Firefox 1.5 expected to include an auto-update service.
The next version of the Firefox Web browser, which will be called Firefox 1.5, is slated for release later this summer, and development work continues on new features that include an automatic update service.

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Chris Hofmann, lead engineer at The Mozilla Foundation, the Mountain View, Calif.-based open-source group that oversees the Firefox project, said Friday that contrary to news reports, the release hasn’t been delayed.

“There really hasn’t been any official date” for a release, Hofmann said. “We haven’t ever published a date.” Instead, the target time frame for a new release has always been mid- to late summer, he said.

Although until now the next release of the Firefox 1 browser has generally been referred to as Version 1.1, that nomenclature is being changed to Version 1.5. The reason, according to Hofmann, is that it will be easier for developers to test interim versions of the software using a wider gap in the version numbers.

Developers Hard at Work
So far, developers are making good progress in adding features to the upcoming version of Firefox, including development tools that can be used to encourage additional Web applications for the browser, Hofmann said.

First and second alpha releases of the new Firefox were released last month, and a beta version is expected soon. But no specific date has been offered for when the beta will be available.

Earlier this week, The Mozilla Foundation announced that international versions of Firefox and the Thunderbird e-mail client would be delayed so that several recent security fixes could be included. The delay arose from a number of software glitches that were introduced in last week’s release of English-language versions of Firefox and Thunderbird.

The open-source browser was released in November for free download and has grown as a popular alternative to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser and other competing browsers.

By April, Firefox had been downloaded 50 million times, according to The Mozilla Foundation.

Posted by Dablu as Browsers at 11:57 PM PDT

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The Mozilla Foundation has delayed the release of the next version of the open source Firefox browser.

According to the organisation’s website, the next public version of the software codenamed Deer Park is slated for a September release. The browser will carry version number 1.5.

Previously developers planned to release a version 1.1 in July, but that software version is now only listed as an alpha, which is programming lingo for a very early test version. The version 1.1 alpha will jump to version 1.4 in August, which in its turn is the beta for 1.5.

Ben Goodger, a developer for the project, revealed the updated development and release schedule last week in a posting on Mozilla’s website.

“This is, as always, subject to change,” he warned.

Additional upgrades to Firefox 2.0 and 3.0 are expected by the first and third quarter of next year respectively.

Firefox in the past months has been hit by multiple security threaths. The development delay however isn’t a result of those vulnerabilities, but is caused by a decision to add additional features to the software.

Among the expected changes, the new version will allows the browser to be upgraded through the use of small patches rather than by requiring users to download and install a full version of the software as is required currently.

Developers are also working on a technology that allows for faster caching of pages that users have previously visited, as well as a way to quickly remove cookies and history of previously visited pages and temporary internet files.

Posted by Dablu as Browsers at 6:10 AM PDT

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