Proving that Fennec isn't just vaporware, Mozilla released the first alpha of the killer browser for mobile appliances, well, only the Nokia N810 for now.

Mozilla Fennec's first debut is purely for the goal of allowing everyone to preview this developer's release. It surely isn't ready for use yet in production ready devices, but it looks like Mozilla does have a nice card in their hands.

This first alpha release is available for the OS2008 ("Maemo") software platforms that runs on the Nokia N810 internet tablets. While probably most of us don't have such a device you can still experiment with Fennec, provide feedback, write add-ons, and get involved by installing a version of Fennec for your desktop PC powered by Windows, Linux or Mac.

This release supports: bookmark (including tags), the smart URL bar ("awesome bar"), tabbed browsing with thumbnail images, integrated web search (built into the URL bar), and more. Also quite handy is auto-hiding controls and URL bar and the ability to zoom in and out. Also don't forget the password manager, a pop-up blocker and easy access to clear your private data.

As you can see Fennec supports a lot of Firefox 3's features already, making this early preview already a daring competitor for Opera Mobile on internet tablets. Let's hope Mozilla, and partners, will work on getting this release on more than just the Nokia N810, or it won't make much of a change in the current market.