Firefox 8 Release Candidate Published for Download

A new version of Firefox is on the way. Version 8, the fifth new release of the browser this year, will be released next Monday and is now available as a release candidate build (Mozilla now considers its final beta builds release candidates).

With no more changes, except critical bug fixes, to be expected, the latest Firefox will arrive with Twitter search, tab tweaks and greater restrictions for third-party add-ons, which will make Firefox 8 a must-upgrade.

In Firefox 8, restored tabs will only load the active tab in a new session. All other tabs will be loaded when viewed by the user. Tab dragging is now represented by an animated tabbed and not just a simple line. Third party add-ons such as toolbars will be much more guarded in Firefox 8 as they cannot run without the user's explicit permission anymore. This should prevent at least some breakage in the browser that is caused by outdated or unwanted add-ons.

Not included in this version is the much anticipated silent upgrade feature in Firefox that will work similarly to the process Google is using with Chrome. Mozilla expects this feature to be available in Firefox 10.

  • ta152h
    Firefox is going to have to go 64-bit just to keep up with the version numbers.
    Reply
  • STravis
    That silent feature has caused grief to a few people I knw. Maybe Firefox should stay away from it.
    Reply
  • charithrac
    this is a joke, is this a race to get the highest version number or something? can they not stick to one version and improve it?
    Reply
  • makaveli316
    ashaneFirefox really is turning into a slow old age campaigner! Chrome is now SO much faster!ashanehttp://minikillersite.blogspot.com/
    I bet you can't even notice the speed difference in a real world performance, but you saw some benchmark with milliseconds of a difference and now you're saying that Chrome is "SO" much faster.
    Please, make the internet a favor and smash your router for good.
    Reply
  • nikorr
    makaveli316I bet you can't even notice the speed difference in a real world performance, but you saw some benchmark with milliseconds of a difference and now you're saying that Chrome is "SO" much faster.Please, make the internet a favor and smash your router for good.Exactly.
    Reply
  • jacobdrj
    Load time for Chrome is still a bit better...
    I pretty much live off Firefox right now, coming off of Chrome... Chrome was too buggy with gmail and google docs. I think Google revamping their gmail page may help with that, so I may be going back to Chrome... (So ironic that Google Chrome caused such a problem with Google Mail and Google Docs... Its like Google never even bothered to test their own pages with their own browser...).

    And at work: I use all browsers... From IE to Safari to Opera to FF to Chrome and sometimes beyond... Certain pages only work with certain browsers, period...
    Reply
  • PhoneyVirus
    That silent feature has caused grief to a few people I know. Maybe Firefox should stay away from it.

    You are so right that's why Chrome got removed I'm NOT having services running on the system for noting plus Task Scheduler loaded ether for a stupid update I let you know when I ready to update. Keep this up and I'll just use IE as you can see is still the most used browser. http://www.netmarketshare.com/
    Reply
  • JOSHSKORN
    Firefox should go 64-bit and end its 32-bit browser. Most computers out there now might actually be 64-bit. I haven't looked, but are they still selling computers in stores with 32-bit OS's?
    Reply
  • makaveli316
    JOSHSKORNFirefox should go 64-bit and end its 32-bit browser. Most computers out there now might actually be 64-bit. I haven't looked, but are they still selling computers in stores with 32-bit OS's?
    32bit is a dying breed.
    Reply
  • vittau
    I can tolerate the silent updates, as long as it doesn't install unwanted crap on my computer (like Google's GoogleUpdate.exe and such).
    Reply