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The History of Firefox 1.0 to 3.0 in Screenshots

lifehacker.com — Mozilla released Firefox version 1.0 to relative obscurity in November of 2004, and four short years later, the much-anticipated Firefox 3.0 will hit the streets with ambitions of setting a new world record tomorrow. In honor of tomorrow's 3.0 release, let's take a look back at a visual history of Firefox, version 1.0 to 3.0.

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  • Heidenreich12, on 06/16/2008, -0/+83its great to see the changes from 1.0 to 3.0. Its rather disappointing to be remembered how slight the changes were from 1.0 to 2.0 (as far as looks), but the changes from 2.0 for 3.0 are astonishing, especially with the different browser themes. I had to reinstall firefox 2 on one of my computers for testing, and i've been running FF3 for a while now, and it really did surprise me at how much the change really was. Great job to the Mozilla team
    • MacSuxWindozSux, on 06/17/2008, -1/+22Back then it was all revolution. IE6 was ancient, Windows XP SP2 wasn't everywhere yet, so many people were going to websites that installed viruses, spyware was silently hijacking everyone's browser, and most people didn't have tabbed browsing.

      If IE7 as is, was out at that time, then Firefox would never have been nearly as successful. (Because most of those security problems have been fixed). Still I'd choose Firefox 2 over IE7 any day.

      Firefox 0.7 (Firebird) introduced me to tabbed browsing. Afterwards I couldn't use multiple IE6 windows.
      • tjmb9, on 06/17/2008, -0/+30The last line there I think happened to a lot of us.
      • RobotBuddha, on 06/17/2008, -0/+1I think it might have been 0.7 introduced me to tabbed browsers that didn't take ages to fix their qt compatibility problems. I'd probably never have switched to firefox if opera had been a bit faster in fixing that. It was a good lesson in why one should be careful about using non-open source programs on open source operating systems.
      • mrsteveman1, on 06/17/2008, -0/+14You realize Microsoft only significantly updated IE with 7 because people were leaving in huge numbers for Firefox, giving them real competition.

        They had 6 years to fix IE6 and they only did so, and only in some minor ways, after they got kicked in the ass by Mozilla.
      • prophetpimp, on 06/17/2008, -0/+2firefox 0.8 for me. back then the firefox.exe file didn't even have a logo and the taskbar just showed some default Windows Logo.
      • daza, on 06/18/2008, -0/+1I have to say, while a lot of my friends were raving about Firebird/Phoenix, I just didn't want to let go of MyIE 2 (now known as Maxthon). Eventually after using both Maxthon and Firefox 1.5 for a while I decided to make the switch -- extensions really got me.

        I have no problem using IE7, it's a big improvement over IE6, but I do prefer using Firefox. Hopefully the more Microsoft improve their browser the more Mozilla will feel pressured into building an even better browser. There's nothing wrong with having two good browsers out there to use (three, including Opera).
    • frotastic, on 06/17/2008, -0/+3couldn't have said it better my self. Totally agree
    • ICSU, on 06/17/2008, -5/+1Looks bother you?
      I still use the FF 1 theme because it's the simplest and clearest one and will use it in 3.
      • HorseloverFat8, on 06/17/2008, -0/+2In what way is it clearer to the XP, Vista or Linux themes in FF3?
    • Nitesmoke, on 06/17/2008, -6/+2Has anyone else had the problem with the beta of FF3 where every time you close the browser and restart it later, the back/forward buttons are missing, and you have to manually re-add them?
      • HorseloverFat8, on 06/17/2008, -0/+6Nope. Why are you using a beta? RC3 has been out for a while now.
    • CoMpUtErITGuY, on 06/17/2008, -0/+2I know! I'm getting a hard on just thinking about it! Yes! Yes! Yes!
  • kalagmail, on 06/16/2008, -1/+46The first thing which i am gonna do when I turn on my pc is download Firefox 3.
    • pendrachken, on 06/17/2008, -3/+49How did you manage to post on digg with your PCs power off?


