FOSSwire

Konqueror as a web browser still unfortunately lags quite a way behind Firefox in terms of compatibility. For that reason, many KDE users stick with Firefox, despite the poorer integration between the desktop environment and the browser.

I have just come across a theme for Firefox 3.0 designed to make Firefox fit in better on a KDE 4.0 desktop (although it can be used on any system you like!). It makes use of the Oxygen icon set and various visual tweaks to make things a little cleaner alongside KDE 4 applications.

It is worth noting that the theme is only in alpha stage at the current time, so it might cause things to break. If problems occur, you should switch back to the default theme in Tools > Addons.

I had difficulty installing the theme from Mozilla's official Addons site, so we'll go about the process on the developer's site instead.

Navigate to http://ramonantonio.net/kde-firefox/ and click the Add to Firefox button.

You'll get a warning about Firefox preventing the website from installing software.

Click Allow, and then click on the Add to Firefox button once again. You'll get a standard add-on download window. Once you click Install and restart Firefox, the theme will be applied!

As I've already mentioned, this theme is in an early stage of development. Also, because we're installing from the site manually, not through Mozilla Add-ons, I recommend you check back with the developer's site frequently for new versions of the theme.

All in all, though, this theme is a promising solution to bridge the user experience gap between Firefox 3.0 and KDE 4.

Just a quick note to say that the second most popular web browser out there and one of the most used bits of open source on the desktop, Firefox has had version 3.0 go gold.

Unfortunately, at the time of writing Mozilla's servers are down following an attempt to win Firefox a Guinness World Record for being the software most downloaded in 24 hours. The sheer weight of traffic attempting to snag the new release and help achieve the record has brought pretty much every Mozilla site to its knees.

Still, when things do come back up, be sure to grab yourself Firefox 3.0, get your Firefox-using friends (on all platforms) to upgrade and of course help convince others to switch!

Once it's back up, you'll be able to get Firefox here.

UPDATE: I've now managed to get on the site, so the links might well work again. Or they might go back down... YMMV.

The first release candidate version of Firefox 3 is now available from Mozilla.

If you're already using the beta of Firefox 3, which many people on the latest Linux distros will, it is unlikely there will be that many functionality changes and new features in this RC release, but it is designed to bring greater stability and move closer towards the final release of Firefox 3.0.

Having said that, this new RC does have some new features that don't make an appearance in the most recent beta.

Cited are some new user interface improvements, which improve the consistency with Firefox on each platform it is available from. There are also some updates to the location bar, among many backend changes.

The RC1 release is available to download, see the announcement for download links and more information.