Firefox early version history

The project that became Firefox today began as an experimental branch of the Mozilla Suite called m/b (or mozilla/browser).

Firefox retains the cross-platform nature of the original Mozilla browser, using the XUL user interface markup language.

The use of XUL made it possible to extend the browser's capabilities through the use of extensions and themes.

The use of XUL sets Firefox apart from other browsers, including other projects based on Mozilla's Gecko layout engine and most other browsers, which use interfaces native to their respective platforms (Galeon and Epiphany use GTK+, K-Meleon uses MFC, and Camino uses Cocoa).

Hyatt, Ross, Hewitt and Chanial[1] developed their browser to combat the perceived software bloat of the Mozilla Suite (codenamed, internally referred to, and continued by the community as SeaMonkey), which integrated features such as IRC, mail, news, and WYSIWYG HTML editing into one internet suite.

After it was sufficiently developed, binaries for public testing appeared in September 2002 under the name Phoenix.

This name carried the implication of the mythical firebird that rose triumphantly from the ashes of its dead predecessor, in this case Netscape Navigator which lost the "First browser war" to Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

[15] The name "Firefox" (a reference to the red panda)[16] was chosen for its similarity to "Firebird", and its uniqueness in the computing industry.

[20] The launch of version 1.0 was accompanied by "a respectable amount of pre-launch fervor"[21] including a fan-organized campaign to run a full-page ad in The New York Times.

Version 1.5 implemented a new Mac-like options interface, the subject of much criticism from Microsoft Windows and Linux users, with a "Sanitize" action to allow someone to clear their privacy-related information without manually clicking the "Clear All" button.

As announced on 23 June 2005 by the Mozilla Foundation, Firefox 1.1, which later became 1.5, and other new Mozilla products have no longer supported Mac OS X v10.1, in order to improve the quality of Firefox releases on Mac OS X v10.2 and above.

Firefox 3 uses version 1.9 of the Mozilla Gecko layout engine for displaying web pages.

This version fixes many bugs, improves standard compliance, and implements new web APIs.

[91] Firefox 3 had more than 8 million unique downloads the day it was released, setting a Guinness World Record.

[190] Early mockups of the new interface on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux were first made available in July 2009.

[195][196][197][198][199] Firefox 4 was based on the Gecko 2.0 engine, which added or improved support for HTML5, CSS3, WebM, and WebGL.