Firefox 3 is out!

Happy Firefox 3 Day! Long story short: my favorite browser turns 3.0 today. It's free. It's open. They're trying to set the world record for most downloads EVAR. Go download Firefox 3. You will be happy. Link

[#1 posted by Robotech_Master , June 17, 2008 10:39 AM]

I'll be happy when and if I can ever manage to get in to download it. :)

[#2 posted by JoeKickass , June 17, 2008 10:42 AM]

I've been trying to get in for 40 minutes now but to no avail.

I wonder how many people will mistakenly download FX2 or one of the FX3-Betas since they are the only things available.

[#3 posted by William C Bonner , June 17, 2008 10:48 AM]

Oh yeah, that's the link that won't load because the guys who want to set a world record can't properly plan capacity and load balance their system to make it possible.

[#4 posted by astrochimp , June 17, 2008 10:50 AM]

Maybe they're planning the world record for longest downtime.

[#5 posted by knowles , June 17, 2008 10:54 AM]

http://thepiratebay.org/tor/4244675/Firefox_3.0
http://thepiratebay.org/tor/4244675/Firefox_3.0
http://thepiratebay.org/tor/4244675/Firefox_3.0

probably your best hope at this point. now if only a mac version torrent was out there...

[#6 posted by Beryllium , June 17, 2008 10:55 AM]

Slashdotted AND BoingBoinged AND Dugg within a 1-hour window. This'll end well.

*keeps refreshing two open tabs to the server*

[#7 posted by Jaycatt , June 17, 2008 10:55 AM]

I'm kind of surprised they didn't expect this kind of problem, and have planned for it. Hope for the best, expect the worst, when dealing with internet buzz!

[#8 posted by parallax , June 17, 2008 10:58 AM]

Or you can try this link to download directly:
http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-3.0&os=win&lang=en-US

[#9 posted by Nephilim , June 17, 2008 10:59 AM]

Yet another mirror:

http://mozilla.isohunt.com/firefox/releases/3.0/

[#10 posted by Mister Staal , June 17, 2008 11:00 AM]

Allow me to echo everyone else's comments by saying that I too am surprised that they weren't more prepared for this. However, I've been a fan of Firefox for several years now and I'll happily add to the traffic.

[#11 posted by Robotech_Master , June 17, 2008 11:01 AM]

Here's the link that worked for me.

ftp://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/3.0/

Remember, going through PirateBay or someone else doesn't help add to their world record—and remember that you have until 1 p.m. Eastern tomorrow to help them set it.

[#12 posted by Jack Crosby , June 17, 2008 11:01 AM]

Or someone else is trying to set a world record with the largest DoS attack in history.

[#13 posted by Jaycatt , June 17, 2008 11:10 AM]

@11 Robotech Master

I tried that link, and after it installed it told me that it was the third release candidate for Firefox 3.

[#14 posted by mitechka , June 17, 2008 11:10 AM]

The FTP link from #11 seems to work. The getfirefox page seems to still point to Firefox 2, so there is no real way to contribute to the download count yet. Pity. I guess I will contribute to the record by downloading Firefox 3 using Firefox 3 :)

[#15 posted by Jaycatt , June 17, 2008 11:10 AM]

But checking the "About" screen says it is 3.0. Curious...

[#16 posted by Kitteh , June 17, 2008 11:11 AM]

Is this still a tester? I thought we were supposed to get the final version today? All the downloads are for beta versions.

[#17 posted by Anonymous , June 17, 2008 11:16 AM]

http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/firefox-3.1a1pre.en-US.win32.installer.exe

Firefox 3.1a1 beta

works for me !

Earle

[#18 posted by Sethum , June 17, 2008 11:22 AM]

Why does the "Download Firefox 3" link prominently displayed on http://www.spreadfirefox.com/en-US/worldrecord/ only lead to a page to download Firefox 2.0.0.14?

Mozilla's world record attempt is going to be spoiled by their own hand.

[#19 posted by JoeKickass , June 17, 2008 11:23 AM]

The third release candidate (RC3) is the same as the final build... just a different file name. So if you're in a big hurry to get it then by all means download RC3.

However, downloading RC3 will NOT contribute to the download counts of the actual final build, thereby not helping with the world record attempt.

