Only a few weeks since Firefox 2.0 was launched for the public, Mozilla organization has released the first alpha build of what is to be known as Firefox 3.0 in a years time. NOTE: This is not for public use, and should only be used in development for testing cutting edge technology features.

Gran Paradiso Alpha 1, an early developer milestone based on the Gecko 1.9 branch, has been released. Gran Paradiso, a mountain group located in Italy, is also the project codename for Firefox 3. There are no significant user interface changes. Core layout and rendering changes include use of Cairo as the default graphics library, use of Cocoa Widgets for MAC OSX builds and new SVG elements.

For more details, refer to Gran Paradiso Alpha 1 Release Notes.

• MozillaZine: Gran Paradiso Alpha 1 Released
  

The Mozilla Thunderbird E-Mail Client v1.5 was released today, this client just rocks and I recommend it very much.

Here’s what’s new in Thunderbird 1.5:

• Automated update to streamline product upgrades. Notification of an update is more prominent, and updates to Thunderbird may now be half a megabyte or smaller. Updating extensions has also improved.
• Sort address autocomplete results by how often you send e-mail to each recipient.
• Spell check as you type.
• Saved Search Folders can now search across multiple accounts.
• Built in phishing detector to help protect users against email scams.
• Podcasting and other RSS Improvements.
• Deleting attachments from messages.
• Integration with server side spam filtering.
• Reply and forward actions for message filters.
• Kerberos Authentication.
• Auto save as draft for mail composition.
• Message aging.
• Filters for Global Inbox.
• Improvements to product usability including redesigned options interface, and SMTP server management.
• Many security enhancements.

The Rumbling Edge has more detailed lists of new features and notable bug fixes.

Download Mozilla Thunderbird.