Firefox 5 is set for a June release

OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE OUTFIT Mozilla will release version five of its Firefox browser on June 21, according to a developer road map.

The organisation will have a steady rollout schedule for the updated Firefox browser, which will see it released as a beta on May 17 and enter the final release stage approximately five weeks later. The rapid releases signal something of a change at Mozilla and sees it launch the next version just a couple of weeks after it released the well received Firefox 4. Downloads of Firefox 4 have already topped 75 million, as displayed on Mozilla's download counter website.

This shift also sees the organisation come up with some new names for its releases. Aurora, then, is an internal name for the web browser that precedes the beta release, but it follows a candidate described as Central, or Nightly, which is designed for hard core and in house users.

Nightly releases are early, as you might assume, and are what Mozilla has described as 'General development'. Aurora, the next stage and the new name for the early version of the browser, is more advanced and it fixes any remaining localisation issues as well as any recent bug problems, and it sees the developers carry out 'landing fixes' as it moves closer to the beta release.

Currently the Mozzarella crew has no Aurora users but it expects subscribers to top one million, and it will enroll them as necessary, apparently expecting a lot of interest.

"This is a new channel. We will discuss populating this channel artificially if need be. The hope is people will self-select into this channel (either by downloading a build or using the in-product channel switcher) due to the balance of new features and stability," Mozilla said.

Users are expected to be "Power users willing risk instability to see and test the latest fixes."

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