Firefox 3 Download Day

It’s Firefox 3 Download Day today. It is effectively marketing hype and a viral campaign, although the less cynical among you may call it Mozilla’s attempt to create a world record. The idea being that after 3 years of development, the “new and improved” (oxymoron?) browser will not only revolutionise the browser market but will set a Guinness World Record for the most number of downloads of an application in one day.

Three (how apt) problems so far:

  1. Their download day notification e-mail contained a link to download Firefox 2
  2. The only working site I can find with a Firefox 3 download keeps timing out due to stupidly high server load
  3. Thousands of people across the world downloaded Firefox 3 after midnight only to discover that Mozilla, in their infinite wisdom, set the record start time for 10am (PDT)

Still, hopefully I’ll be able to get my Firefox 3 before the 24 hours is up and help to set a new record.

Update (19:21 GMT): Melissa just posted a link to a Mozilla blog entry on the subject. Apparently their servers were overwhelmed… no shit! :P

Update (20:12 GMT): the download link is now working, although a tad slow to respond as to be expected.

June 17th, 08

Posted by Jem at 19:11 GMT


46 comments on “Firefox 3 Download Day”

  1. Aisling

    I just downloaded mine from the http://FTP. I don’t have time to deal with craziness. :P

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 7:17 pm
  2. Jem

    But Aisling, how do we know if that counts towards the world record?!

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 7:18 pm
  3. Jenny

    I didn’t get that oxymoron, but I have heard of all the problems and it makes my lolz.

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 7:23 pm
  4. Jem

    I didn’t get that oxymoron

    How can something be new and improved — surely if it’s new, there’s nothing to improve from?

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 7:26 pm
  5. Vera

    Jenny: If it’s new… how can it be improved? Improved implies that it existed before, thus not new.

    I’ll wait to see how things evolve. For me it’s much more entertaining seeing people run around like crazy… as if it were a national holiday. Nope don’t care about setting any record. I just want a good browser.

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 7:26 pm
  6. Jem

    Nope don’t care about setting any record.

    Aw Vera, you spoilsport :P

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 7:28 pm
  7. Jenny

    … I still don’t get it. :(

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 7:28 pm
  8. Cel

    Download Day made me all confused. When I first heard about it, I couldn’t figure out when, and today I spent five minutes banging my head in hopes of enlightenment. I was hoping my email would link to a nice friendly page saying, “CONGRATULATIONS! You have selected yourself to be a member of an epic moment in browser history…click here to download.”

    Stop confusing me, Firefox. -.-

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 7:32 pm
  9. Jem

    You know what an oxymoron is, don’t you Jenny? It’s like a word or statement that contradicts itself.. yes? (Or something along those lines.) Well, if something is improved, that means it existed so that the current form could be worked on to make that better version.. yes? However, if something is NEW, it never existed, so couldn’t have been worked on to come up with an improved version. Therefore the phrase “new and improved” is contradictory, and thus an oxymoron.

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 7:34 pm
  10. Stephanie

    English lecturer and PHP Ninja. Gee, Jem, don’t you ever stop?

    Not to mention extortionist extraordinaire… :P

    Heard the graphics blow. Get Safari… and a Mac. ;)

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 8:03 pm
  11. Sarah

    I downloaded Firefox 3 from Softpedia, but also downloaded it from Mozilla to help their cause. We got there in the end. It only took 2 hours. :P

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 8:05 pm
  12. Hannah

    I’ve been trying since noon to download it and, two hours later, I’m just now able to download it! I already had RC3, so there’s really no point, but I like being a statistic. :3

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 8:08 pm
  13. Jem

    Get Safari

    ..and open myself up to new vulnerabilities? http://tinyurl.com/6nmyox

    No thanks :P

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 8:13 pm
  14. Josh

    The crazily eerie thing is, I was wondering this afternoon when Firefox 3 would come out. Then, hitting the web, I realised that today is the day!

    It’s a recipe for server crashes, really. I can’t believe that they didn’t beef up their computing power network grid thingy.

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 8:18 pm
  15. Jenny

    Ah.

    I’m used to seeing “feather of lead” and “cold fire” et cetera as oxymorons.

    However, it is a new version and it is improved so in that sense it sort of makes sense? Isn’t it a popular saying? o.O

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 8:18 pm
  16. Stepherz

    Finally got it! :) Which is probably the most exciting thing that will happen to me today.

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 8:33 pm
  17. rdomanski

    Setting the Guinness world record may be the stated goal of all this activity, but in the end that’s only a novelty. The real show is the online mass mobilization that’s taking place.

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 8:53 pm
  18. Melissa

    Lawl. Poor Mozilla. EPIC FAIL in my opinion. XD

    Firefox still pwns the universe though, so yay.

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 8:58 pm
  19. Nyx

    Got it! … but haven’t installed it yet. One of my vital extensions, LJLogin, doesn’t work with Firefox 3 yet, and I can’t even imagine going back to RPing on LJ without it *shudders*

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 9:12 pm
  20. Maria

    I finally got through as well. I love how all the people on the forum were going bonkers because it was already the 17th on their time and they didn’t know about the release time.

    It was highly marketed, but in terms of giving out a date, Mozilla could have done a better job. I didn’t know about the release time until this morning and I knew of the day just a few days ago.

