New Firefox Update Coming March 25th

From the everyone wants the latest ‘fox’ files:

Mozilla developers have announced that Firefox 2.0.0.13 release candidate builds are now available.
The final generally available release for 2.0.0.13 is currently set for March 25th (though I suspect it could be sooner). Firefox 2.0.0.13 is a a security and stability update for the current mainline Firefox 2.x series and will be the first stable release since Firefox 2.0.0.12 release in mid February.

We don’t yet have a full list of security advisories for the release (those typically don’t happen till the actual release date). That said we do know that Mozilla has advised testers of the 2.0.0.13 release candidate to double check the browser on Ajax heavy sites:

 Sites that use a lot of AJAX, like Google sites, should also be checked for any potential regressions

While the latest Firefox 2.x is rounding third, Reuters has a story out now claiming that Firefox 3 is ready for prime time. Considering that Firefox 3 is at Beta 4, with at least one more Beta to go and possibly one or more release candidates after that, I’m not sure that Reuters is accurate. If Firefox 3 was indeed ready for prime time, wouldn’t it  already be generally available then and not considered to be just for testing?

Don’t get me wrong, I like Firefox 3 Beta 4 and am using it now myself. It’s just that as I’ve reported before and as Mozilla developers themselves have stated before – Firefox 3 will be ready when its ready. I personally do not understand this preoccupation with pushing something out to the public before its fully baked.