      /pish kids these days and their new fangled internet enabled brains...
      • mikephimikephi, on 06/17/2008, -33/+3He could have posted on digg using a PS3, Wii, iPhone, Blackberry... shall I go on?
        • Rayhush, on 06/17/2008, -4/+47No, because I'm sure the poster realized that, but thought humor was more important. So shut up.
        • brodieface, on 06/17/2008, -3/+0No, you're a poo. Shut up.
    • unluckier, on 06/17/2008, -1/+9"The first thing *that* I am gonna do..."

      Oh yes I did!
      • CedEx, on 06/17/2008, -2/+0You like... totally PWNED him there. Wicked.
    • yuanzhoulu, on 06/17/2008, -1/+2i had firefox 3 last week, it was in the Ubuntu updates long before the firefox website
      my about page does not show beta or RC or anything. am i missing something here?
      • silfiriel, on 06/17/2008, -0/+3the release candidates don't show RC, only Firefox 3.0, both on Windows and Ubuntu. I dual boot Vista and Ubuntu and what you updated to on Ubuntu was a release candidate 3, or maybe 2 i am not sure.
    • compulsive1, on 06/17/2008, -0/+4I clicked on my email notification/reminder about Firefox download day this morning ready to participate in the record setting event and found no direct link to the download!
      When I went to Mozilla, the first thing you see on their home page is download Firefox 2.14 button.
      It takes quite a bit of looking around before you can find the Firefox 3 and even then it's not the official 3- it's still the RC3.
      These people dropped the ball big time. They lost a big number of potential downloads due to sloppily executed campaign.
      • blahtastic, on 06/17/2008, -0/+2Yeah I still cant find it. I wanted to contribute to their thing but am I going to have to look elsewhere for a link?
      • brodieface, on 06/17/2008, -0/+0Check in about 10 minutes, guy.
      • rrasco, on 06/17/2008, -0/+1LOL, it wasn't released until 10AM PDT. However, that doesn't mean that the website is supporting all the traffic ATM.
    • johnedc, on 06/17/2008, -1/+210am PST I read somewhere....oh so soon!
  • binorgog, on 08/07/2008, -0/+105about:mozilla
  • aaronlidman, on 06/16/2008, -5/+99More dramatic changes can be seen from development of Phoenix to Firebird to Firefox.
    • arduenn, on 06/17/2008, -2/+42Why the hell is aaronlidman being dugg down? I hope this is not exemplary for the average Digger's ignorance. Phoenix and Firebird were Firefox' predecessors before the Mozilla standalone browser was re branded, so they deserve to be included in the list.
      • Phyltre, on 06/17/2008, -0/+3Exemplary OF, not exemplary FOR. It's not an ad campaign. I mean, if you're going to tout ignorance, mangled syntax doesn't help the cause. (Ten points to people who find delicious errors in my correction!)
        • arduenn, on 06/17/2008, -0/+2Apologies and thank you of correcting me. (English is not my native language.)
    • slythfox, on 06/17/2008, -0/+24Yeah. I honestly think the changes between 1.0 to 3.0 are very minimal and less interesting than the development versions leading up to FF 1.0.
    • HorseloverFat8, on 06/17/2008, -0/+8And Phoenix was a cooler name.
      • admdrew, on 06/17/2008, -0/+1I first heard of it at Firebird, and thought that was a badass name for a browser (hell, it's a badass name for *anything*). I'll admit I was disappointed when they were forced to change the name, but it's grown on me (and others, I'm sure) by now.
      • Eezyville, on 06/17/2008, -0/+1Yes but how many nebulas look like a Phoenix? We have at least one that looks like a fox curling around a planet.
    • sabaoth, on 06/17/2008, -0/+6From Phoenix to Firebird to Firefox with screenshots:

