Mozilla rushes out first beta of Firefox 5

Mozilla has announced that the first beta version of Firefox 5 is available for download and testing, just two months after the full release of Firefox 4.

The company said in April that it had shortened its development cycle to 13 weeks in an effort to release the new browser in time for 21 June.

Mozilla added in a blog post that the first beta of Firefox 5 contains several new features for developers to use and test.

"After five weeks of testing on the Firefox Aurora channel, the next version of Firefox is ready for beta. This release includes the Firefox channel switcher, performance and stability enhancements, and support for the new CSS Animations standard," the firm said.

"The new Firefox channel switcher lets users move between the Firefox Aurora, Beta and Release channels to test features at various levels of development, quality and polish."

Jay Sullivan, vice president of products at Mozilla, told V3.co.uk in March that the company was planning to change its development cycle after Firefox 4's long development in an effort to streamline the update process.

"We are changing our development process so that, as we create things, we can get them out quicker. We're going to do smaller, quicker releases," he said.

Firefox 4 has been a major success for Mozilla since it was launched on 22 March, and saw over 50 million downloads within 10 days of its launch.

V3.co.uk was impressed with the browser, noting that it brought in much needed improvements in performance as well as new features such as the customisable toolbar and Do Not Track system.