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“Mozilla 1.0: Stick a fork in it, its done.” So reads the home page (www.mozilla.org) for the group thats been building and testing the open-source browser and related component technologies for the past four years. On Wednesday, the Mozilla team released the long-awaited version 1.0 for download.
Mozilla includes a Web browser, graphics engine (Gecko), and related developer toolkit. Mozilla.org is encouraging third-party developers to embed elements of Mozilla into its products.
In a Q&A with PC Magazine, Mitchell Baker, who goes by the title of chief lizard wrangler at the AOL-backed Mozilla.org group, emphasized that Mozilla is mistaken by some people for being only another browser:
Who is Mozilla aimed at, and why is it important?
When people think of Mozilla, they generally think of the browser, but Mozilla is really much more than that. Mozilla is of interest to people who want an end-user application like our browser thats not tied directly into the Windows platform. We also have a set of componentized technologies, however, that have been developed with the browser as the front end, targeted to allow easy development of cross-platform Web-based applications.
Whats an example of such an application?
WorldGate offers interactive set-top-box applications. Its customers want to interact with the Web as an adjunct to other things they can do, and WorldGate allows that through the layout engine in Mozilla, called Gecko. There are also applications in the manufacturing sector and many other kinds of applications.
What are some of the technical highlights and notable features in your browser?
A primary one thats received a ton of interest is tabbed browsing. This allows you to click on a set of links that you want to look at, and rather than having windows proliferate all over your desktop, the windows are arranged in a set of tabs, so you can look at them when youre ready. There is still room for innovation in the browser space, and this kind of thing can become a catalyst for innovation.
Look for a First Look of Mozilla v1.0 RC3 soon.