Download Mozilla Fennec 1.0 alpha 2

Mozilla has released the second alpha version of mobile internet browser Fennec. This browser is based on the well-known Firefox and made suitable for mobile devices that often have less computing power and a limited screen size. Windows Mobile 6 is supported as the operating system. The announcement of Fennec 1.0 alpha 2 looks like this:

Release notes:

This is second alpha milestone of our mobile version of Firefox, codenamed Fennec, on the Windows Mobile 6 platform. This release is provided for for testing purposes only, intended to:

• get wider feedback on our approach to the user experience;
• engage Mozilla community teams, including localizers, and testers;
• get feedback from Web developers;
• encourage add-on developers to port existing add-ons and invent new ones for mobile.

The initial focus of Fennec development was on building a new user experience that reflects Firefox’s design principles, adding touch screen support and other interactions appropriate for mobile phones and other handheld devices. Fennec preserves leading features like the Smart URL Bar (“awesome bar”) and support for add-ons.

This Windows Mobile alpha release continues to focus on stability, performance, and integration with the Windows Mobile OS. This version also includes numerous fixes and and our new shiney theme.

To help out, visit the Mozilla mobile page to learn about our public weekly meetings, how to find our community on IRC, and more.

These release notes provide a “quick start” for the impatient, some highlights of what’s included in this version, download and installation instructions, known issues, and frequently asked questions. Please read these notes and the bug filing instructions before reporting bugs to Bugzilla.

Quick start

This release is available for the Windows Mobile 6 software platform. If you’re viewing this on an Windows Mobile device, install Fennec.

Don’t have a Windows Mobile device? Don’t worry, you can still experiment with Fennec, provide feedback, write add-ons, and get involved by installing a version of Fennec for your desktop PC:

• Windows
• Mac OS X
• Linux

While the destkop versions of Fennec are not supported products, they are a great way to familiarize yourself with the Fennec UI, provide feedback, build add-ons, or even localize it to your native language.

What’s in this version?

• Improved panning performance
• Newly designed theme
• JavaScript error console is now built in
• Improved add-on support
• Numerous bug fixes
• Improved UI polish

This builds upon the feature set of the previous releases:

Easy navigation to Web content:

• Bookmarks, including tags
• Smart URL bar (“awesome bar”)
• Tabbed browsing with thumbnail images
• Integrated Web search – built into the URL bar
• Easy access to multiple search engines

Web content:

• Maximize content by auto-hiding controls and URL bar
• Zoom in and out

Security:

• Instant Web Site ID (“Larry”)
• password manager
• popup blocker
• Clear private data

Device services integration:

• Click on a phone number to initiate a call
• JavaScript API to get device location

Also:

• Searchable download manager
• Preferences pane
• Add-ons manager, including ability to directly find and install add-ons

Tips and tricks

• swipe left to expose back/forward/bookmark buttons and the URL bar; swipe right to dismiss them
• swipe right to expose tabs; swipe left to dismiss them

Known issues

• Plugins may not work in some of the desktop builds.
• Bug 458741: Allow panning/scrolling in iframes – Websites that display large amounts of content in IFrames, including Google Mail and Reader, will be very hard, if not impossible, to use.