The much-anticipated final release of Firefox 1.5 was released on Tuesday. Linux, Mac and Windows users of the popular open source browser can download it via the Mozilla website.

Key improvements with the browser include automatic updates (which means users no longer need to download a complete new version of the browser to upgrade), faster browser navigation, drag and drop reordering for browser tabs (previously only available as a third-party plug-in, improvements to pop-up blocking and better support for Mac OS X. There's also a number of bug fixes and security enhancements as explained in greater detail here.

The Mozilla Foundation are planning to use the SpreadFirefox website to showcase user-submitted videos of Firefox fans gushing about the product as part of a marketing blitz due to raise the profile of the already popular browser. Recent figures from web analytics firm OneStat.com suggest Mozilla-based browsers have a total global usage share of 11.51 per cent in a market still dominated by Microsoft's ubiquitous IE browser software. ®

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