Firefox 2 released today

The much-anticipated Firefox 2 will be released today at 11pm GMT .

That is the official release time and date for the updated version of the Web browser, according to the Firefox Tree Schedule on Mozilla's site.

Mozilla also confirmed that "Firefox 2 is scheduled to release Tuesday afternoon PST".

On Monday, people began pointing to various FTP sites where users could get an early download of Firefox 2. Mozilla, however, said that it "does not guarantee that any set of files currently found within its Web site, or elsewhere will be the final release".

It is possible that people are finding the Firefox 2 RC3 download, the third release candidate of Firefox 2 that was already available.

Mozilla recommends that users retrieve the official Firefox 2 release on Tuesday from the main getfirefox.com or Mozilla.com channels and not a direct file link.

Firefox is a direct competitor of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, as well as Opera. Microsoft only recently released the final version of IE 7, an update to Internet Explorer, after offering the same features on the browser for almost five years.