Correction on June 13: The spelling of Johnathan Nightingale has been fixed.
On Wednesday, Mozilla announced next Tuesday, June 17, as "Download Day" for Firefox 3. The company also released Firefox 3 release candidate 3 as a final step toward full release.
With Firefox 3, Mozilla is attempting to set a Guinness Book of World Records for the largest number of software downloads within a 24-hour period. There is currently no Guinness Book record for that accomplishment.
Firefox 3 includes a new rendering engine, so pages load faster. It also uses fewer system resources, addressing a complaint in earlier versions.
On this week's Security Bites podcast, I spoke with Johnathan Nightingale, Mozilla's "human shield," about the security features within Firefox 3, including its antimalware protection and support for Extended Verification SSL.
The current Firefox 3 release candidate, version 3, can be downloaded for Windows, Portable, Mac, and Linux systems.
Mozilla hopes to set a world record for the most downloads within a 24-hour period on the day Firefox 3 is released (currently expected to be in June).
The online edition of Guinness Book of World Records does not list a current record for most downloads within 24 hours.
The final release candidates for Firefox 3 are showing a number of improvements, including greater rendering speed, the use of fewer resources, and more baked-in security features than other browsers.
To help Mozilla set a world record, the foundation recommends the following:
- Sign up to get the final copy of Firefox 3 on Download Day.
- Host a Download Day Fest on Firefox 3 launch day at your school, office, or anywhere with an Internet connection.
- Become a Firefox campus representative and collect pledges from fellow students.
- Add Mozilla buttons and banners to your site, blog, or profile.
To get people excited, Mozilla has provided a map showing pledges to date along with more details.
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