Happy “Download Firefox” Day!
Most people that read my blog know that I really, really like Firefox. I put on a temporary Firefox tattoo a few months ago:
Firefox 3 just came out today, and they’re trying to set a world record for most software downloads in 24 hours. So now is the time to get it! Tell your friends, email your family, blog about it, even impress your boss with your browser’s svelte memory footprint. 
Go ahead and download Firefox 3 today. After all, how often do you get a chance to take part in a world record just by downloading some software?
Added: I almost forgot that Google just released the Google toolbar for Firefox 3, if you’re interested. This new version adds support for custom buttons, which is one of my favorite features for the IE Google Toolbar. The toolbar also adds a “Send To” feature. The Send To feature lets you share web pages via email.
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Evan Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 11:53 am
It looks like the Firefox download site has been down for quite a while, with the recent surge in traffic. Hopefully they will be able to fix this in time to reach their download goals. I can’t seem to find any link that is working…
Anuj Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 11:54 am
Will definitely download it and make my contribution.
I am very passionate supporter of open source, and Firefox (Mozilla) surely make the world’s open source community proud.
netmeg Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 12:06 pm
I’ve been trying to get it, but the site looks too busy.
Too bad that the Referrals program couldn’t have gotten it together and had some nice creatives for it ahead of the game.
John Cow Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 12:06 pm
Once we’re able to download it, we will have it.
Michael D Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 12:24 pm
That tattoo I saw in April wasn’t real?!
I keep 3 open windows with about 30 open tabs and 3.0 beta is running faster but still crashes 1-2 times per 24 hours on my XP setup. Hoping todays release fixes that.
Feliks M. Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 12:27 pm
its available at the getfirefox.com site, just not sure if they are tracking the number of downloads across all of their domains or only on the spreadfirefox.com domain.
Koen Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 12:30 pm
Was able to download firefox 3 from getfirefox.com 5 minutes ago. Installed it and … it’s a release candidate! The site is offline again now.
Nick - I think the original Nick here. Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 12:35 pm
I’m on my way to get it now. Thanks for letting us know Matt.
Rosa E. Martinez Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 12:57 pm
——> Descagando ….<——
Haciendo mi contribución, por mas pequeña que sea, besos desde Venezuela.
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superjason Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 1:03 pm
I used this link a while ago, although it’s getting worse and people find out about it:
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/?p=downloadday
Bambarbia Kirkudu Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 1:12 pm
Firefox sucks with JavaScript. Too slow! I am implementing Liferay Portal at http://www.lavalife.com, and 99% CPU was (as later discovered, I was working locally)… it was at Mozilla Firefox; plus 1% for Liferay/Tomcat.
Most AJAX-like apps (with huge OO libraries) suck with Mozilla.
IE is not ‘the best’ indeed too: for huge HTML it shows small widow of death (it’s Windows XP).
Some stupid guys still use recursive calls during XML parse… others advertise them. Of course, Google won’t advertise Microsoft
Sterkworks Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 1:43 pm
I downloaded it last night. Hope that helps in the total tally. And for work…they are so backward they won’t let us use firefox. Or have desktop icons. Or a cd drive. And they disable our USB ports.
Andrew Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 1:48 pm
Matt, I’d love be be as excited as you about the Google Toolbar for FF3, but most of the lovely “custom buttons” say they’re compatible only with version 5 of the Toolbar, which is still only out for IE. Version 5 has some other nice features, like better Notebooks integration. I was really disappointed when I first saw that Google had v.5 for IE but not for FF — despite Google and FF having a great history of synergy! I had hoped that Google was simply delaying the release until FF3 came out, but instead we get this minor patch update for v.3. Kinda lame — which I only say because I tend to expect better from Google.
Definitely excited about FF3 though.
Matt Cutts Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 2:20 pm
Hey all, it looks like the download sites are clearing up now. I was able to reach http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ and http://www.spreadfirefox.com/ pretty easily now.
Gideon Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 3:28 pm
Just downloaded it and I’m loving it. Almost all my extensions work and it’s quick - well done to all at Mozilla.
Nick - I think the original Nick here. Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 4:22 pm
Just got it and most of my plugins don’t work
Firebug being the most notable among them. I hope they come up with something soon because I really need Firebug for work.
dennis anderton Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 5:09 pm
I’ve installed Firefox 3 two weeks ago. Sadly most of my plug-ins and toolbars are not yet compatible with the latest version. I love the new look but I have to revert to the older version.
Mark Vander Wel Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 5:47 pm
I want to know where you got the airbrush tattoo!
Firefox Kid Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 7:05 pm
I am a part of this historical event.. I am using FF3 now
It rocks!
Dave (Original) Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 8:01 pm
Matt, I’ll put some very encouraging text below ALL my Firefox download images from AdSense
Dave (Original) Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 8:07 pm
Matt, why does Firefox download images from AdSense use FireFox 2.0?
