The project that becameFirefox today began as an experimental branch of theMozilla Suite calledm/b (ormozilla/browser). Firefox retains thecross-platform nature of the original Mozilla browser, using theXULuser interface markup language. The use of XUL made it possible to extend the browser's capabilities through the use ofextensions andthemes. The development and installation processes of these add-ons raised security concerns, and with the release of Firefox 0.9, the Mozilla Foundation opened a Mozilla Update website containing "approved" themes and extensions. The use of XUL sets Firefox apart from other browsers, including other projects based on Mozilla'sGeckolayout engine and most other browsers, which use interfaces native to their respective platforms (Galeon andEpiphany useGTK+,K-Meleon usesMFC, andCamino usesCocoa). Many of these projects started before Firefox, and may have served as inspiration.
Hyatt, Ross, Hewitt and Chanial[1] developed their browser to combat the perceivedsoftware bloat of theMozilla Suite (codenamed, internally referred to, and continued by the community asSeaMonkey), which integrated features such asIRC,mail, news, andWYSIWYGHTML editing into oneinternet suite. After it was sufficiently developed,binaries for public testing appeared in September 2002 under the namePhoenix. This name carried the implication of themythical firebird that rose triumphantly from the ashes of its dead predecessor, in this caseNetscape Navigator which lost the "First browser war" toMicrosoft'sInternet Explorer. The nameMozilla began as the internalcodename for the original 1994 Netscape Navigator browser aiming to displaceNCSA Mosaic as the world's most popularweb browser. The name for this would-be "Mosaic killer" was meant to evoke the building-crushingGodzilla.[2]
Due to continuing pressure from the Firebird community,[3] on February 9, 2004, the project was renamed again toMozilla Firefox.[4] The name "Firefox" (a reference to thered panda)[5] was chosen for its similarity to "Firebird", and its uniqueness in the computing industry. To ensure that no further name changes would be necessary, the Mozilla Foundation began the process of registeringFirefox[6] as atrademark with theUnited States Patent and Trademark Office in December 2003. This trademark process led to a delay of several months in the release of Firefox 0.8 when the foundation discovered that Firefox had already been registered as a trademark in theUK[7] for Charlton Company software.[8]
Firefox version 1.0 was released on November 9, 2004.[9] The launch of version 1.0 was accompanied by "a respectable amount of pre-launch fervor"[10] including a fan-organized campaign to run a full-page ad inThe New York Times.
Although the Mozilla Foundation had intended to make the Mozilla Suite obsolete and replace it with Firefox, the Foundation continued to maintain the suite until April 12, 2006[11] because it had many corporate users and was bundled with other software. The Mozilla community (as opposed to the Foundation) continues to release new versions of the suite, using the product nameSeaMonkey to avoid confusion with the original Mozilla Suite.
Firefox 1.5 was released on November 30, 2005. Originally, it was planned to have a version 1.1 at an earlier date as the new Firefox version after 1.0, with development on a later version (1.5) in a separate development branch, but during 2005 both branches and their feature sets were merged (the Mozilla Foundation abandoned the 1.1 release plan after the first two alpha builds), resulting in an official release date between the original dates planned for both versions.
Version 1.5 implemented a newMac-likeoptions interface, the subject of much criticism fromMicrosoft Windows andLinux users, with a "Sanitize" action to allow someone to clear their privacy-related information without manually clicking the "Clear All" button. In Firefox 1.5, a user could clear all privacy-related settings simply by exiting the browser or using a keyboard shortcut, depending on their settings. Moreover, the software update system wasimproved (with binary patches now possible). There were alsoimprovements in the extension management system, with a number ofnew developer features. In addition, Firefox 1.5 had preliminarySVG 1.1 support.[12]
Behind the screens, the new version resynchronized the code base of the release builds (as opposed to nightly builds) with the core "trunk", which contained additional features not available in 1.0, as itbranched from the trunk around the 0.9 release. As such, there was a backlog of bug fixes between 0.9 and the release of 1.0, which were made available in 1.5.
There were also changes inoperating system support. As announced on June 23, 2005, by the Mozilla Foundation, Firefox 1.1, which later became 1.5, and other new Mozilla products have no longer supportedMac OS X v10.1, in order to improve the quality of Firefox releases onMac OS X v10.2 and above. Firefox 1.5 is the final version to supportWindows 95.
Alpha builds of Firefox 1.5 (id est, 1.1a1 and 1.1a2) did not carry Firefox branding; they were labelled "Deer Park" (which was Firefox 1.5's internal codename) and contained a different program icon. This was done to dissuade end-users from downloading preview versions, which are intended for developers only.
