Mozilla Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 Released for Those on the Bleeding Edge

According to Mozillazine.org, Mozilla Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 is now available for download. This is the first beta release of the next major Firefox update. The final release of Firefox 1.5 is scheduled for later this year.

New features include an improved software update system, faster Back and Forward navigation, a feature for clearing private browsing data, drag-and-drop reordering of browser tabs, a redesigned Options/Preferences window and better popup blocking. Web standards support is also improved, with support for Scalable Vector Graphics, JavaScript 1.6 and more CSS. Accessibility is also better (including new DHTML accessibility features), security has been enhanced and there's now greater support for Mac OS X.

Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 may be downloaded from the Firefox project page. The Mozilla Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 Release Notes have more information. Looking forward, Mozilla Firefox 1.5 Beta 2 is scheduled for release on Wednesday, October 5th, and the first Firefox 1.5 release candidate is due on Friday 28th October. [Dana Baggett]