The code has been frozen since Thursday, which means development has been completely halted. The software is now being tested for major problems, and will be released as soon as it is deemed workable. Should major bugs surface, it will be fixed which could extend the release date. <\/font><\/p>\n \u201cBeta\u201d versions are normally feature-complete programmes but with bugs, whereas \u201calpha\u201d versions contain far less features than the intended final version will have (and more bugs).<\/font><\/p>\n Although no official statements have been made, this move is quite possibly a response to Microsoft\u2019s release on Monday of the beta version of Internet Explorer 7 (beta 2 \u2013 March 20th). One of the quintessential Firefox features \u2013 tabbed browsing \u2013 is now available in IE 7 as well. In fact, most of Firefox\u2019s established innovative features are available in the new Microsoft product, excluding the strong security and stability of Firefox.<\/font><\/p>\n