On October 24, 2006, Mozilla releasedFirefox 2. This version included updates to thetabbed browsing environment, the extensions manager, theGUI (graphical user interface), and the find, search and software update engines. It also implemented a new session restore feature, inlinespell checking, and ananti-phishing feature which was implemented byGoogle as an extension[13][14] and later merged into the program itself.[15] In December 2007, Firefox Live Chat was launched. It allowed users to ask volunteers questions througha system powered byJive Software, with guaranteed hours of operation and the possibility of help after hours.[16]
Firefox 2.0.0.20 was the final version that could run under an unmodified installation ofWindows NT 4.0,Windows 98, andWindows Me.[17] Subsequently, Mozilla Corporation announced it would not develop new versions of Firefox 2 after the 2.0.0.20 release, but continued Firefox 2 development as long as other programs, such asThunderbird mail client, depended on it. The final internal release was 2.0.0.22, released in late April 2009.
Firefox 2.0 featured updates totabbed browsing environment, theextensions manager, theGUI, and the find, search, and software update engines; a new session restore feature; inlinespell checking; and ananti-phishing feature which was implemented byGoogle as an extension,[18][19] and later merged into the program itself.[20] Mozilla ended support for Firefox 2 on December 18, 2008.[21] As one article noted after the release of Firefox 2.0 in October 2006, "IE6 had the lion's share of the browser market with 77.22%.Internet Explorer 7 had climbed to 3.18%, while Firefox 2.0 was at 0.69%."[22] With support cut at the end of June, Firefox 1.5 dropped to just 2.85%."[22][23][24][25]
Firefox 2.x wasend-of-lifed in December 2008.[26] With roughly 26 months of support, onlyFirefox 3.6 was supported longer. The Gecko 1.8.1 browser core continued to receive patches for projects such asCamino,K-Meleon, andSeaMonkey, even after official Firefox releases had ceased. By 2011, the 1.8.1 core had become obsolete, as major websites dropped support for it[27] by employing newer technologies for presentation and complex scripting.[28][29] The latter can be resource-intensive with the older core, and users stuck with it should useNoScript[30] to avoid problems withscripts that take too long to process (at the cost of losing some or all site features beyond basic functionality).
Firefox 3 was released on June 17, 2008,[31][32] by theMozilla Corporation. Firefox 3 uses version 1.9 of the MozillaGecko layout engine for displaying web pages. This version fixes many bugs, improves standard compliance, and implements new webAPIs.[33] Other new features include a redesigneddownload manager, a new "Places" system for storingbookmarks andhistory, and separatethemes for different operating systems.[34] While the new functionality of the location bar, dubbed the "Awesomebar", was overall well-received,[35] there were those who did not like it due touser interface and performance changes,[36][37][38] so much that extensions were made to revert it.[39][40] Firefox 3 receivedCNET Editors' Choice in June 2008.[41]
Firefox 3.0 was developed under the codenameGran Paradiso.[42] This, like other Firefox codenames, is the name of an actual place; in this case the seventh-highest mountain in theGraian Alps where they first came up with the idea. Planning began in October 2006, when the development team asked users to submit feature requests that they wished to be included in Firefox 3.[43] This was followed by several more beta releases in spring 2008 culminating in the June release.[44]
Firefox 3 had more than 8 million unique downloads the day it was released, setting aGuinness World Record.[45] The large number of users attempting to access the Mozilla website on June 17 caused it to become unavailable for at least a few hours, and attempts at upgrading to the new version resulted in server timeouts. The site was not updated for the download of Firefox 3 until 12:00 PDT (19:00 UTC), two hours later than originally scheduled.[46][47] Gareth Deaves, Records Manager forGuinness World Records, complimented Mozilla, saying, "Mobilizing over 8 million internet users within 24 hours is an extremely impressive accomplishment and we would like to congratulate the Mozilla community for their hard work and dedication."[48]
By July 2008, it held over 5.6% of the recordedusage share of web browsers.[49] Estimates of Firefox 3.0's global market share as of February 2010[update] were generally in the range of 4–5%,[50][51][52] and then dropped as users migrated toFirefox 3.5 and laterFirefox 3.6. Partially as a result of this, between mid-December 2009 and the end of January 2010, Firefox 3.5 was the most popular browser (when counting individual browser versions), passingInternet Explorer 7.[53] Mozilla ended support for Firefox 3 on March 30, 2010, with the release of 3.0.19.[54]
Firefox 3.5 added the Gecko 1.9.1 engine, support for the<video> and<audio> elements defined in theHTML 5 draft specification, aprivate browsing mode, native support forJSON and web worker threads,multi-touch support,[55] and an updated logo from the previous releases.[56] The default search engine inRussian language builds was changed toYandex rather thanGoogle, after a survey of Russian Firefox users indicated they preferred Yandex.[57]
Even before the release of Firefox 3.0 on June 17, 2008, Firefox 3.1 was in development under the codename "Shiretoko".[58] It was planned to include new interface features such as tab previews, tag auto-completion, HTML 5<video> tag support, and CSS text shadows.[59] The first Alpha was released on July 28, 2008[60][61] and on October 14, 2008, the first beta of Firefox 3.1 was released. It included a new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine, which is not enabled by default, and the implementation of theW3C Geolocation API.[62]
