Mozilla Firebird

The Mozilla Firebird browser is a web browser and a spin-off project from Mozilla. The project aims to develop software that is smaller and faster than Mozilla by extracting and redesigning the browser part of the application suite. Mozilla Firebird retains the cross-platform nature of the original Mozilla, as it is written using the XUL user interface language. This contrasts with some other Mozilla-based projects - such as Galeon, K-Meleon, and Camino - as well as the popular Internet Explorer, which all use interfaces native to their respective platforms.

Mozilla Firebird was known as "Phoenix" until April 14, 2003, when a name change was made, because of trademark issues with Phoenix Technologies[?], a BIOS manufacturer. Reaction to the new name has been mixed. Users and developers of the Firebird[?] database server have claimed that the Mozilla Firebird web browser would cause confusion among users. Now, people can't simply refer to "Firebird", but to avoid confusion, users of the web browser should use "Mozilla Firebird".

From version 1.5 of Mozilla onwards, Mozilla Firebird is expected to be coupled with Mozilla Thunderbird, a standalone mail client built on similar principles, to replace the current all-in-one application suite. This is expected to make Mozilla faster and more customizable. Therefore, after version 1.4 of Mozilla, Mozilla Firebird will be referred to by the somewhat less inspiring name of "Mozilla Browser".

As of this writing, the current version of Mozilla Firebird is version 0.6, Glendale, released on May 17, 2003.

External Links

• Mozilla Firebird project homepage (http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firebird/)
• Mozilla Firebird Help (http://texturizer.net/firebird/) - A useful help site for Mozilla Firebird users
• MozillaZine article on Firebird debate (http://www.mozillazine.org/talkback.html?article=3082)