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Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 is a beta of our next major release of our award-winning Firefox Web browser. More information about Firefox is available.

These Release Notes cover what's new, download and installation instructions, known issues and frequently asked questions for the Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 release. Please read these notes and the bug filing instructions before reporting any bugs to Bugzilla.

We want to hear your feedback about Firefox. Please join us in the Firefox forums, hosted by MozillaZine.
What's New in Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 (Deer Park)

Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 is a preview of our award-winning Web browser. Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 is available for our early adopter community, Web site and Web application developers, and our Extension developers.

Here's what's new in Firefox 1.5 Beta 1:

* Automated update to streamline product upgrades. Notification of an update is more prominent, and updates to Firefox may now be half a megabyte or smaller. Updating extensions has also improved.
* Faster browser navigation with improvements to back and forward button performance.
* Drag and drop reordering for browser tabs.
* Improvements to popup blocking.
* Clear Private Data feature provides an easy way to quickly remove personal data through a menu item or keyboard shortcut.
* Answers.com is added to the search engine list.
* Improvements to product usability including descriptive error pages, redesigned options menu, RSS discovery, and "Safe Mode" experience.
* Better accessibility including support for DHTML accessibility and assistive technologies such as the Window-Eyes 5.5 beta screen reader for Microsoft Windows. Screen readers read aloud all available information in applications and documents or show the information on a Braille display, enabling blind and visually impaired users to use equivalent software functionality as their sighted peers.
* Report a broken Web site wizard to report Web sites that are not working in Firefox.
* Better support for Mac OS X (10.2 and greater) including profile migration from Safari and Mac Internet Explorer.
* New support for Web Standards including SVG, CSS 2 and CSS 3, and JavaScript 1.6.
* Many security enhancements.
* List of notable bug fixes since Deer Park Alpha 2

Downloading and Installing
System Requirements

Before installing, make sure your computer meets the system requirements. Starting with Firefox 1.5, Mac OS X users must have Mac OS X 10.2 or greater.
Downloading Firefox 1.5 Beta

Mozilla.org provides Firefox for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X in a variety of languages. To get Firefox 1.5 Beta 1, download it here or browse the FTP site. To get the latest version of Firefox 1.0, visit GetFirefox.com. For builds for other systems and languages not provided by mozilla.org, see the Contributed Builds section at the end of this document.
Installing Firefox

Once you have downloaded Firefox, follow these instructions to install:
Windows

Double click the Firefox Setup 1.5b1.exe installer to start the install.
Mac OS X

Once you have downloaded the Firefox 1.5b1.dmg file, double click the Firefox Disk Image to open it in Finder, and then drag the Firefox application onto your hard disk. Drag the icon to your Dock if you want it to appear there.
Linux/GTK2

Extract the tarball and run the installer like so:

tar -xzvf firefox-1.5b1.installer.tar.gz
cd firefox-installer
./firefox-installer

If you have Nautilus set up to run Executable Text Files you can just double click firefox-installer to run.
Other Platforms

Extract the compressed archive and run firefox
Uninstalling Firefox

To uninstall Firefox, follow these instructions:
Windows

From the Start menu, choose Control Panel. When the Control Panel appears, double click Add/Remove Programs. Find "Mozilla Firefox (1.4)" in the list and click Remove to uninstall.
Mac OS X

Drag the Firefox application to the Trash.
Others

Remove the firefox folder.

These instructions leave your profile in place in case you install Firefox again in the future. If you wish to remove your profile folder, remove the location described below in the "Profile Folder" section. Note that by doing this you are destroying all of your Bookmarks, saved passwords, settings and other information and should you decide to use Firefox again you will be starting with a clean profile.

Other Information
Profile Folder

Firefox stores your user data in one of the following locations:
Windows 2000, XP Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox
Windows NT WINNT\Profiles\\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox
Windows 98, ME Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox
Mac OS X ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox
Linux and Unix systems ~/.mozilla/firefox

If you were using Firefox 0.8 as your default browser prior to upgrading to Firefox 1.0 or later version, data from your profile will be copied into the new location. You can remove the old "Phoenix" folder at your leisure.
Other Changes

* On Linux, Firefox now follows GTK's setting for textbox keybindings, so pressing Ctrl+letters triggers application shortcuts instead of readline-like text-editing shortcuts. For details, see this document.

Known Issues

This list covers some of the known problems with Firefox 1.5 Beta 1. Please read this before reporting any new bugs, and watch it regularly (we'll update it as new bugs are found in the release).
Extensions and Themes

You may run into issues with our new Extension Compatibility and Update mechanism. There are simple workarounds for each of the three problems we're aware of.

* If after you run the Firefox 1.5 Beta installer, the extension compatibility and update wizard does not appear, go to the Extension Manager and manually check for updates.
* If the Extension Compatibility and Update wizard appears but does not complete, first try to focus some other window and return focus to the wizard. If that does not correct the problem, hit Cancel and go to the Extension Manager and manually check for updates.
* If the Extension Compatibility and Update wizard downloads and installs extension updates but those updates are not applied, open the Extension Manager and manually check for updates.