Estimates of Firefox 3.5's global market share in February 2010 were around 15–20%[63][64][65] and rose rapidly in July 2009 as users migrated fromFirefox 3.0. From January 2010 it began to decline as users migrated toFirefox 3.6. Between mid-December 2009 and February 2010, Firefox 3.5 was the most popular browser (when counting individual browser versions) according toStatCounter,[53] and as of February 2010[update] was one of the top 3 browser versions according toNet Applications.[66]
Firefox 3.6 was released in January 2010. The release's main improvement over Firefox 3.5 is improved performance (due to further speed improvements in theTraceMonkeyJavaScript engine). It uses theGecko 1.9.2 engine (compared to 1.9.1 in Fx 3.5), which improves compliance withweb standards. It was codenamedNamoroka.[67] In this version, support forX BitMap images was dropped. This release marked the beginning of a newdevelopment cycle for Firefox. As well as receiving major updates, the browser also received minor updates with new features. This was to allow users to receive new features more quickly and the dawn of a new roadmap that reflected these changes.[68]
Development for this version started on December 1, 2008.[69] The firstalpha of version 3.6 was released on August 7, 2009.[70] The first beta version was released on October 30,[71] followed by Beta 2 on November 10, Beta 3 on November 17, Beta 4 on November 26, and Beta 5 on December 17.[72] Release Candidate 1 was released on January 8, 2010, followed by Release Candidate 2 on January 17.[73] The final version was released on January 21, 2010. Firefox versions 4 through 9 had all reached end-of-life status when Mozilla discontinued support for Firefox 3.6 on April 24, 2012,[74][75] which at over 27 months of support made it the longest supported version of Firefox, with automatic update toFirefox 12 pushed out to compatible devices by June 2012.[76]
The Firefox developers created a new feature calledLorentz. It is named after theLorentz National Park. A preview version of Lorentz, Firefox 3.6.3plugin1, was made available on April 8, 2010.[77] Betas of Firefox 3.6.4 were made available starting on April 20, 2010. Firefox 3.6.4 was released on June 22, 2010.[78][79] The Windows and Linux versions incorporate out-of-process plug-ins (OOPP), which isolates execution of plug-ins (Adobe Flash, Apple QuickTime and Microsoft Silverlight by default) into a separate process.[68][80] This significantly reduces the number of Firefox crashes experienced by users who are watching online videos or playing games;[81] the user can simply refresh the page to continue. Mozilla states that 30% of browser crashes are caused by third-party plugins.[82]
Firefox 4 was released on March 22, 2011.[83] It brought a newuser interface, with a new look designed to make it faster.[84][85] Early mockups of the new interface onWindows,Mac OS X, andLinux were first made available in July 2009. It was also based on theGecko 2.0 engine, which added or improved support forHTML5,CSS3,WebM, andWebGL.[86]
Other features were tab groups, improved notifications, "switch to tab" where opened tabs can be searched through the address bar,[87] application tabs, a redesigned add-on manager, integration withFirefox Sync, and support for multi-touch displays.[88] It also added support for the"do not track" header, an emerging standard for Web privacy.[89] The header signals the user's request to the web service that anyweb visitor tracking service be disabled. In the future, this privacy request may become a legal requirement.[90]
On October 13, 2006,Brendan Eich, Mozilla's then-Chief-Technology-Officer, wrote about the plans for "Mozilla 2", referring to the most comprehensive iteration (since its creation) of the overall platform on which Firefox and other Mozilla products run.[91] Most of the objectives were gradually incorporated into Firefox through versions 3.0, 3.5, and 3.6. The largest changes, however, were planned for Firefox 4.
The firstbeta was made available on July 6, 2010; Release Candidate 2 (a base for the final version) was released on March 18, 2011.[92] It was codenamedTumucumaque, and was Firefox's last large release cycle. The Mozilla team planned smaller and quicker releases following other browser vendors.[93]
On March 22, 2011, and during the 24-hour launch period, Firefox 4 received 7.1 million downloads, as counted and verified by theMozilla Foundation.[94] Before that date, 3 million people downloaded the second release candidate of the browser, which later became the final version. As a result, the new version of the browser received 10 million downloads on the first day.[95] Notwithstanding, it fell behind the previous record established by the launch of Firefox 3 in 2008, which was 8 million. Second-day downloads for the browser were reported to be 8.75 million, but the lack of an official representative fromGuinness to monitor the numbers, made the record attained byFirefox 3 only unofficially been broken.[94]
There was one security update in April 2011 (4.0.1) and version 4 of the browser was made obsolete by the release ofFirefox 5 in June 2011.[96]
Firefox 4 represents a departure in user interface layout and behaviour from previous versions.[97] Users face some issues negotiating these changes, some of which are not documented in the release notes. This new feature, called on-demand session restore, overwrites the previous session on exit without prompting. The user can check whether there is a saved session at any time by viewing the History menu item "Restore Previous Session".[98] If it is available (not greyed out) there is a restorable session available. In beta 7 introduced new config option to limit the number of tabs loaded at once during session restore. This also made possible to lazy load tabs,[99] the preferences option to switch this behavior appeared in version 8.[100]
{{cite web}}:|author= has generic name (help)We're going to begin phasing out our support, starting with Google Docs and Google Sites.
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