Firefox 4 alpha available for download!

By coolguyrahul
in Web Browser Discussion & Support

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Xenomorph

Posted
Posted
... Does this even make sense?! can you go a new version skipping one? because as long as FF3 isn't complete its nothing much diffrent than FF4 prealpha.... good think that browsers are free.

This isn't new at all.

When 1.0 was out, and the 1.5 branch was in Beta, 2.0 alpha trunk was also going. Did they release 2.0 before 1.5? No.

Now 2.0 is out, they are working on beta 3, and the 4.0 alpha trunk is being worked on. Are they going to release 4.0 before 3.0? No.

Same thing as before, just bigger number difference.

Grand Master

shakey_snake

Posted
Posted (edited)
I'm getting sick of these threads every time a new nightly is released.

So far there have been release threads for Beta 4, Beta 5 and now Alpha 1 of Firefox 4, and yet we're only on Beta 3 of FX3.

this is why I created this thread:

https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=623614

BTW, contrary to the "Tech Today" article, this isn't actually an alpha build, Alpha builds are development milestones, and usually undergo at least some QA testing.

This is simply a nightly, as is denoted such as being named: pre-alpha (i.e. a nightly that occurred before alpha 1)

I'm going to have to right a guide to Mozilla build naming conventions soon. I can't stand this much longer.

Edited by shakey_snake
Community Regular

BinaryFragger

Posted
Posted (edited)

This is not really a Firefox 4.0 build. As others mentioned, it's only a nightly build, which contains the latest code. These builds will eventually become Firefox 4 (and 5, 6, etc). They call it 4.0a1pre in anticipation of an alpha release later down the road.

When a new version of Firefox is released, nightly builds get a bump in their version number. For example, when Firefox 2.0.0.12 was released, branch nightly builds were renamed firefox-2.0.0.13pre

Edited by BinaryFragger
Community Regular

BinaryFragger

Posted
Posted
LOL, i'll stick with Firefox 2 until they release 3. I think 4 is a long way off, and probably just for testing purposes?

Yes, these 4.0a1pre builds are known as "trunk builds."

As per MozillaZine:

Q. What is the trunk?

A. The trunk is the central source code that is used for continuous and ongoing development. Trunk builds contain the very latest bleeding-edge changes and updates. However, the trunk can also be very unstable at times, so it's good to ask around before using trunk builds.

Visit The Burning Edge if you want to see what's new in the trunk builds.

Proficient

GusValentine

Posted
Posted

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:2.0a1pre) Gecko/2008030802 Minefield/4.0a1pre

Got the zip version without installer just to have a look... Can't see any difference from FF3 (all menus and Options are the same).

On FF3, one of my 2 add-ons doesn't work, on FF4, they both don't work LOL

Rookie

Jzilla

Posted
Posted (edited)
After Internet Explorer 8 it’s now time for Firefox 4 Alpha codenamed Minesfield. Many new changes has been made in this new version of Firefox.It’s pretty smooth and fast and also the user interface has been changed considerably.

Here are some of the notable changes in this version-

* Changes to the graphics layer

* New data storage layer for bookmarks and history (using SQLite)

* Extended search plugin format

* Updates to the extension system to provide enhanced security and to allow for easier localization of extensions

* Support for SVG text using svg:textPath

* To get a list of the most recent additions, check out the Burning Edge weblog.

U can download it here- do not bother...

Source- Tech Today

It is far from being available as the actual Firefox 4.0 Alpha 1 is not likely for some months yet as the techtoday blog your sourcing from jumped the gun big time. Just somebody who was browsing the ftp.mozilla.org and saw the "4.0a1pre" and thought "Hey Mozilla just released 4.0 alpha 1 without telling us". Mozilla may not be really working on the early development of Firefox 4.0 until after Firefox 3.0 or close to that as they are busy enough with Firefox 3.0 at the moment.

As was posted on the blog: ""This a new Trunk due to part of moving from CVS to Mercurial. At some point CVS will only be for security branch checkins, until they retire that branch, then it will be closed. There will be two Trunk, current Trunk “Gecko 1.9 Trunk” and New Trunk “Mozilla 2 (hg) Trunk”.

“Minefield” (not Minesfield) is the code name for the 1.9 Trunk itself and not really the name of any Firefox version as while code name for Firefox 3.0 is Gran Paradiso, there is no code name for Firefox 4 yet as it is not Minefield as they have not named the new 2.0 Trunk yet.""

Yes, these 4.0a1pre builds are known as "trunk builds."

As per MozillaZine:

Q. What is the trunk?

A. The trunk is the central source code that is used for continuous and ongoing development. Trunk builds contain the very latest bleeding-edge changes and updates. However, the trunk can also be very unstable at times, so it's good to ask around before using trunk builds.

Visit The Burning Edge if you want to see what's new in the trunk builds.

A different Trunk actually as Minefield is the 1.9Trunk that Firefox is currently being developed on while the Firefox 4.0a1pre is on a new 2.0 Trunk that has yet to be renamed as naming both Trunks Minefield may be confusing enough as is. Edited by Jzilla
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