Following the amazing release of Firefox 4, Mozilla Firefox is moving to a rapid release development cycle to deliver new features, performance enhancements, security updates and stability improvements to users faster.

Until now, there were three channels to test new features in Firefox:

Nightly test builds – Includes features not tested by Mozilla QA

Firefox Beta – Broadly test the stability of new features and improvements in the next version of Firefox

Firefox Final Release – Delivers the polished and stable features in Firefox to hundreds of millions of users

We are making a change to deliver new releases of Firefox faster and give users more opportunities to participate in building Firefox.

Today, we launch the Aurora channel as part of a broader initiative to create channels which deliver features to users at various levels of quality and polish. The Aurora channel is where users can test the latest features and innovations. Users can expect an increase in polish from the raw, cutting edge features in our nightly builds. Aurora releases may not be as stable as beta or final releases.

This first Aurora release includes performance, security and stability improvements. Visit this site for more information or to download Firefox channels.

Firefox Release Manager Christian Legnitto has more details on the Firefox channels in this blog post.

Check out the new logos that differentiate each Firefox channel.