    There are a few nitpicky things I’m not too happy with in the “new and improved” version, but hopefully they’ll fix that.

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 10:53 pm
  21. Rich

    I can sympathise with their downtime to be honest - they’re -currently- dealing with approx. 250 downloads PER SECOND. That’s around 88GB of bandwidth every minute. Their CDN must be glowing red hot.

    I managed to get it tonight after coming home from work - the download wasn’t ready until 10am PDT, which is pretty late for most of us, but what the heck. It’s installed, it’s working great and it’s significantly faster than v2.

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 10:58 pm
  22. Annie

    Anyone else got their funky monkey certificate? :P

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 11:22 pm
  23. Aisling

    [quote]But Aisling, how do we know if that counts towards the world record?![/quote]

    It doesn’t. :D

    I don’t care!!! :D :D :D :P

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 11:25 pm
  24. Aisling

    Dude, I failed Quote School. :(

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 11:25 pm
  25. Arwen

    I saw a blurb about Firefox 3 in the little tv thinger in the elevator at my job a couple weeks ago. I’m not gonna lie, I fangirled about it a tiny bit.

    Comment added: June 17th, 08 @ 11:26 pm
  26. Testing, Testing » Disdainful-Soul.net

    [...] reading what Jem had to say about the Firefox 3.0 release I made sure to download it and check it [...]

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 12:00 am
  27. Stephanie

    @Jem: Perhaps I should have mentioned the get safari/mac thing was not necessarily in that order… Get the mac, use Safari, be happy.

    Yay for everyone :)

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 12:02 am
  28. Catherine

    Downloaded it, installed it… and then wept as I lost a few of my favourite addons. :(

    But I found a few better ones, so I am good. Now to get used to the new features.

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 1:11 am
  29. Louise

    Poor Mozilla. :O I think I’ll wait till long after the hype before I download - Or until my FF2 addons are updated. :D

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 1:14 am
  30. Sarah

    I just downloaded it. It’s pretty cool. : D My only add on was my del.icio.us thing and they already updated it so I’m fine with that..

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 1:35 am
  31. Audrey

    I am using it right now :D I like it.

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 1:42 am
  32. Kristie

    I just downloaded version 3 a few minutes ago, and I really like it. I was a little worried while installing because it informed me that my FireFTP add-on wasn’t compatible. :( Luckily, they found the newest version that is. :) That was all I was really worried about.

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 1:55 am
  33. Hayley

    And somehow I didn’t know anything about it till 4 hours ago. N I don’t really use Firefox anymore but I’ll get round to trying v3 eventually.

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 1:56 am
  34. Julie

    But Aisling, how do we know if that counts towards the world record?!

    But Jem, how do we give a shit about whether it counts towards a world record?!

    :P

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 3:08 am
  35. Bronnie

    I did hear somewhere that they were going to do a big release day.. .but silly me missed it!! lol.
    So am downloading it a day late.

    Love updates though :D

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 5:14 am
  36. Mumblies

    Duly noted, downloaded from your link and installed :)
    *Pats herself on the head for being a good mummy*

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 7:19 am
  37. Jabed

    I don’t think thats n oxymoron, ‘new’ would contradict with ‘old’ or something similiar.

    A new version of Mozilla Firefox which is improved.
    –
    oh and about that safari in one of your comments, can we really trust Microsoft to point out a flaw in one of there rival companies (Apple). In my opinion Microsoft are trying to increase there downloads and reduce Safari’s. Still, I could be wrong :P

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 7:46 am
  38. Jabed

    *an

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 7:47 am
  39. Jem

    But Jem, how do we give a shit about whether it counts towards a world record?!

    No party poopers here - GTFO.

    In my opinion Microsoft are trying to increase there downloads and reduce Safari’s.

    …and you’re not biased in the slightest. :P I’ll leave you to google the proof of concept for the exploit.

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 8:51 am
  40. huckle

    5.5 million downloads and rising. we will prevail.

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 10:54 am
  41. Luci

    Downloaded it at approx 9pm GMT, onyl took 10 mins with no problems :P I lost FireFTP though -.-

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 3:18 pm
  42. Mari

    I heard something vague about Firefox 3 over the last few weeks, but paid no mind. I swear I live under a rock in a cave about three galaxies over…

    *feels infinitely out of the loop*

    However, at least I didn’t feel stupid for downloading at midnight, which I would have. (And they really should have started the counter at midnight GMT.

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 4:10 pm
  43. Regina

    Downloaded mine hours ago. =) Works well.

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 7:39 pm
  44. Kristina

    I can’t believe I didn’t hear about the release until the day it was released when Melly told me.

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 7:40 pm
  45. Barbilee

    omg i lost all my fav addons that i uses liek color picker and meserit and my book mark icon thing :( googlles tool bar dotn work i lost my myspace bar :( i want my old fire fox back :(

    Comment added: June 18th, 08 @ 8:56 pm
  46. Firefox 3 - Bugs, Tweaks and Opinion — jemjabella.co.uk

    [...] been using the new browser for nearly 48 hours now, so I thought it about time I share my [...]

    Comment added: June 19th, 08 @ 12:51 pm

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