Mozilla issues Alpha release of open source browser

The team behind Mozilla's open source browser has released an Alpha version of the project, dubbed Milestone 14.

The latest version of the browser, codenamed "Seamonkey", is not far from being a fully functional browser and is based on Netscape's Communicator. The developers behind this open source project face a considerable challenge trying to create a Web browser capable of competing with Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) 5.0 on the desktop.

Being an Alpha release, the browser is not yet "feature complete". It is, nevertheless, neatly designed, features image rendering capabilities similar to IE5.0 and has the growing support of the open source community behind it.

Another Alpha version of the browser, featuring built-in encryption, will follow in a matter of days, thanks to a decision by the Netscape group to include this technology.

The Alpha version can be downloaded from the Mozilla site at: http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/release-notes/m14.html.

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