It's here! Faster, richer Firefox 1.5 makes its debut

Firefox 1.5 has finally been unleashed. Anybody unfamiliar with Firefox, an open-source internet browser that’s become a bit of a cult hit online, can hop along to the Mozilla site to have a look for themselves.

While it’s true that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer still dominates the browser market, Firefox – which has been built by an army of thousands of volunteers and is available to download free of charge – is now used by at least one in ten surfers. In the year or so since its official release, it’s gained a reputation as a slicker, more secure alternative to IE – though it’s not been immune to the odd security scare.

For those already familiar with the browser, the improvements in 1.5 include automatic updates (no more need to download the whole caboodle to upgrade), more speedy surfing and drag-and-drop page tabs. Again, Mozilla is pushing the security angle. If you're hungry for more detail, Squarefree has done an excellent job in mapping out, in depth, all of the upgraded features.

Meanwhile, Mozilla’s charitable status (the organisation split this year - into the Mozilla Corporation, which makes money and is wholly owned, for legal rasons, by the non-profit Mozilla Foundation) doesn’t mean it’s a slouch on the commercial front.

Mozilla already had a deal with Google, where it got cash for pre-setting Google as the browser's homepage in America and Europe. Now, with Firefox 1.5 it has also struck a deal with Google's arch rival Yahoo!, with whom it begins “a new search relationship” in China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.