Mozilla aims for record downloads with Firefox 3

By Tim Conneally | Published May 29, 2008, 2:19 PM

Firefox 3's upcoming release is quite literally being hyped up to record-setting levels, as Mozilla aims for the final release to set a Guinness World Record, as the most downloaded single product within a 24-hour span.

To coincide with the still-unspecified June release date of Firefox 3, Mozilla has launched its "World Download Day" campaign to get as many users as possible to download the browser on its first day available.

There is currently no record for this feat yet, so the company is hoping to set the bar high.

"The Browser that has it all" as of earlier this afternoon had 133,636 users pledging to download Firefox 3 on its release date. The strongest supporters thus far were the US (25,985), Japan (8.535), Germany (7,930), Poland (7,635), Spain (5,873), Brazil (5,380), and the United Kingdom (5,040).

Finland, the country where Firefox has the highest browser share in the EU at 45.9%, according to French web metrics firm Xiti, was not yet among the top supporters of this promotion.

Comments

Pffft chillout people. It's just about publicity, not selling out. If they were to set a record with this then it's great publicity that would only bring Ff to the attention of others. Jeez.

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Uh-oh. Mozilla is turning into a corporation, with goals of usage rather than quality! NOOOOO!

On the other had, there is a typo: "thus far were the US (25,985), Japan (8.535)" You put a period instead of a comma for Japan

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"On the other had, there is a typo..."

Indeed. :)

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lol!

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I for one won't download it on day 1 on principle.

It's about the software, not how many users you can get to download it.

Make the software good and the people will come.

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That makes no sense at all Mate.

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Maybe that should be "Make the software good and the people will come, but not on the first day, just so that they can make some entirely irrelevant point."

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I'll download it once for 200+ users.

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Same here... I only ever download it once for myself and work purposes (employees and customers).

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I think Firefox may need a bit more than their 5 million goal if they anticipate actually accomplishing a record:
http://www.forta.com/blo...8-80A9-EFF21DF7E34FEB64

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I'm more interested in the team focusing to make Firefox 3 a better browser, rather than setting download records. What is their real aim with this product anyway?

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Well, let's see, they claim over 14,000 improvements/changes over version 2, lower memory usage, finally passing Acid 2, and faster rendering, better downloader.

I think it's a staggering amount of changes, and the only real trouble I see is the communities involvement.

It IS a better browser.

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Well, I'm not desperate about 3.0. What I have seen so far I didn't like much. Will see when released and has decent extensions support (2 or 3 months later). Not even updated the theme I use and maintain as I don't have the time to redo it every year.

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Agree 1000%. No UI improvements, don't like the IE-ish nav buttons, STILL almost none of the common plugins available. Not encouraging.

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Okay, get stuck in the past. This is Firefox we're dealing with, not a new version of Windows.

Firefox was made into something great by being flexible by people who encourage and contribute to the project; an attitude like yours is counterproductive, the UI has been improved, but if you don't like it, it's the most customizable browser in the world for a reason.

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I'm using RC1. 90% of my extensions worked. For the others, I used Nightly Tester Tools. FF3 is more stable, has less memory leaks, has better dialogues, has a better url toolbar (for what it's worth) -- I don't see anything not to like about it. FF3 Betas ... now those were for the fans... RC1+ is great.

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Just the opposite for me. The browser frikkin flies. I can't use 2.0 anymore, it feels too sluggish.

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so i guess is more encouraging to have an ubber bloated IE with better looking buttons and no option to extensions or themes ??

and what are the common plugins you refer to ??
flash ? shockwave ? quicktime ?

i sure am no FF fanboy, but to make baseless posts about a great piece of software is ... well, plainly idiotic

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To be honest I was more enthused about the Firefox 2 release more than 3, but I've pledged, and I think others should as well; let's help them break the record!

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