I already use the stand alone version for quite some time now and it is working good enough for me. I sure hope the development of this awesome software will continue. I can't imagine working without Zotero ever again. I tried Citavi before and had a look at Endnote, but both are far too clumsy. No doubt that Zotero is the tool of choice in this field for anyone who wants to keep up with the recent developments in web and software technology.
But I don't want to use Firefox, so I am very excited about the next (stable?) stand alone release.
From what I have seen, the standalone is making nice progress - I'd expect a beta version relatively soon. Especially the connectors to Chrome/Safari have been improved a lot.
I am also eager for a new standlone that will work with the newest wordprocessor plugins. I've had to quit using Firefox because Firefox 4 and 5 on the Mac have something wrong that causes them to drag slower and slower, as the program stays open. I've reported this on the firefox bug site (lots of others have the same problem). It is nearly unusable and I only open it now to use Zotero.
cmbarton: Not that this is the place to discuss it, but be sure you've tried disabling all your other Firefox extensions (and even Zotero) and, if that doesn't work, creating a new Firefox profile. It's unlikely that there's anything wrong with Firefox itself, since many, many people use it with no problems whatsoever.
Upgrade Storage
But I don't want to use Firefox, so I am very excited about the next (stable?) stand alone release.