First RC for Mobile Firefox Fennec
Stuart Parmenter, responsible for Mozilla's mobile realm, has announced at the start of the new year in the Mozilla blog the first release candidate for the mobile Firefox.
According to the software developer's announcement, the Fennec text rendering has improved. Under the covers there are to be various optimizations for the Nokia N900, such as /opt for an installation directory. Since N900 support begun in October 2009 beta 4, no new features were added. The release notes for RC 1.0 ended up being a summary of the beta phase accomplishments, so that enhancements aren't individually itemized. The stable 1.0 was actually planned for 2009.
Users already having the beta version installed on the N900 should automatically get an update notice. Other users of the N900 and N810 should install the Maemo build directly from the Mozilla download page, in one of the fully localized versions. For testers, translators and add-on developers without their own Maemo smartphone, a packed and compressed Desktop Builds version for Linux (i686), Mac and Windows is available per FTP.
Among known issues, the release notes list Flash performance problems when the browser plugin is active. Performance is also an issue with the less powerful N810 and N800 tablets; the intended use of Fennec is still on the N900.
The Fennec mobile Firefox has been in planning since end of 2007, originally intended for Symbian. Because the Mozilla team has meanwhile concentrated on the Nokia N series with Maemo, the question in the pavlov blog, "Hey, when it comes to Symbian smartphones..?" remains unanswered.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Reaches EOL
Linux kernel 6.16 has reached its end of life, which means you'll need to upgrade to the next stable release, Linux kernel 6.17.
-
Amazon Ditches Android for a Linux-Based OS
Amazon has migrated from Android to the Linux-based Vega OS for its Fire TV.
-
Cairo Dock 3.6 Now Available for More Compositors
If you're a fan of third-party desktop docks, then the latest release of Cairo Dock with Wayland support is for you.
-
System76 Unleashes Pop!_OS 24.04 Beta
System76's first beta of Pop!_OS 24.04 is an impressive feat.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 is Available
Linus Torvalds has announced that the latest kernel has been released with plenty of core improvements and even more hardware support.
-
Kali Linux 2025.3 Released with New Hacking Tools
If you're a Kali Linux fan, you'll be glad to know that the third release of this famous pen-testing distribution is now available with updates for key components.
-
Zorin OS 18 Beta Available for Testing
The latest release from the team behind Zorin OS is ready for public testing, and it includes plenty of improvements to make it more powerful, user-friendly, and productive.
-
Fedora Linux 43 Beta Now Available for Testing
Fedora Linux 43 Beta ships with Gnome 49 and KDE Plasma 6.4 (and other goodies).
-
USB4 Maintainer Leaves Intel
Michael Jamet, one of the primary maintainers of USB4 and Thunderbolt drivers, has left Intel, leaving a gaping hole for the Linux community to deal with.
-
Budgie 10.9.3 Now Available
The latest version of this elegant and configurable Linux desktop aligns with changes in Gnome 49.