      http://www.flexbeta.net/main/printarticle.php?id=8 ...
    • Halokhan, on 06/17/2008, -1/+5FF3 now includes a Rick Roll blocker. Never get unsuspectingly tricked again.
  • HafizD, on 06/17/2008, -2/+15The good old days.
    • yuanzhoulu, on 06/17/2008, -2/+2yeah, when i could actually run firefox efficiently. right now with 2 webpages open my firefox 3 is consuming 195 MB of RAM. wtf does a web browser need 195 MB of RAM? even my simulations for work don't need that much.
  • Sogui, on 06/17/2008, -2/+30Today's the 17th (Central time) when can we expect FF3 to come out?
  • cbodall, on 06/17/2008, -17/+0why must every browser get so bloated over time. i know FF3 is fast as ***** but still.

    the reason i stopped using the mozilla browser and switched to firefox was mozilla was too bloated!
  • metaphzle, on 06/17/2008, -3/+5Wow I remember all that, gonna have to DL the OFFICIAL 3.0 today. =D
  • UtopiaInTheSky, on 06/17/2008, -6/+22It's 1:45 AM EST, where's Firefox 3?
    • santaliqueur, on 06/17/2008, -3/+55I think you answered your own question. It's ***** 1:45 in the morning.
      • Atomic1fire, on 06/17/2008, -2/+3Not until tomorrow
        its like 11 pm mozilla time (pdt)
      • Atomic1fire, on 06/17/2008, -0/+7tomorrow 10:00 AM PDT (it says it in the ff3 release area)
        • sirbeta, on 06/17/2008, -1/+7Which makes me sad. I was expecting to have Spore Creature Creator and Firefox 3 by midnight or at least some time near that. Then SCC gets delayed a day and Firefox 3 isn't out till late morning the next day.

          Tis a sad day(night, morning?) for us insomniacs.
        • Hase0, on 06/17/2008, -0/+1SCC trial was leaked on the 15th
    • silfiriel, on 06/17/2008, -0/+1sync in 10 a. m. PST
    • DreKor, on 06/17/2008, -0/+2Probably the same place Spore is.
  • et3rnalnigh7, on 06/17/2008, -6/+6It's coming, can you smell that? Yeah... that's the smell of FF3 in the morning.
    • lolwutpear, on 06/17/2008, -1/+8I love the smell of FF3 in the morning.
    • mrsteveman1, on 06/17/2008, -1/+12No that was me, i ate a fox for lunch.

      Sorry folks
      • RealmDown, on 06/17/2008, -0/+2If her first name was Megan, I am *extremely* impressed.

        If his name was Michael, then I am less so.

  • netMASA, on 06/17/2008, -14/+3I hate the default FF3 and 2 themes. They are so ugly.
  • AppleGeorge, on 06/17/2008, -18/+12If you're expecting it to be released exactly at midnight then you're an idiot. It's going to be released today, that doesn't mean the exact moment it hit midnight.

    Relax.
    • AppleGeorge, on 06/17/2008, -9/+5Yes, Digg me down for stating a fact because you ***** lazy morons can't relax.

      It's 10:00AM today when it's released. Chill.
  • JNudda, on 06/17/2008, -2/+27FF3 ETA
    http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.ht ...
    • Munceenuts, on 06/17/2008, -0/+61pm for Philadelphia!? No!
    • RyeBrye, on 06/17/2008, -0/+7Who was the idiot who decided to push it out at 10:00 AM San Francisco time?
    • chewy5000, on 06/17/2008, -0/+4yay! 3 in the morning
      I remember why i hate time zones
    • Xplodzion, on 06/17/2008, -0/+2Well, Mozilla have kind of screwed up, considering that most of the day has gone when they officially release it and as you can see from that link, in a lot of countries, it will be Wednesday...
  • qbthemc, on 06/17/2008, -9/+1Firefox 3-FTW
  • newstart, on 06/17/2008, -9/+2I am sorry to point it out but hasn't FF3 borrowed the "star" icon to represent bookmarks from that latest version of IE?
    • MacSuxWindozSux, on 06/17/2008, -0/+8Mac, PC, and Linux versions each use different themes designed to be consistent with the operating system's look and feel.
    • saisumimen, on 06/17/2008, -0/+3@newstart

      and IE borrowed firefox's RSS logo... what's your point?
  • web3box, on 06/17/2008, -6/+1Nice to see that articles.
    I really hate the other browser (you know witch one) and I really love FireFox.

