The next Mozilla browser update, Firefox 10, is on track for release tomorrow, as confirmed by a Mozilla meeting report from last week.

The update pertains to the desktop formats—Windows, Mac, and Linux—and the mobile edition, for Android. For those who never upgraded to Firefox 4, version 3.6 will also be updated to version 3.6.9, which only adds security and stability fixes (though 3.6.9 is expected to be retired this April).

The update was again confirmed in today's Firefox/Gecko Development Meeting. And during the meeting, Firefox announced a new hire for Mozilla's marketing team, Pete Scanlon, who formerly worked for Google developing campaigns for that company's , including The Web Is What You Make Of It, and Browse The Web As Fast As You Think.

As has been the case with the last few full version updates to Firefox, there isn't a whole lot to see here for end users, though developers get a bunch of new capabilities. In emulation of Google Chrome's quick release schedule, a new version of Firefox now comes out every six weeks.

Chief among what's new for end users is how Firefox 10 handles extensions upon auto-updating to the new browser version. Now, instead of rejecting extensions not specifically updated for version 10, the browser will assume extensions are compatible unless specifically marked otherwise. Usually those compatible with Firefox 4 will work fine. Another case is binary add-ons, which are potentially more dangerous. Mozilla reports that 75 percent of all extensions in use were not acquired through the organization's own addons.mozilla.org site, which allowed the extensions to run in subsequent updated browser versions.

The second new item for end users is also related to add-ons. It lets them hotfix update themselves to address minor issues like blocking certificate authorities, changes the locale, or test new versions on a subset of users.

The Android flavor of Firefox 10 gets multitouch gesture support to the mobile browser, for one. According to the Firefox 10 Beta blog post, Firefox Sync will be "enhanced with an easier setup process so you can pair your Android phone, tablet or any Firefox-enabled device without needing to be at your desktop computer."

For the developer, Firefox 10 adds a scratchpad for the Orion code editor and new Page and Style Inspectors that will provide detailed CSS information. Anti-aliasing for WebGL content will smooth out rough edges, and CSS3D Transforms will bring 3D animation to 2D objects. Finally of interest is support for full-screen Web applications.

Another notable milestone for Firefox 10 is that it will be the first Extended Support Release version, according to the Mozilla Wiki Enterprise section. This program was the result of a dustup with enterprise IT professionals, who expressed concern that the more-frequent Firefox updates were unsupportable in corporate environments.

We'll still have to wait a while before the browser catches up with all its competitors in one anticipated feature. A helpful new-tab page like that in IE, Chrome, and Opera should appear in Firefox 12.

Look for official announcement of Firefox 10 on the Mozilla Blog, and for an in-depth evaluation PCMag's , which will be updated soon after the release.

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