What’s Holding Up The Next Version of Firefox

Former Webmonkey Scott Gilbertson is covering Firefox over at Epicenter and explains why we aren't currently installing the latest JavaScript enhanced version of Firefox right now.

In short, Safari 4 kicked the upcoming Firefox's 3.1 beta 2's butt when it comes to JavaScript speed benchmarks, which had Firefox engineers going back to the drawing board to make more tweeks to its own engine, nicknamed Tracemonkey. Beta 3 of Firefox is expected in mid-March.

Thanks to the delay, Firefox engineers started considering jumping ahead to the next big version, 3.5. Meanwhile, Safari, Chrome and Opera engineers are eagerly working on their JavaScript runtime engines. The choice quote from FireFox lead Mike Shaver, who predicts the browsers will play leap frog with each other for the foreseeable future:

Shaver says the various Javascript engines and the competition between them is good for users. “We're pushing each other in lots of different directions,” says Shaver, “having multiple [Javascript engines] has been great for everyone and it's great for users.”

Check out Scott's Firefox beta coverage and interview with Mike Shaver and follow up with Firefox 3.5 coverage.

See Also:

• Mozilla Mulls Adding a Third Beta to Firefox 3.1 Schedule
• Firefox 3.1 Alpha Preview Delivers Slick New Features
• Firefox to Embrace Porn With New 'Private Browsing' Mode