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Mozilla to Release New FireFox Beta

The Firefox releases cycle we know is coded "Deer Park" and the last version released was the Firefox 1.5. From now on Mozzila is issuing a new cycle coded "Bon Echo" and first alpha release is different from the previous FireFox alphas we know. Bon Echo is far from stable or complete, though Firefox 2 is on a very aggressive schedule, with a stable final release expected in August of this year.

Expectations from the new version includes an updated user interface, new history and bookmark system, search, extension, RSS and security enhancements over the current stable version of Firefox. Mike Beltzner, user experience lead at Mozilla, recently said on his blog that the first Deer Park alpha code was known to be "really stable." Bon Echo, in contrast, introduces more new end-user features that have not yet been fully tested, making the release more of a real alpha. "I am saying that it`s not going to provide the same level of polish and shine as our previous `alpha` releases."

Much more features and fixes are scheduled for the 2nd alpha release. Mozilla`s development roadmap refers to the Alpha 1 release as "dogfood," while the Alpha 2 release, expected in May, is "feature complete." For many, a new user interface may prove to be the most "visible" end user change. The default icons for Firefox are two years old, and a Mozilla wiki entry noted that, "popular icon styles and colours have changed in the interim resulting in our set looking somewhat dated."
Firefox`s rival and the champion of the first browser war, Microsoft`s Internet Explorer, isn`t sitting idly by. Earlier this week, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates formally announced a revised beta 2 preview of IE 7.