Download Mozilla Firefox 2 alpha 2

Following on from alpha 1, the people of Mozilla have the second alpha version released of Firefox 2. The release is from this server downloadable for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows, and is made available for testing purposes only. Firefox 2, also known as ‘Bon Echo’, is a cross platform open source browser for the web and includes a number of new features and improvements over the current Firefox 1 family. For example, each tab has a separate close button. In addition, the developers have improved the support of extensions and the next development milestone is carried out with Googles Safe Browsingextension, which should protect against phishing sites. The developers of Firefox have decided to remove the new bookmarking system Places from version 2 and only reintroduce it in Firefox 3. The next alpha version of Bon Echo is planned before May 26. The Mozilla Firefox 2 alpha 2 release notes let us know the following:

Bon Echo Alpha 2, the second development milestone of Mozilla Firefox 2 aimed at developers and testers, is now available. Changes include inline spell checking in text boxes, automatic session restore after a crash and changes to the default tab behavior. There is a lot in Bon Echo Alpha 2 that we need you to play with and give us feedback on:

• Links default to opening in new tabs, not new windows
• Close buttons now appear on every tab, and the close behavior is slightly different
• Inline spell checking in text boxes
• Automatic restoration of your browsing session if there is a crash
• Search suggestions now appear in the search box autocomplete for Google and Yahoo!
• New search plugin manager for removing and re-ordering search engines
• Improved support for previewing and subscribing to web feeds
• New microsummaries feature for bookmarks
• New Add-Ons manager improves the user interface for managing extensions and themes
• Updates to the extension system to provide enhanced security and to allow for easier localization of extensions
• New search service that supports Sherlock and OpenSearch engines
• Support for SVG text using svg:textPath