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Mozilla is growing, and it seems that in addition to the recent world record, which was set for the software downloads in a 24 hour time period, they have also risen to 19.03% of the market share. Mozilla saw an increase from 18.41% up to 19.03% from the end of May to the end of June.

Of course, Firefox may be seeing an increase, which is at least partially due to the recent release of Firefox 3, but Internet Explorer still remains on top with a whopping 73.01%.

On the other hand, some are saying that because of the auto-update features within Firefox, that those users are amongst the most users with up to date versions of their browser installed. Firefox was noted as having 83% of their users with an up to date software version, as compared to just 63.3% of Safari users, 56.1% of Opera users and IE having just 47.6% of users with the latest and most stable version.

Read [Yahoo! News]

Perhaps in a catch-up game with the recent launch of the ultra popular Mozilla Firefox 3 and upcoming Opera 9.5, Microsoft has been beefing up its own Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) with plethora of new security features

Currently in public beta phase, this once dominant Web browser hopes to win back the hearts of its disheartened users with its new anti-malware protection and Cross Site Scripting (XSS) filter to fight against the so-called reflection attacks.

On top of these new developments, Microsoft recently announced other security features in IE8 such as the upgraded version of its phishing filter called SmartScreen Filter, improvement on ActiveX controls as well as anti-social engineering features.

However, most of these features are already available in other Web browsers so it won’t do much to help IE8 differentiate itself from competition. To make matters worse, your computer must be running Windows Vista SP1 or Windows XP SP3 for you to enjoy this added protection.

In short, we suggest sticking with Firefox!

Read [InformationWeek]

Well, it has now become official, Firefox 3 has set the record for the most software downloads in a 24 hour time period and have been added to the Guinness World Records. The time period coincided with the launch of Firefox 3 and ran from 18:16 UTC on June 17, 2008 to 18:16 UTC on June 18, 2008 during which a total of 8,002,530 people downloaded the software.

The downloads also did not stop there, as of current, which is just about two weeks since the launch, Firefox 3 has been downloaded just over 28 million times. Overall that is pretty impressive, but at least according to this user, so is Firefox. If you have not already I would suggest giving Firefox 3 a try.

Read [SpreadFirefox]

We had already expected the release to come in mid-June and it looks like Mozilla has held that date true, they have officially announced that Firefox 3 will be available on June 17.

In addition, they have also, as we mentioned early yesterday, released an additional release candidate as RC3 that took care of a few last minute bugs found in the Mac version.

Otherwise start getting ready to download and install Firefox 3 on June 17, and don’t forget to help all of your not-so-computer literate friends and family members do the same.

In addition to the release, June 17 will also be the day that Mozilla is attempting to set the world record for the most software downloaded during a single day.

Read [Mozilla]

While we were all set and waiting for the final release of Firefox to drop at anytime now, CNET is reporting that some of us may indeed be given an RC 3 sometime today. The latest release, which will come officially as RC 3 will only be for Mac users as the Windows and Linux versions are already considered stable. The changes are also reported to be “internal” so assuming you are a Mac user and do choose to update, its more than likely you will not see any difference. Still no word of any delay with the final release, so as of now Firefox 3 is still on track for a “mid-June” release.

Read [CNET]

As we expected Mozilla has made the next early-adopter release of Firefox 3 available for download. The latest is Firefox 3 RC2 and although the release notes are a little light on the exact updates, its safe to say they have taken care of the issues that were found during the testing of Firefox 3 RC1. This latest download of RC2 is expected to be the last early release and the full, final Firefox 3 is still on track for a June availability.

I have been using RC2 since last night, and was able to update from RC1 without any issues, similar to the last few versions of FF3 it has been stable so far. However, a little friendly warning, as always take caution with any beta or pre-release software.

Download [Mozilla]

Mozilla has just kicked out a clever marketing strategy for the upcoming release of Firefox 3. Using their power as a very popular free browser application, why not use your clout to get a Guinness record, right? So Mozilla is now asking us to support their campaign to make it in the Guinness Book of World Records with the most number of downloads in 24 hours. A lofty goal, but if anyone can do it, is just might be Mozilla.

For us Firefox fans, all we have to do is pledge our support via a button at Spread Firefox. Mozilla will log your email so that you will be notified when the official roll out of Firefox 3 will be, as well as an update if Firefox breaks the Guinness record. Sounds fun? Why not?

Currently there are around 368,947 Firefox users who have pledged their support. Certainly not that impressive of a number. Can Mozilla beat the Guinness record for the most software download? Do Firefox users even care about setting a new Guinness record? If the current number of pledges is an indication of anything, it looks like Firefox users are not interested at all.

Still, there’s no harm in joining the party if you have a few minutes to spare.

Read [SpreadFirefox]

We have seen numerous reports, those even coming directly from Mozilla about how we can expect the final release of Firefox 3 to land this June and up until now it looked like it was right on track. While we have not heard any news of a major delay with that expected date, the latest news may push it up just a little bit. Recently we had seen the reports that ten critical flaws had been found in Firefox 3 RC1.

Since then Mozilla had been working to decide whether to ship the final “consumer-ready” release and then fix the flaws with version 3.0.1 or just move onto a Release Candidate 2. Well it seems the decision has been made, because they have officially announced that we will indeed be getting an RC2 before the final.

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Firefox 3 Release Candidate 1 users, listen up. Mozilla has stated that RC1 contains ten “high-priority” bugs, which have been marked as “critical.” Released almost two weeks ago, RC1 was thought by the developers as a possible final product, but now that these flaws are coming to light, the company is debating whether to release Firefox 3 Final with the updates or ship out another release candidate for further testing from the community.

“We are making a go/no go decision early next week, as we are still collecting feedback.”

Some of the bugs include certain websites crashing the browser, Ubuntu 8.04 breaking “3.0pre’s addons,” the spell checker once disabled is not able to be re-enabled again, and drag and drop bookmarks not being usable. These bugs could also be fixed, if RC1 is the final release, in 3.0.1 (which would essentially be RC2). The bugs are currently undergoing testing and by May 27, we’ll have word if RC1 is in fact the final release or if RC2 will be compiled and released to the public for another round of testing.

Read [PC World]

For all you Firefox users out there, Mozilla has just confirmed in an interview with CNET that Firefox 3 will be finalized by June. The latest betas of version 3 have been getting great reviews across the board, especially by Mac users who love the faster load speeds compared to version 2.

“We’re in a phase where we’re letting add-ons get a chance to update,” Schroepfer said. “We like to have RCs (release candidates) out for a while to gather feedback.”

More release candidates are possible, he said. With Firefox 2, there were three. “We’re in better shape this time, but there’s no reason to rush this,” he said.

I am looking forward to the finalized version of what already looks like a solid browser. In the interview, Schroepfer (Mozilla’s VP of engineering) also mentioned that Firefox 3 will be “2 to 3 times faster than the previous version and nearly 10 times faster than IE 7.” Though we’re assuming it’ll still be slower than Safari.

In the meantime, you can grab the latest release candidate from Mozilla’s site.

Read [CNET]