As part of a campaign launched on May 28, "Download Day" is requesting users to download Firefox 3 on the first day it is released to set the world's record for the largest number of software downloads in 24 hours.

To promote this goal, Mozilla is hosting a Camp Firefox BBQ next Tuesday at its Mountain View, California headquarters.

The company has also encouraged Firefox fans to host their own parties to get friends to download the browser with them, as well as place "Download Day" buttons on their websites.

While there is currently no world record for software downloads, Mozilla says it wants to create one.

Release Candidate 3 of Firefox 3 can now be downloaded for free on the Mozilla website, where a list of the browser's new features is also available.

Not to be one-upped, Microsoft has also added new features to IE, unveiling on Wednesday the new features for IE's next version, IE 8. The browser, which will see a beta release in August, aims at making it easier for IT professionals to deploy and manage the browser.

Since being released in November 2004, the open source browser has drawn a significant user base, partly because it was the first browser in years to realistically compete against Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

Mozilla says it currently more than 175 million Firefox users, adding that the software is available in more than 45 languages and used in more than 230 countries.

To add to that, the browser even has its own Facebook fan page, with 91,205 registered fans and counting.