Mozilla's lightish weight fast and neat browser, Firebird 0.7, is now being replaced (and renamed) by Firefox 0.8. And it's starting to feel like a finished product too. I still use Mozilla on my desktop, but I've switched to Firebird Firefox and Thunderbird (email client) on my laptop.
Why Firefox?
It's similar to Firebird. It's easy to remember. It sounds good. It's unique. We like it. And we weren't able to find any other project or company even remotely similar to a web browser that uses the same name.
What's a Firefox?
A “Firefox” is another name for the red panda.
Will this name be permanent?
We sure hope so. We've learned a lot about choosing names in the past year (more than we would have liked to). We have been very careful in researching the name to ensure that we will not have any problems down the road. We have begun the process of registering our new trademark with the US Patent and Trademark office.
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How will this affect other Mozilla projects?
Having dealt with this issue, we'll be working out a more detailed branding strategy in the coming months. The branding document will be updated accordingly.
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But I hate the new name. It's stupid.
Our editors are trying to figure out whether this is a question. Of course not everyone will like the new name, especially at first. We're confident most people will quickly get used to it. New names have a way of sounding terrible at first. If you're unhappy with the new name, consider trying out the many improvements we've made in the latest release of our browser – we hope that'll make you feel better. After all, what's most important is how the thing works, not what it's called.
I just hope Thunderbird doesn't become “Thunderfox”….