  • soubriquet, on 06/17/2008, -9/+1I love the smell of Firefox in the morning . . . smells like victory!
  • phalanxcronos, on 06/17/2008, -4/+29I started using firefox with it was still phoenix
    • SimonGray, on 06/17/2008, -0/+7Yeah, me too. From version 0.3 and onwards. No one remembers Phoenix and Firebird these days :-)
    • whoatemytuna, on 06/17/2008, -0/+3I do. I always thought that phoenix was a better name.
    • Flipperbw, on 06/17/2008, -2/+8cookie or trophy?
    • Origin415, on 06/17/2008, -0/+2I'm disappointed there are no screenshots from then :[

      Also, no mention of the famous "Cookies are delicious treats" (or whatever it was again)?
    • chanop, on 06/17/2008, -0/+5I've been using firefox since it was netscape
    • Soulbow2, on 06/17/2008, -0/+3I bet you feel special don't you.
  • zingyGecko, on 06/17/2008, -5/+26Wow the linux theme is bad (compared to the rest). I know it's supposed to be more "native" looking, but with gnome that's not really a good thing.
    • Aremihc, on 06/17/2008, -0/+5I've been using it for a while, and even though the screenshot looks atrocious in comparison to the other OSs, i reckon it's a definite improvement over the past releases that have completely ignored the native skin.

      I guess i also use a nicer gnome skin and icons though, so that probably helps :)
    • Niz1, on 06/17/2008, -3/+1yeh your right i think the xp version looks the best
    • zombiepig, on 06/17/2008, -3/+4Gotta disagree with you there - to me the ff3 looks really amateurish on every OS but linux. The linux theme is clean, professional, and merges perfectly with the rest of the desktop.
    • Origin415, on 06/17/2008, -0/+2I agree that I would prefer the windows themes rather than my silly icon theme, but the screenshot does not do the linux theme justice: firefox uses your Gnome/KDE/w/e icon theme, not its own theme. So that screen shot is just an example. You can go to gnome-look.org and get a theme and both nautilus and firefox will use the same buttons.

      I just personally would rather the combined forward/back key thing, I think it looks good. At least have an option!
    • BlueSkyfish, on 06/17/2008, -0/+3It changes depending on your Linux theme though. I don't think anyone keeps the ugly default Human theme.
    • jjpertusch, on 06/17/2008, -0/+2I too disagree for all the reasons people posted. I started using ff3 on linux first and almost vomited when i saw the default theme on windows.
  • J0h4n, on 06/17/2008, -12/+3Well its 2:03 am EST on the 17th. Where the hell is my FF3.0?

    God, I felt like a nerd after typing that.
  • frotastic, on 06/17/2008, -3/+19about:robots
    • doshindude, on 06/17/2008, -13/+2The URL is invalid and can't be loaded.
    • brassrocket, on 06/17/2008, -0/+0"And they have a plan."

