’d have to rush it more than we want to,” he says.

Shaver also adds that Mozilla may insert a fourth beta into the process. Developers had initially planned for only two betas but added the third back in November.

Firefox 3.1: TraceMonkey Talk

The date discussion comes as some Mozilla developers are calling for the 3.1 browser’s JavaScript engine, known as TraceMonkey, to be pulled completely from the product. The engine has been cited as the main hold-up with the release.

“Without TraceMonkey, we probably could have shipped 3.1 final by now, or, if not now, within the next month,” one developer posted in a company forum. “I think there should be a limit to the amount we’re willing to slip 3.1 to accommodate TraceMonkey, and I think we should decide what that limit is.”

Another developer suggested leaving TraceMonkey functionality in, but having it disabled by default (as was the case with past beta releases).

“Adventurous users can turn it on, and we can turn it right back on by default on the trunk / 3.2 alpha work,” he says. “Releases require compromise-logic, and there’s good stuff in 3.1 being blocked by TM.”

Shaver, the vice president of engineering, indicated to InfoWorld that TraceMonkey probably won’t be cut altogether. “We’re always looking at all of our choices, but I don’t think it’s likely,” he said.

Firefox 3.1 Update: Possible Fourth Beta, Talk of Pulling TraceMonkey Altogether is a post from: The Inquisitr