[#20 posted by Jaycatt , June 17, 2008 11:23 AM]

Heh, now the page says it's version 3, but it still points to 2 (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/?p=downloadday)

[#21 posted by Robotech_Master , June 17, 2008 11:28 AM]

@15: Firefox will install itself into whatever directory you installed the first version (beta, release candidate) of Firefox you tried out, without renaming it. Up 'til today, when I renamed the directory manually before installing 3.0, my FF directory still called itself Beta 5.

[#22 posted by Anonymous , June 17, 2008 11:28 AM]

http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/3.0/win32/en-US/

The above worked well enough for me.

[#23 posted by Kitteh , June 17, 2008 11:31 AM]

When I opened the browser it pointed to a beta tester page.

[#24 posted by Robotech_Master , June 17, 2008 11:33 AM]

If in doubt as to your version, do "Help -> About" or put "about:" in the browser bar.

If you don't see a "RC" then you've got the real deal.

[#25 posted by CatsGrin , June 17, 2008 11:33 AM]

At least the graphics on the new download page are cute ...

REFRESH, REFRESH, REFRESH.

[#26 posted by Jaycatt , June 17, 2008 11:39 AM]

More information about the world record from Mozilla's blog. Linked here since I haven't seen a link to it yet.

http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2008/06/17/firefox-3-coming-soon/

FYI: Basically, the world record 24 hours still start when the site officially goes online.

[#27 posted by mko , June 17, 2008 11:40 AM]

weird, on that downloadday page, what is this crap at the top??

.mine=======>>>>>>> .r15918

woah, it's gone now.

[#28 posted by mitechka , June 17, 2008 11:44 AM]

About the versions, RC1 and RC2 are both saying they are 3.0 in the About page.

[#29 posted by Naikrovek , June 17, 2008 11:50 AM]

why do people always have to have release events? they always fail. just make the thing available for download, then 24 hours later go through the logs can count the unique downloads. forget the synchronized mirror updates, forget the world record attempt, forget the bullshit. just make the file available and count the downloads. if you need a gimmick to get a lot of downloads then perhaps you should spend the effort to make your software more attractive, appealing, and usable. I'm not talking just Firefox here, just lose the marketing a-holes and provide the software. if it's good, it'll sell itself.

[#30 posted by themindfantastic , June 17, 2008 12:07 PM]

I was hoping to download and help the numbers meet a record, but obviously someone doesn't understand if you want to break a record you have to allow for your servers to be able to HANDLE such numbers. Torrents however are great for numbers, one of the few ways that people can participate and actually help others get it at the same time.

[#31 posted by themindfantastic , June 17, 2008 12:09 PM]

Side note, want to count numbers, have a one time dialog once the program is run, "Do you want to include your use in the worldwide downloaded and using of Firefox three? Yes No" one short packet, maybe two if you want a confirmation. Then its over with... efficient and much more effective.

[#32 posted by brem , June 17, 2008 12:11 PM]

They fuxed this one up :)

ah... pr people... so lunatics...

[#33 posted by brem , June 17, 2008 12:12 PM]

The download started then halted. Frustration.

[#34 posted by Coxswain , June 17, 2008 12:20 PM]

I'm not upgrading until all of my extensions are supported. SO THERE. *sulks*

[#35 posted by Al Billings , June 17, 2008 12:37 PM]

The site had some issues but it is all up and doing well now.

There have been over 818,000 downloads as I type this...

Al Billings
Mozilla QA Team

[#36 posted by mannakiosk , June 17, 2008 12:43 PM]

Hm... My about says I have 3.0. I wonder when that got there, it used to be the RC-something that came with Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron). My automatic upgrade will probably not count, will it?

@32: They call it "download day", not "upgrade day"... :)

[#37 posted by deckard68 , June 17, 2008 12:45 PM]

Wow, it does paint the pages more quickly! I like it. Aesthetics (of the Windows version) are good - some curves, which I like. I had to update the old AdBlock to Adblock Plus, but that was easily done.

[#38 posted by mdhatter , June 17, 2008 1:11 PM]

Mac Version link:

http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-3.0&os=osx&lang=en-US

[#39 posted by remmelt , June 17, 2008 1:42 PM]

firefox.com still points my mac to 2.0.0.14.

