Firefox 3.6 Beta 4 now available for download

[Mike Beltzner]

(note: this announcement appears with web links at http://developer.mozilla.org/devnews/index.php/2009/11/26/firefox-3-6-beta-revision-4-now-available-for-download/ )

This morning the Mozilla community released Firefox 3.6 Beta 4, and issued an update for all Firefox 3.6 beta users. This update contains over 100 fixes from the last Firefox 3.6 beta, containing many improvements for web developers, Add-on developers, and users. Almost 70% of the thousands of Firefox Add-ons have now been upgraded by their authors to be compatible with Firefox 3.6 Beta. If your favorite Add-on isn’t yet compatible, you can also download and install the Add-on Compatibility Reporter from addons.mozilla.org – your favorite Add-on author will appreciate it!

The Mozilla community appreciates your feedback and assistance in testing this preview of the next version of Firefox. Your beta software will update itself periodically, and eventually will be updated to the final release itself.

The Beta of Firefox 3.6 / Gecko 1.9.2 introduces several new features for users to evaluate:

* (New in this version) Support for the HTML5 File API
* The ability to run scripts asynchronously to speed up page load times.
* A mechanism to prevent incompatible software from crashing Firefox.
* Users can now change their browser’s appearance with a single click, with built in support for Personas.
* Firefox 3.6 will alert users about out of date plugins to keep them safe.
* Open, native video can now be displayed full screen, and supports poster frames.
* Support for the WOFF font format.
* Improved JavaScript performance, overall browser responsiveness and startup time.
* Support for new CSS, DOM and HTML5 web technologies.

Web developers and Add-on developers should read more detail about the many new features in Firefox 3.6 for developers on the Mozilla Developer Center.

Please use the following links to download Firefox 3.6 Beta, or visit the beta download page at http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/all-beta.html

* Windows: http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-3.6b4&os=win&lang=en-US
* Mac OS X: http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-3.6b4&os=osx&lang=en-US
* Linux: http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-3.6b4&os=linux&lang=en-US

As always, the Mozilla community would appreciate hearing about any feedback you have about this release, or any bugs you may find.

cheers,
mike