Better start the World Record attempt next week
Anton Said,
June 17, 2008 @ 8:15 pm
I wish I could use google toolbar on my firefox but it interferes with my skype and then I cant use skype….!~
Harith Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 12:33 am
WOW….
It seems people in Scandinavian countries are busy in downloading FireFox 3. Here is some stats at the moment:
Norway: 22.501 (population= 4,6 million) *****
Denmark: 19.644 (population= 5.5 million, including yours trully)
Sweden: 28.376 (population= 9 million)
As you might have noticed, Norway is the winner at the moment in comparing number of FireFox 3 downlods per population!
Alex Asigno Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 2:34 am
Firebug 1.2 (Alpha) is functioning fine on Firfox 3 RC1.
Daniel Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 2:37 am
Nick - There’s a new version of Firebug out that does work with FF3, I installed it earlier and it seems fine.
Bob Shirilla Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 4:32 am
I never download software the day it is released. I cautiously wait a few days to see if any problems have been discovered.
From these post, it looks like I am over cautious.
Soeren Sprogoe Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 5:05 am
I actually spend “Download Firefox Day” downloading and playing around with Opera
MAN that browser is lightning fast!
shamess Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 5:14 am
I got Firefox 3 last night and most my extensions are working fine. A lot of developers released their updates over night and now a whole bunch more work now (I guess they didn’t want to release updates for the RCs, since stuff could change). If people are finding extensions still not working, checking out the extension’s webpage might help you. I know that Firebug had a beta version (so user’s weren’t prompted to install it automatically) that worked with Fx3 betas.
Speaking of the Google toolbar for Firefox, and I appreciate if you can’t answer this, but what benefit does Google get from this? Google is already the default search engine, so it can’t be in order to get you extra searches. Unlike most companies, I *can* believe that Google have made it just to help people out, but are you guys extracting any other information? Like, which websites we visit and such? I really don’t mind; I trust Google completely with my data, I’m just wondering.
mels Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 6:14 am
You can actually read more about the outage and its consequences on the world record here on netcraft. I love the idea of a world record
Also you can monitor the performances of the Mozilla servers live, here ! Let’s hope they can stay up and handle all the charge and traffic from now on !
@Nick : I do confirm, like Alex and Daniel, that Firebug 1.2 works perfectly with Firefox 3
Yayin Akisi Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 6:55 am
Your Tattoo is incredible!
I love firefox and hope they have fixed some issues at new release. I need a firefox which doesn’t freezes and if it freezes : does show the error message.
barnes Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 6:58 am
I helped, I downloaded on about 5 machines.
Classic April fools joke with the temporary tattoo. Got my parents with that one too, and magnetic gauges.
Chris Whatley Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 8:33 am
Matt,
You should get that tat done, looks wicked.
Do you have a Google one anywhere??
Matt Cutts Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 9:10 am
Chris Whatley, no Google tattoo at this point.
Matt Cutts Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 9:10 am
Harith, those Norwegians are pretty smart.
Asia Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 9:11 am
I love Firefox, but it’s so buggy on a mac, so sticking to Safari - I did download and install however - and shot the email out earlier. Open Source Love…
stocks Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 9:33 am
Matt, do you know if they are counting upgrades also, or just new installs? That may skew the numbers quite a bit…
vision Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 9:38 am
Firefox 3, great
google browser sync discontinued for firefox 3, no so great.
H.T. Ohlsen Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 10:19 am
I downloaded Firefox 3 on my laptop to check it out - and found out that Google Bookmark Synchronizer isn’t compatible with it! I’m waiting until this is fixed before I put version 3 on the other machines.
Andrew Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 11:00 am
@H.T. Ohlsen: Unfortunately you’ll be waiting in vain. It seems Google Browser Sync has gone the way of the dodo: http://lifehacker.com/396112/google-browser-sync-discontinued-no-firefox-3-support
Jim Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 11:23 am
Firefox can be more fashionable and IE the most used but Opera is still the best
Luckily for you the tatoo is removable, you may have to tatoo the Opera logo in a future not too far away.
Nick - I think the original Nick here. Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 12:17 pm
Been living with the new firefox since yesterday. If they get Firebug working on it, I think this version is good enough to get me to switch from Safari. Well done to the team that worked on this. It’s excellent.
H.T. Ohlsen Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 4:12 pm
@Andrew Said, thanks. First they get you hooked, then don’t think it’s fun any more and abandon the users? Nice. I guess Foxmarks is the way to go then.
shamess Said,
June 30, 2008 @ 2:53 am
Following up from my last comment: After installing the bar on another computer of a friend’s, for the first time, I immediately noticed the RealPlayer and some other sponsors. I *knew* there had to be a profit-orientated reason for the software. (No that that’s a bad thing. I’ve frequently said making money isn’t evil.)