The Mozilla Foundation announced on Tuesday the availability of Release Candidate 1 of its Firefox 2 browser, but warned that its free, open source browser might have a few leftover bugs and suggests only experienced users and developers download the latest version.
Using Firefox 2 is supposed to mean safer surfing. The browser will reportedly detect when a fraudulent site — like a bogus eBay or PayPal — has been accessed and will alert the user with a dialogue box and greyed-out window, according to CNET Reviews' initial take on the browser.
Besides stepping up security, the browser also has a new look. The toolbar is see-through until moused over, when it will appear to glow. The RC1 version of Firefox 2 includes dynamic bookmarks that give personalised or updated titles on the bookmark list — for instance, news Web sites will feature the latest headline instead of the name of the site. There's also a spell-check-as-you-go feature and the ability to resume the most recent browsing session, including any tabs that were open.
Firefox 2 RC 2 is scheduled for release in the first week of October and the final version by the end of that month.
Firefox has been steadily gaining ground against market leader Microsoft's Internet Explorer since version 1.0 was officially released in November 2004. On ZDNet UK’s sister site, CNET News.com, Firefox has a market share of nearly 30 percent, while IE has 58 percent and Apple's Safari has about 9 percent.
However, when considering Web surfing as a whole, 10 percent is done using Firefox and 80 percent with Internet Explorer, according to the Web analysis firm Net Applications.
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