Mozilla to be replaced by "smaller, faster" Phoenix

BANGALORE: Mozilla organization has announced that it would migrate away from the current Mozilla suite to a leaner spin-off tentatively named Phoenix.

The Phoenix web browser is redesigned from Mozilla solely using the cross-platform XUL user interface language without Mozilla's bulky XPFE toolkit. Phoenix does not integrate all functionality into a single suite, - instead it supports extensions that enable developers to addon features as needed without swelling the main code base.

Users and developers alike have long complained about the size of Mozilla due to its all-in-one nature.

"Phoenix is simply smaller, faster, and better -- especially better not because it has every conflicting feature wanted by each segment of the Mozilla community, but because it has a strong "add-on" extension mechanism," reads the Mozilla roadmap.

"The incremental development of the kind we've had since 1.0 is not enough for a healthy open source project. It's clear to us that Mozilla needs a new roadmap, one that charts a path to an even better future. Below we will propose a new application architecture based on the Gecko Runtime Environment (GRE), which can be shared between separate application processes", the company says.

In addition to replacing Mozilla's Web browser component, the current integrated e-mail client will also be dropped in place of the new Minotaur, which serves as a mail associate to Phoenix. Mozilla also plans to create a variant of Minotaur using XUL under the code-name Thunderbird.

Mozilla 1.4, currently in the alpha stage, will be the last fixed release before the migration takes place. "The major changes after 1.4 involve switching to Phoenix and Thunderbird," in addition to fixing bugs in the Gecko browser engine, according to the roadmap. Mozilla will give Phoenix a new name for its next release due to legal issues, the Mozilla Organization says.