Second Firefox 3.1 beta due 'very shortly'
Update 6:15 p.m. PST: An earlier version of this story said the second beta version of Firefox 3.1 would likely be the last. Firefox is planning a third beta version. Also, added a comment from Paul Rouget about when the second beta version will likely be released.<br /><br /><br />The second beta version of Firefox 3.1 is "due out very shortly," Mozilla programmer Ben Turner said Thursday.<br /><br /><br /><br />One big change in the 3.1b2 is the addition of "Web workers," a feature that lets the browser process tasks in the background. That feature, part of the still-evolving HTML 5 specification, adds another level of sophistication for programmers writing Web applications and gives multicore computers a better way to use their processors' abilities.<br /><br />"We've been hard at work with folks from Google, Apple, and others to get this new spec nailed down," Turner said of the Web workers work.<br /><br />Google and Apple also build their own browsers, as does market-leading Microsoft and ever-scrappy Opera. With the browser wars back in full force, those organizations are racing to outdo each other on features and performance.<br /><br />He gave one illustration of Web workers in action running a JavaScript program that emulates a decades-old processor design, the 8080. One thread emulates the processor in the background while another handles user interaction such as checking for typing on the keyboard.<br /> In a post on the Mozilla Add-ons Blog, Paul Rouget said: "Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 will likely be released the first week of December." He added: "We have added a Beta 3 to our schedule." <br /> <br />
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