Firefox 2

Last updated
Mozilla Firefox 2
Mozilla Firefox wordmark.svg
Wikipedia Main Page in Firefox 2.0.0.12.png
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.12 running on Ubuntu displaying Wikipedia
Developer(s) Mozilla Corporation, Mozilla Foundation
Initial releaseOctober 24, 2006;15 years ago (2006-10-24)
Final release
2.0.0.20 (December 18, 2008;13 years ago (2008-12-18))
Preview release None [±]
Repository
Written in C++, XUL, XBL, JavaScript
Engine Gecko
Operating system Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris, OS/2
Platform Cross-platform
Size 5.5 MB – 16.5 MB
Available in60 languages
Type Web browser, FTP client, gopher client
License MPL/GPL/LGPL/Mozilla EULA (for binary redistribution)
Website www.firefox.com

Mozilla Firefox 2 is a version of Firefox, a web browser released on October 24, 2006 by the Mozilla Corporation.

Contents

Firefox 2 uses version 1.8 of the Gecko layout engine for displaying web pages. The release contained many new features not found in Firefox 1.5, including improved support for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) and JavaScript 1.7, as well as user interface changes.

On March 22, 2006, the first alpha version of Firefox 2 (Bon Echo Alpha 1) was released. It featured Gecko 1.8.1 for the first time. Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.20 is the last version to support Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98 and Windows Me, [1] although it can run on Windows 95 and Windows NT 3.51 using tweaks. Mac OS X 10.5 support was added October 18, 2007 with version 2.0.0.8.

Firefox 2.0 featured updates to tabbed browsing environment, the extensions manager, the GUI, and the find, search, and software update engines; a new session restore feature; inline spell checking; and an anti-phishing feature which was implemented by Google as an extension, [2] [3] and later merged into the program itself. [4]

Mozilla ended support for Firefox 2 on December 18, 2008. [5]

Overview of changes

Market adoption & usage of Firefox 2

Firefox logo, 2019.svg
Market share overview
According to StatCounter data
April 2022 [6]
This box:
Browser % of Fx % of total
Firefox 1 ——
Firefox 2 ——
Firefox 3 ——
Firefox 4 0.59%0.02%
Firefox 5–9 ——
Firefox 10–16 ——
Firefox 17–23 ——
Firefox 24–30 ——
Firefox 31–37 ——
Firefox 38–44 1.17%0.04%
Firefox 45–51 0.59%0.02%
Firefox 52–59 4.69%0.16%
Firefox 60–67 ——
Firefox 68–77 0.59%0.02%
Firefox 78–90 3.52%0.12%
Firefox 91 and 91 ESR 3.23%0.11%
Firefox 92 ——
Firefox 93 0.29%0.01%
Firefox 94 1.47%0.05%
Firefox 95 0.59%0.02%
Firefox 96 0.88%0.03%
Firefox 97 1.17%0.04%
Firefox 98 20.24%0.69%
Firefox 99 53.37%1.82%
Firefox 100 0.59%0.02%
Firefox 101 ——
All variants [7] 100%3.41%

As one article noted after the release of Firefox 2.0 in October 2006, "IE6 had the lion's share of the browser market with 77.22%. Internet Explorer 7 had climbed to 3.18%, while Firefox 2.0 was at 0.69%." [8]

A Softpedia article, however, noted in July 2007 that "Firefox 2.0 has been also expanding its share constantly in spite of IE7. From just 0.69% in October 2006, Firefox 2.0 is now accounting for 11.07% of the market. Mozilla has even sacrificed version 1.5 of its open source browser for Firefox 2.0. With support cut at the end of June, Firefox 1.5 dropped to just 2.85%." [8] [9] [10] [11]

Firefox 2 began to lose notable market share to Firefox 3. Within 24 hours after its release, Firefox 3 usage rose from under 1% to over 3% according to Net Applications in that time period. [12] Firefox 2 market share consistently dropped, eventually being surpassed by Firefox 3 in 2008 and Firefox 3.5 in 2009 in the general browser market as the Firefox version with the greatest share, and by early 2009 had dropped under 3 percent. [13]

