Mozilla has not officially updated the release schedule for Firefox 4, but the company is increasing the pressure on developers to get the browser out the door. The final version now targets a February release and if we believe the manager in charge of the developers, Firefox 4 “is gonna kick ass.”
Firefox 4 was under a seriously threat to turn into a never ending story, but it seems that Mozilla itself is now slowly getting tired of the unusually long bet process: Mozilla already released eight betas and there will be at least two more. According to Damon Sicore, senior director of engineering at Mozilla, there are 160 hard blocking bugs left until the final version can be released. He mentioned that Mozilla usually required six weeks to RC once there were 100 blockers left. “We must press hard now,” he wrote in a post addressed to Firefox developers.
“We’ve worked tremendously hard on Firefox 4, and it’s time to ship it,” Sicore wrote. ” We have to reach Release Candidate status as quickly as possible, ideally finishing the hard blockers by the beginning of February and shipping final before the end of February.” He stressed that the current bug count requires another beta release beyond Beta 9, which is currently put into freeze. Beta 10 pre-releases are already available for download. However, if Beta 10 won’t get the bug count to zero, Mozilla will decide to release another beta, Sicore said. While he noted that the developers should identify any blocking bugs that not necessarily need to be fixed, he also wrote that Mozilla will ship “the best possible product.”
“If a blocker needs more time, tell release drivers and component leads immediately. If you disagree with a blocking call, say so loudly. Do not be timid. This is your product, we need you to own it.” Sicore’s post was the most motivational message to Firefox 4 developers I am aware of: “I know you’re all tired and stressed. You all do incredible work every day, and you’ve built an amazing product. Stay focused. Be nice to each other. Firefox 4 is gonna kick ass, and you should be fiercely proud of it.”
The journey of Firefox 4 reaches back to alpha version of Firefox 3.7. Firefox 4 was officially announced back in May of 2010. The first beta surfaced in late June. The original launch schedule promised the RC version for October 2010. However, in late October Mozilla revised the schedule and said that it would release the RC in early 2011 and the final version shortly thereafter.
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