Firefox 3 beta 5 code freeze slated for March 18

Not surprisingly, Mozilla has announced that a beta 5 version of Firefox 3 will be necessary after all.

As developers put the final touches on Beta 4, which is now in final build stage, Firefox developers deemed that another beta would be needed before final release of the much anticipated web browser upgrade. The development team expects the the beta 5 code freeze to happen on March 18.

A post on the mozilla blog on Tuesday noted that a number of bugs need to be fixed and refinements made before the browser is launched to market. "The development team decided that a fifth beta milestone would be required based on the number of blockers remaining," according to the Mozilla post. "This additional beta will ensure that changes which may affect website compatibility and changes which affect the user experience will get exposure to a wider audience for feedback and regression testing."

It is not clear when Beta 4 will be released on the web but is expected within the next week.