Mozilla posts first alpha of Firefox 3.6
updated 10:10 am EDT, Mon August 10, 2009
Firefox 3.6 alpha debuts
Mozilla has published the first alpha preview of Firefox 3.6. The upcoming release is codenamed Namoroka, and in its completed form should represent an intermediate step towards Firefox 3.7, a major browser upgrade expected sometime in 2010. The v3.6 alpha nevertheless includes several important changes, such as a new Gecko rendering engine, upgraded to v1.9.2.
Also new are faster startup times, and speed improvements in the TraceMonkey JavaScript engine. The first beta of v3.6 is scheduled for early September; a release candidate is expected in mid- to late October, and a final version is due in November. The release should ultimately be faster in several key areas, including startup, opening tabs and loading bookmarks.
Some other planned features are history-based behavior, searches for existing tabs, and a better download manager with options for moving or deleting files. The Windows edition will also support some Windows 7 enhancements, such as support for Aero Peek. Due to stability issues, Mozilla recommends that only developers and testers try the v3.6 alpha.
