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* * * ## What is Mozilla?  Mozilla is not a web browser! Mozilla is a framework for building web applications using web standards such as CSS, XML, and RDF. Mozilla is a non-profit, open-source web development project for developing the program code used in the Mozilla application suite. The Mozilla application suite is a complete set of web applications (browser, chat client, news client, mail client, etc.). Mozilla believes that the Internet is a public resource that needs to be improved and protected. * * * ## Mozilla's Products * **Firefox** - One of the most popular Internet browsers today * **Thunderbird** - An email and newsgroup client that is secure, fast, and easy to use * **SeaMonkey -** - Integrates browsing, email, chat, and editing * **Bugzilla** - A bug tracking tool * **Camino** - A web browser for Mac * **Lightning & Sunbird** - Extensions and applications for calendars * **Composer** - A web page editor Products can be downloaded from the following address: [http://www.mozilla.org](http://www.mozilla.org/) * * * ## History of the Mozilla Project In 1998, with the release of the Netscape browser source code, the Mozilla project was created as an open-source community. Within a year, new community members from around the world had added many new features to Netscape's next browser and enhanced its existing features, while the Mozilla project also grew. Members were no longer just working on Netscape's next browser; they began creating various browsers, development tools, and other projects. In 2002, the first major version, Mozilla 1.0, was released. This suite made many improvements to the browser, email client, and other applications. However, not many people used it (over 90% of Internet users used Internet Explorer). That same year, Mozilla released the first version of Phoenix (later renamed Firefox). In 2003, the Mozilla project created the Mozilla Foundation, an independent non-profit organization. The Mozilla Foundation continues to manage the day-to-day operations of the Mozilla project. In 2004, Firefox 1.0 was released, which was a major success. Within less than a year, Firefox was downloaded over 100 million times. Firefox's popularity helped return choice to the user. In 2008, Firefox reached a 20% global market share. In 2008, Mozilla celebrated its tenth anniversary. Over the decade, the community had shown that commercial companies could benefit from collaborating on open-source projects. * * * ## The Mozilla Foundation The Mozilla Foundation was established in July 2003 and is located in Mountain View, California, USA. The Mozilla Foundation, abbreviated as Mozilla (MF or MoFo), is a non-profit organization set up to support and lead the open-source Mozilla project. The organization formulates development policies, manages key infrastructure, and oversees trademarks and other intellectual property. It has a subsidiary called Mozilla Corporation, which employs some Mozilla developers and coordinates the distribution of the Mozilla Firefox web browser and the Mozilla Thunderbird email client. The Mozilla Foundation describes itself as "a public benefit organization dedicated to providing diverse choices and innovation on the Internet." In its initial phase, the Mozilla Foundation began to venture into areas broader than mozilla.org, taking on tasks previously pushed to Netscape and Mozilla partners. In its move to become "end-user facing," the Mozilla Foundation contracted with some commercial companies to sell CDs containing Mozilla software and provide telephone support services. In these efforts, the Mozilla Foundation chose former Netscape suppliers. The Mozilla Foundation became more confident in its intellectual property and launched new policies for the use of its trademarks. The Mozilla Foundation also started new projects such as market expansion. With the establishment of the Mozilla Corporation, the Mozilla Foundation transferred all software development and business-related activities to this new subsidiary. The Mozilla Foundation now focuses solely on oversight and strategic matters. It also continues to manage some non-productized projects, such as Camino and SeaMonkey. The Mozilla Foundation now owns the Mozilla trademarks and other intellectual property and licenses them all to the Mozilla Corporation. The Mozilla Foundation also controls the Mozilla program source code repository and decides who can commit code to it. ### Mozilla Foundation's Roadmap Mozilla decided to create a new development roadmap. Some key points of the new roadmap are listed below: * Focus on standalone applications (Firefox browser, Thunderbird mail/news application, and standalone designer) * Make Firefox and Thunderbird Mozilla's primary products * Maintain the SeaMonkey (now Mozilla browser) application suite for enterprises and organizations with large Mozilla deployments * Use a one-year development cycle to maintain the Mozilla 1.4 branch as a "distributor/vendor" branch used by organizations * Fix critical bugs in the Gecko layout architecture. All Mozilla applications benefit from these Gecko improvements. * Do less, but do it better! * * * ## Confusing Mozilla Names The first Netscape browser used a code engine named Mozilla. _Netscape 1.0_ was powered by a code engine called _Mozilla 1.0_. Netscape 2.0 used Mozilla 2.0, Netscape 3.0 used Mozilla 3.0, and Netscape 4.0 used Mozilla 4.0. In 1998, Netscape 4 made its source code public - simultaneously establishing the development of Netscape 5 as an open-source project. This open-source project to create Netscape 5 was called _"The Mozilla Project"_. Strangely, the code engine of this Mozilla project was called _Gecko_. Unfortunately, after the 4.0 release, the development of the next-generation browser took Netscape over three and a half years. This delay destroyed Netscape's chances of being a viable alternative to Microsoft's IE browser. Shortly after the Mozilla project started, Microsoft released its IE 5.0, and before Netscape managed to release a working browser, Microsoft's IE 6.0 was also ready. _Netscape 6.0_, based on _Gecko M18 (Milestone 18)_, was released in November 2000. After the release of Netscape 6.0, the Mozilla project began developing _Netscape 7_ based on the engine named _Gecko 1.0_. Both Netscape 6 and 7 were built on Mozilla, and Netscape and Mozilla were nearly identical application suites. _Netscape 7_ claimed to use a code engine named _Gecko 1.0_. At this point, the Mozilla project was developing a new browser named _Firefox_. In the past, Firefox was called _Mozilla Firebird_ (and Mozilla Firebird was previously called _Phoenix_, which claimed to be a new version of _Mozilla_).