Release compatibility

Operating system Compatibility
Linux kernel 2.2.14 and newer
(with some libraries)		2.0.0.20
Apple
Mac OS X 		v10.1 Puma Dark Red x.svg
v10.2 Jaguar-10.3 Panther 2.0.0.20
v10.4 Tiger 2.0.0.20
v10.5 Leopard 2.0.0.8–2.0.0.20
OS/2 and eComStation 2.0.0.20
Microsoft
Windows 		NT 3.51/95 Dark Red x.svg
NT 4.0/98/Me 2.0.0.20
2000/XP/Vista/
2003/Home Server/2008 		2.0.0.20

End of Life

Firefox 2.0.0.13 scores 53/100 in the Acid3 test (dated 3 April 2008). In comparison, Internet Explorer 8, released on 19 March 2009, fails the Acid3 test with a score of 20/100. Acid3 ff20013 score53.png
Firefox 2.0.0.13 scores 53/100 in the Acid3 test (dated 3 April 2008). In comparison, Internet Explorer 8, released on 19 March 2009, fails the Acid3 test with a score of 20/100.

Firefox 2.x was end-of-lifed in December, 2008. [14] With roughly 26 months of support, only Firefox 3.6 was supported longer. The Gecko 1.8.1 browser core continued to receive patches for projects such as Camino, K-Meleon, and SeaMonkey, even after official Firefox releases had ceased.

By 2011, the 1.8.1 core had become obsolete, as major websites dropped support for it [15] by employing newer technologies for presentation and complex scripting. [16] [17] The latter can be resource-intensive with the older core, and users stuck with it should use NoScript [18] to avoid problems with scripts that take too long to process (at the cost of losing some or all site features beyond basic functionality).

Services with large user bases have relegated browsers with the Gecko 1.8.1 rendering engine to using lightweight or mobile versions of their sites, alongside recommendations to upgrade the browser; while others only recommend to upgrade.

Nevertheless, there is still a very large number of websites that are freely usable and navigable with Firefox 2.0 or equivalents, alone because many of them must still support other older browsers, like Internet Explorer 6 or IE7.

Release history

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. ↑ "Firefox 2 System Requirements". Archived from the original on 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
  2. ↑ "Google Safe Browsing for Firefox" . Retrieved 2007-02-05.
  3. ↑ Mozilla.org wiki contributors. "Phishing Protection Design Documentation - Background". Mozilla.org wiki. Retrieved 2007-01-24.{{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  4. ↑ "Mozilla Firefox 2 Release Notes". Mozilla Corporation. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
  5. ↑ "Firefox 2.0.0.20 now available for download". Mozilla Corporation. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
  6. ↑ "Top 12 Desktop, Mobile, Tablet & Console Browser Versions on Apr 2022". StatCounter Global Stats.
  7. ↑ "Top 9 Desktop, Mobile, Tablet & Console Browsers on Apr 2022". StatCounter Global Stats.
  8. 1 2 Marius Nestor (5 February 2008). "IE7 and Firefox 2.0 Are Slaughtering Internet Explorer 6 - Out with the old, in with the new". Softpedia. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  9. ↑ "IE6 vs. IE7 vs. Firefox 2.0 vs. Firefox 1.5 vs. Safari 3.0 vs. Opera 9 In browser market share deathmatch". Softpedia. 2007-07-02. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
  10. ↑ "Browser Versions Market Share". NetApplications.com. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
  11. ↑ "Browser War: FF2 pulls ahead of IE7 in Europe". XiTi Monitor. 2007-07-18. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
  12. ↑ "Firefox 3.0 Usage Share (EDT)". Net Applications. 2008-06-19. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  13. ↑ "Top Browser Share Trend". NetApplications.com. February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  14. ↑ Firefox 2.0.0.15 security and stability update now available for download developer.mozilla.org
  15. ↑ Miraglia, Eric (2009-07-02). "Graded Browser Support Update: Q3 2009". YUI blog. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  16. ↑ "Modern browsers for modern applications". Official Google Enterprise Blog. Blogger. 2010-01-29. Retrieved 2012-09-02. Firefox 3.0 or newer listed.
  17. ↑ Keizer, Gregg (2010-01-31). "Google joins the 'kill-IE6' campaign". Computerworld . Retrieved 2012-09-02. We're going to begin phasing out our support, starting with Google Docs and Google Sites.
  18. ↑ "Direct download". get it!. noscript.net. 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-02. The latest legacy NoScript version for Firefox 2.0 and SeaMonkey 1.1 is 1.10
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