      FF devs Battlestar much?
  • tama00, on 06/17/2008, -9/+5I never realised how geeky digg is untill now.

    a story about screenshots of a web browser done over a few years has finally hit the front page.

    what are we gonna see on digg next?
    • Puppetfunk, on 06/17/2008, -0/+29Digg returning to it's roots hopefully.
    • HigherLogic, on 06/17/2008, -11/+4Pfft, real geeks use Opera.
    • BinaryFragger, on 06/17/2008, -0/+4Next will be a screenshot of the comments making the front page.
    • silfiriel, on 06/17/2008, -0/+2Shut up!
    • TTURabble, on 06/17/2008, -0/+1Next Headline: Obama's endorsement of Firefox 3 has prompted Steve Jobs of Apple Computers to release a line of subcompact notebooks running Linux/OSX hybrid.
  • Kingoftherings, on 06/17/2008, -10/+6No Firefox 1.5? :(
  • Rikkochet, on 06/17/2008, -7/+4Am I the only one who even used Firebird? Firefox has a loooooooong history before it was Firefox.
    • RyeBrye, on 06/17/2008, -2/+17It was phoenix before it was firebird. Some guy above tried to prove he was cool by name dropping an old version as well - only he went with the older name.
    • RobotBuddha, on 06/17/2008, -0/+2I tend to just forget what the naming scheme was before firefox. I remember shortly after the 2nd change using the random name extension. In retrospect, it's really messed up my memory of the timeline.
    • YourDoom123, on 06/17/2008, -0/+5I started with pheonix 0.4 :)
    • parkermauney, on 06/17/2008, -0/+2I listened to [band] before they went mainstream.
  • SilentCombat, on 06/17/2008, -0/+3Will you be able to choose any theme for firefox or would it only come with the one for your os.... I hate the huge back buttons so much(linux is the only decent theme).
    • Gregsaw, on 06/17/2008, -0/+7right click, customize, use small icons

      i also don't like the big buttons taking up my precious screen real estate
  • parafish13, on 06/17/2008, -1/+1It's the good old days again!
  • deedas, on 06/17/2008, -6/+7Firebird .7 FTW!
  • RobotBuddha, on 06/17/2008, -1/+3I'm really looking forward to the qt4 port of firefox. I haven't been able to get that branch to compile, but I'm excited about the chance to actually have firefox feel a bit more in place within kde.
  • bossywalker, on 06/17/2008, -8/+6The latest version of Opera also has a "new and improved Location bar" but it also searches for words in the pages in your history as well as address and title.
    • mvent2, on 06/17/2008, -3/+4Which is stupid because nowadays the content of pages change so much.
  • Galaxylander, on 06/17/2008, -8/+3Am I the only person who thinks the default Mac theme for FireFox 3 makes the back button look like a play button? I think it's awful, not a very nice theme at all! Some of the fonts are too big and thin and aren't aliased enough....

    Over all I don't like it, especially the XP theme, I honestly like the Linux gnome theme more.

    Almost all of the Vista browsers look bad though because of the HUUUGE amount of space the Vista title bar and text takes up and the stroke around the edge.

    But all in all, who the hell cares, it's FireFox, if you don't like it, then change it.

    ...But I'll stick with Safari. :)
    • chillfaktor, on 06/17/2008, -0/+2I was just gonna say "get a life" but then you said who the hell cares so i thought i'd keep it to myself.
    • waydee, on 06/17/2008, -0/+1You know you can adjust the size of most windows interface bits don't you? I find the default Vista titlebar and caption button size to be too big too but you just turn it down... theres practically no wasted space then.
  • Culyt, on 06/17/2008, -6/+1Still no ability to switch themes or install extensions without restarting the entire browser. Well at least its easier to restart now with remembering tabs and a "Restart" button.

    ☢
  • KaiSe7eN, on 06/17/2008, -2/+36Firefox 1.0 Owns IE 8.0.
  • Atomic1fire, on 06/17/2008, -1/+9http://img264.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dontforge ...
    go ahead and mirror it since its imageshack
    I found the setup files on the mozilla server Now we can compare the browser look changes
  • Niz1, on 06/17/2008, -3/+1is Firefox officially released? it just says Release Candidate 3? thats not official right its not even on the firefox download page i had to go through Google to get there!

