Mozilla aims for world download record

Mozilla wants to set a Guinness world record when it releases the new version of its Firefox browser.

'Download Day' has been created by the company to make the number of downloads of the new Firefox 3 web browser in the first 24 hours of release a world record.

Although the attempt is the first of its kind, so there is no existing record to beat, it is hoped the downloads will exceed those of the previous version, Firefox 2, which were counted at 1.6 million.

Official judges and Guinness World Records will be reviewing download logs to validate the attempt. They will announce the results a week after the launch, which is expected to be sometime in June.

Tristan Nitot, president of Mozilla Europe, told Computeractive: "We've been working on developing Firefox 3 for the past three years – and it shows.

"Mozilla is driven by quality, not deadlines, so we really want to make sure that the product is right before we release it. We're planning to issue RC2 (Release Candidate 2) over the coming week and then aiming to properly launch Firefox 3 to the world very shortly thereafter.”

Anyone wishing to take part can sign up on the Download Day website – they will then be notified when a date for the attempt has been set.