Extensions installed under Firefox 1.0 may be incompatible and/or require updates to work with Firefox 1.5 Beta. Please report any issues to the maintainer of the extension. When you install Firefox 1.5 Beta all of your Extensions and Themes may be disabled until Firefox 1.5 Beta determines that either a) they are compatible with the Firefox 1.5 Beta release or b) there are newer versions available that are compatible. This is because Firefox changes from release to release and as such the ways in which some extensions integrate changes, meaning there can be problems when running an older extension with a newer version of Firefox. If you find that your favorite Extension or Theme has not been updated to be compatible with this release of Firefox, write the author and encourage them to update it.
All Systems

* If you install Firefox 1.5 Beta on a multi-user system in an area in which there is restricted access privileges, you must run Firefox 1.5 Beta as a user with access to that location upon installation so that all initial startup files are generated. If this is not done, when a user without write access to the install location attempts to start Firefox 1.5 Beta, they will not have sufficient privileges to allow Firefox 1.5 Beta to generate the initial startup files it needs to.
* Software Update will not work if Firefox 1.5 Beta is installed to a location that you do not have write access to, since Software Update needs to replace or create files in this location.

Windows

* When installing as a restricted access user on a shared machine into a location that you can write to, there may still be negative side effects (default browser/other keys not being set correctly). The browser should still function however. When installing as a restricted access user do not attempt to install over an installaion in a restricted-access/shared location as this may destroy that installation.
* Firefox 1.5 Beta may hang when closing after viewing a PDF file in some older versions of the Adobe Acrobat Reader plug in. If you experience this make sure you are using the newest version of the plug in.

Linux and Unix systems

* If Firefox 1.5 Beta is installed to a location with spaces in the path, it may not be able to set itself as Default browser and may keep prompting at startup. The work around is to install into a path without spaces.
* GNOME integration does not work properly with Fedora Core 3. Users of Fedora Core 3 will need to download and install linc-1.0.3-3.1.i386.rpm. After installing the RPM, perform the following command in the directory you installed Firefox 1.5 Beta into (you will need write permission):

touch .autoreg

The next time you start Firefox 1.5 Beta, GNOME integration should be functional.

Web Page Rendering

The Configuration Console (accessed by entering "about:config" in the Location bar and pressing Enter) gives advanced/experienced users direct control over Firefox's preferences. This system is for use by people who know what they are doing only, by changing a value incorrectly you may damage or destroy your Firefox installation! Look to Help sites for handy preferences to tweak to customize Firefox further.
Troubleshooting

* Poorly designed or incompatible Extensions can cause problems with your browser, including make it crash, slow down page display, etc. If you encounter strange problems relating to parts of the browser no longer working, the browser not starting, windows with strange or distorted appearance, degraded performance, etc, you may be suffering from Extension or Theme trouble. Restart the browser in Safe Mode. On Windows, start using the "Safe Mode" shortcut created in your Start menu or by running firefox.exe -safe-mode. On Linux, start with ./firefox -safe-mode and on Mac OS X, run:

cd /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/
./firefox-bin -safe-mode
When started in Safe Mode all extensions are disabled and the Default theme is used. Disable the Extension/Theme that is causing trouble and then start normally.

If you uninstall an extension that is installed with your user profile (i.e. you installed it from a web page) and then wish to install it for all user profiles using the -install-global-extension command line flag, you must restart the browser once to cleanse the profile extensions datasource of traces of that extension before installing with the switch. If you do not do this you may end up with a jammed entry in the Extensions list and will be unable to install the extension globally.

If you encounter strange problems relating to bookmarks, downloads, window placement, toolbars, history, or other settings, it is recommended that you try creating a new profile and attempting to reproduce the problem before filing bugs. Create a new profile by running Firefox with the -P command line argument, choose the "Manage Profiles" button and then choose "Create Profile...". Migrate your settings files (Bookmarks, Saved Passwords, etc) over one by one, checking each time to see if the problems resurface. If you do find a particular profile data file is causing a problem, file a bug and attach the file.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What can I do to help?

We need all the exposure we can get. Make it your mission to convert as many of your friends, family members and coworkers as possible. If you're a student, get it distributed at your college. Submit a story to Slashdot and other news sites about the release. Make some noise on your blog. Mass distribution via the Internet is possible -- look at Kazaa. Spread the word!
2. I use another browser because...

If you're not using Firefox, tell the development team why. We read the feedback at the Firefox forums.
3. Why haven't you responded to the mail I sent you?

Use the forums. The Firefox team reads them regularly. We all get a lot of email and your email may get lost.
4. Where can I get themes and add-ons (extensions)?

Extensions and themes can be downloaded from Mozilla Update.
5. Who is working on Firefox?

Lots of people. See Help->About Mozilla Firefox, Credits for a list of some of the people who have contributed to Firefox.
6. Where's the Firefox source code?

A tarball of the Firefox 1.0.7 source code is available for download. The latest development code can be obtained by cvs. Firefox-specific source is in "mozilla/browser", "mozilla/toolkit", and "mozilla/chrome". Please follow the build instructions.
7. Where is the mail client?

Firefox works with whatever mail client is the default on your system. However, we recommend Mozilla Thunderbird, our next generation email client and the perfect complement to Firefox.
8. How do I spell Firefox? How do I abbreviate it?

Firefox is spelled F-i-r-e-f-o-x - only the first letter capitalized (i.e. not FireFox, not Foxfire, FoxFire or whatever else a number of folk seem to think it to be called.) The preferred abbreviation is "Fx" or "fx".