Add-ons have proven to be a major benefit of Firefox (and Thunderbird). The download counter at addons.nozilla.org (AMO) recently hit the 600-Million mark. Keep in mind the actual number of add-ons downloaded is likely much higher being this figure does not represent those add-ons downloaded from developers’ or third-party sites. The chart on the right breaks down the percentage of these 600-million downloads by application (Firefox 1.x, Firefox 2.x, Firefox 3.x or Thunderbird). I am kinda mixed on the figure for Thunderbird, as I would hope it would be higher but then again 4% is pretty good given the significant…

David Ascher head of the newly formed MailCo has posted plans for Thunderbird 3. The main plan is to increase the already sizable user base (millions) by including with Thunderbird 3 built-in calendar integration (based off of Lighting) much like Microsoft Outlook.  Also to introduce a better search function such as those found in Gmail or Mail.app. In addition to these plans is the goal is to have a final release of Thunderbird 3 by the end of 2008. Here is an overview of David’s plans for Thunderbird 3 in 2008: Goal: To have at public milestone build of Thunderbird…

When I first saw this extension over at Learn Firefox, I was thinking it was just a scaled down version of Linky. But I decided I would go ahead and give it go anyway, especially since I discovered I don’t have Linky on this machine. Further I also discovered Linky hasn’t been updated since March 2006 and maxes out on the Firefox 3.0 builds at Alpha 3 (Beta 2 is the current build). So I installed it in both Firefox and Thunderbird and restarted the applications. First thing that happened when I restarted I was presented with dialog box telling…

Reminder: Due to the scheduled meeting time and my work schedule, I am not be able to get the meeting notes posted until the following Tuesday. Here’s an overview of this week’s Update Meeting: Fx 2.0.0.12 Code Freeze: Friday, January 18 Scheduled to release on February 5, 2008 This is in bug triage and bug fix verification right now. Updated the release checklist Fx 3.0/Gecko 1.9 Beta 3- Status of Beta 3: 24 P1s 142 P2s 185 P3s Reminder: Next proposed freeze is on Jan 22. Testing new features: Places [abillings], added litmus test cases for privacy/security (page info cookie…

Reminder: Due to the scheduled meeting time and my work schedule, I am not be able to get the meeting notes posted until the following Tuesday. Here’s an overview of this week’s Update Meeting: Fx 2.0.0.12 Scheduled to release on February 5, 2008 Fx 3.0/Gecko 1.9 Beta 3- Status of Beta 3: 15 P1s 123 P2s 189 P3s Reminder: Next proposed freeze is on Jan 22. Lightning/Sunbird (Calendar Project) –No Report TBird 1.5.0.14 – Release on Wednesday, Dec 19th Major Update planned for late February. Once this occurs, all work on TB 1.5.x will be concluded. TBird 2.0.0.12 – Release…

As promised, more information about Thunderbird. David Ascher (head of the new MailCo) has posted an extensive article: Thoughts on Thunderbird’s Evolution on his blog.

Each time you install a new version of Firefox and restart the browser you are presented with that version’s Release Notes. Most folks end up not even reading the notes or may be just skimming them and closing the tab. If you want to return to the notes later you could go to the Mozilla Firefox Release Notes site and then select the current version from the list. But wait, there is a much easier way to see the release notes for your current version of Firefox. Simply go the Help menu in the Firefox (or Thunderbird) menu bar and…

While the majority of Firefox add-ons install automatically when you go to install the add-on, some don’t always. Further, Thunderbird doesn’t even have the functionality to do an automatic add-on install. So in those cases you have to download the add-on, find it on your computer, open Firefox’s or Thunderbird’s Add-Ons Manager window and then drag the file into the window to install. There is an easier way, both Firefox and Thunderbird have an ‘Install’ Button on their add-on managers, but by default it is turned off. To turn the button on requires a very simple tweak in the program’s…

Reminder: Due to Day Light Savings time ending and my work schedule, I am not be able to get the meeting notes posted until the following Tuesday. Here’s an overview of this week’s Update Meeting: Fx 2.0.0.12 Planning not begun for release Big triage starts this week Fx 3.0/Gecko 1.9 Beta 2- We held a Firefox 3 B2 test day on Fri Dec 14th. See the results here and here. 28 community testers joined us! Planned Release: Fri, Dec 21st. Tuesday, Dec 18th Fx 3.0/Gecko 1.9 Beta 3- Status of Beta 3: 24 P1s 57 P2s approvals to continue over…