    edit: oh wait thats dated June 11th i guess they havent released it yet, i would have thought they would have released it by now if they want to break most downloads in a day or is it most downloads within 24hours from release?
  • LightSpeed4, on 06/17/2008, -9/+2IE7 is way better
  • Niz1, on 06/17/2008, -0/+2hmm is it really that smart to have the pause/resume button and cancel button right next to each other in the download manager? I'm not sure if it will cause problems but i can imagine so.
  • donkeySays, on 06/17/2008, -0/+1Where is the Third Fox from the Sun??!! Aren't we gonna create a world record?
  • kotatsu, on 06/17/2008, -7/+1Sorry but this isn't progress. Firefox 2 may not be the best looking Windows app but at least it's inoffensive. FF3 looks ugly.
  • the_snitch, on 06/17/2008, -2/+9I still remember it as phoenix, then firebird... then firefox.... then an insane wait for it to reach 1.0
  • W00DR0W, on 06/17/2008, -0/+6I was really hoping for a midnight release, oh well.
    • specialK16, on 06/17/2008, -0/+3The alternative of waiting all night long in line for a concert for us geeks is waiting in front of our computers with some greasy pizza for FF3 to be released.
  • donkeySays, on 06/17/2008, -4/+2Man, I am getting impatient. F5ing http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ every minute.
  • twister17e, on 06/17/2008, -0/+13Firefox 3 will go live at 10am pdt. For a local time near you, check out this site http://tinyurl.com/4e7fv5 .
    • Wkall, on 06/17/2008, -0/+18 hours and 22 minutes to go. upgrade at night
  • commentbot, on 06/17/2008, -10/+2Firefox 3 is out: ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/3.0/
    • defectDS, on 06/17/2008, -0/+12But be weary if you want to support the cause:

      "The files in this directory are - for now - only meant to be used by our testers. Downloading them directly can harm our ability to distribute Firefox efficiently, and will also not be counted as part of our attempt to set a Guiness World Record for the most software downloads in a day.

      If you'd like to be notifed the minute that we launch, please go to sign up for Download Day. Or just head over to getfirefox.com on Tuesday, June 17th after 10am PDT."
  • poohead202, on 06/17/2008, -6/+2ITS here!!! (for testers) go here!!!! this is the release that will be released later on!!!
    ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/3.0/win32/
    lol make sure u read the html file in the download folder...
    also make sure u download it again l8r to help with the world record thing woooo!!!!
    • poohead202, on 06/17/2008, -5/+0yeah im pretty sure thats it.. dnt wori about the page that opens up saying its a relase condidate, its notthey need to update theier page...
      ive just installed it and its forgotten all of my rss and boookmarks... grrr
    • imbob, on 06/17/2008, -3/+1they just took it down LOL

      YAY!! i was one of the first!!!^^
      • weemundo, on 06/17/2008, -1/+1Count me in too :]

        btw FF 3 rc 3 and FF 3 stable dont have any difference whatsoever..
    • doubleaught, on 06/17/2008, -0/+1It's been finished since 6/11/2008 9:18:00 AM? Very well could be, just askin'
  • JackpotCity, on 06/17/2008, -0/+1This browser has come a long way - I am definitelyy going to be checking out the new version when it;'s available for download later today.
  • Zeali, on 06/17/2008, -7/+1Firefox is coming more and more Opera alike. (Thats a good thing)
  • containimated, on 06/17/2008, -0/+2When I see an announcement for it being the start of world record day I hope I'm the first to add 'mirror?' as a comment. I feel like a bad now.
  • PARTyZAN, on 06/17/2008, -0/+10http://www.flexbeta.net/main/printarticle.php?id=8 ...

    Phoenix 0.1 to Firefox 1.1
  • homaid, on 06/17/2008, -4/+2i love firefox and lifehacker
  • cbuchner1, on 06/17/2008, -2/+2
    Can anyone tell me why this site's layout is totally broken when I view it in Firefox,
    whereas it renders correctly in IE or Safari?
    • nesman89, on 06/17/2008, -0/+2I'm gonna have to go with Irony on this one. anyone else?
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