You'll have to QA some more, Al...

[#40 posted by weeble , June 17, 2008 2:40 PM]

Argh. I downloaded the EN-GB version from the proper site, but after installing it said thank you for installing "firefox 3 (release candidate)". It spent ages failing to connect to their server to check for add-on updates. And it crashed within half an hour of use! I can't even remember the last time FF2 crashed on me, and I routinely open 30+ tabs. A sad day for me. I had been so excited. :( I wonder if I can downgrade back to FF2...

[#41 posted by Xeno , June 17, 2008 3:08 PM]

I am browsing this in Firefox 3 right now and it is laughing at you all and updating your Facebook pages with pictures of you doing horrible things to a sheep with a spatula. This new Firefox don't take any shit!

[#42 posted by palindromic , June 17, 2008 3:23 PM]

I almost upgraded to 3, but then I remembered my army of extensions that make it so I don't really browse the 'internet', just its content. Also my download link worked fine? Go to the front page and click the big "Download now" button in the center.

[#43 posted by Abby , June 17, 2008 3:34 PM]

The upgrade was pretty painless for me, aside from a few extensions I'll miss until they're upgraded. Most were already compatible with 3, although all but one said their highest compatibility was with one of the betas.

[#44 posted by trr , June 17, 2008 4:24 PM]

I got FF 3.0 today and I decided to live without some incompatible extensions, especially since I mostly use Opera nowadays. I do like the ForecastBar Enhanced extension, and it still works.
I hope it uses less memory and is faster.

[#45 posted by GaryG , June 17, 2008 4:39 PM]

It's not working for me at all... missing graphics, pages timing out... Fired up Opera and everythings fine so not my connection...

Time to remove all the extensions and start from scratch I guess.

[#46 posted by Kristi , June 17, 2008 5:25 PM]

I was able to download it with no problem. Are others still having difficulty?

[#47 posted by Takuan , June 17, 2008 5:48 PM]

no prob

[#48 posted by dr80085 , June 17, 2008 6:07 PM]

Warning! Don't install FF 3.0 if you're not running Mac OS X 10.4 or later.

It doesn't work, and it's a real pain to find the older versions of FF again (if you're dumb and deleted everything without backup before checking the new version worked...)

Older versions are here:
http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/

[#49 posted by reptiles_and_samurai , June 17, 2008 6:13 PM]

Now if someone would just hurry up and make a Super Mario 3 theme that's compatible with version 3, I'll be the happiest girl alive!

[#50 posted by Vanwall , June 17, 2008 6:35 PM]

Easy and smooth - no prob.

[#51 posted by So-Called Austin Mayor , June 17, 2008 6:59 PM]

"You will be happy."

I would be happier with FF3 if someone would make v3 compatible versions of:
1. Copy Plain Text
2. the del.icious.us tool
3. Paste and Go
4. TinyUrl Creator

If someone pushes out Firefox version 3 updates for those, I'll be happy as a fat hog in a puddle of goo.

-- SCAM

[#52 posted by jahknow , June 17, 2008 7:49 PM]

#51, I doubt if all your extensions are updated,nor my most needed one "Web developer," but del.icio.us bookmarks for firefox is available:

http://blog.delicious.com/blog/2008/06/delicious-bookmarks-for-firefox-3-signed-sealed-and-delivered.html

[#53 posted by Anonymous , June 17, 2008 7:57 PM]

Fair warning for those who haven't obsessively updated Mac OS X... Firefox 3.0 only works for OS X versions 10.4 or later. Those who download the new version face a rollicking good time trying to find their previous version online, without their browser to help them.

[#54 posted by Anonymous , June 17, 2008 9:44 PM]

@52
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/60
A version of Web Developer that works with FF3 has been out and stable since May. Before that it was available from his website as a beta and I used that no problems since one of the early betas.

[#55 posted by bobsyeruncle , June 17, 2008 10:19 PM]

Got it and installed it, no problem. OSX 10.4, what on earth is that? LOL

[#56 posted by Valeball , June 18, 2008 4:28 AM]

FF3 installed. OK. Much ado about nothing, isn't it? But, good people, what about this then: http://www.opera.com/

[#57 posted by SarahFenix , June 19, 2008 12:43 AM]

Whats up with the constant RunTime Errors???