Firefox 3, the recently released open source browser from Mozilla, has claimed that over 8 million copies of the software were downloaded on Download Day. The company stated early that their goal was to surpass the initial release of Firefox 2, at 1.6 million downloads in 24 hours, and hit 5 million downloads.
The goal of the marketing campaign is to set a Guinness World Record for most downloaded software in a single day.
A few days have passed and, barring the server downtime that plagued users for a few hours, the results look promising for Mozilla's world record attempt. According to the official Mozilla blog, Firefox 3 easily cruised past 5 million user downloads.
"We exceeded 8 million downloads in our 24 hour period," the blog states. Downloads were tracked from 11:16am PDT on June 17th to 11:16am PDT on the following day.
The next step in the process is for Firefox 3 to be certified by Guinness World Records. To help get their audit logs in order, Mozilla has brought on two external judges: Paul Vixie, of the Internet Systems Consortium, and Corey Shields, of Indiana University's University of Information Technology Services.
Once the two judges and Mozilla feel confident that their download logs are in order, they will be handed over to the people at Guinness World Records for verification. If the attempt is verified, Firefox 3 will be the first recipient of the most software downloaded in a single day record.
The process of having a record certified by Guinness can take two different paths. If Mozilla chooses not to expedite the service, the results will be released in four to six weeks. On the other hand, if the company opts for Fast Review, the results could be available in three days from the time the logs are submitted.
The FAQ section of SpreadFirefox.com states that the attempt will take "approximately a week after our attempt date."
For users who want to display pride in their effort to help set a world record, Mozilla is offering certificates. By going to SpreadFirefox.com and clicking on the 'Flaunt It' tab, Firefox 3 Download Day participants can print out a personalized certificate.
