As promised before Firefox 4.0 shipped, Mozilla has revamped the development process of its open source browser, making it more Chrome-like in terms of delivery. This means that, by the end of 2011 we should have Firefox 5, 6 and 7 out and about.
Every new Firefox release is set to go through three main phases before release - mozilla-central (like the Canary channel for Chrome), mozilla-aurora (Dev channel) and mozilla-beta, each one expected to last about six weeks.
The first and (for now) only exception to this rule is Firefox 5 as it will only be in the central-stage for three weeks and in aurora and beta for 5 weeks. Firefox 5 is now in central mode, with nightly builds already available to developers and enthusiasts, and is set to enter the aurora phase on April 12. If everything goes as planned then we'll have the first Firefox 5 beta available around May 17 and the final release on (or around) June 21st.
Mozilla's development schedule sees each new browser version going into the central phase as soon as its predecessor goes into aurora so Firefox 6 should be ready and outed in the second half of August. Then, six more weeks and Firefox 7, and so on and so forth until we'll run out of numbers. Or till the end of the world, whichever comes first.
