Firefox 3 is in beta stage starting today, and everyone is welcome to test out the new version of Firefox, the better alternative of Internet Explorer.
From today onwards, users can download Firefox 3 Beta 1 from here(en-US version), while other languages can be found at here.
Some change logs ought to be look into are:
- Improved security features such as: better presentation of website identity and security, malware protection, stricter SSL error pages, anti-virus integration in the download manager, and version checking for insecure plugins.
- Improved ease of use through: better password management, easier add-on installation, new download manager with resumable downloading, full page zoom, animated tab strip, and better integration with Windows
Vista and Mac OS X. - Richer personalization through: one-click bookmarking, smart search bookmark folders, direct typing in location bar searches your history and bookmarks for URLs and page titles, ability to register web applications as protocol handlers, and better customization of download actions for file types.
- Improved platform features such as: new graphics and font rendering architecture, native web page form controls, colour profile management, and offline application support.
- Performance improvements such as: better data reliability for user profiles, architectural improvements to speed up page rendering, over 300 memory leak fixes, and a new XPCOM cycle collector to reduce entire classes of leaks.
You really should check out the new bookmark manager if you haven’t as it has been revamped. You can now tag your bookmarks from now on. On top of that, security is being improved in this version. From the release notes:
- One click site info: Click the site favicon in the location bar to see who owns the site. Identity verification is prominently displayed and easier to understand. In later versions, Extended Validation SSL certificate information will be displayed.
- Malware Protection: malware protection warns users when they arrive at sites which are known to install viruses, spyware, trojans or other malware. You can test it here (note: our blacklist of malware sites is not yet activated).
- New Web Forgery Protection page: the content of pages suspected as web forgeries is no longer shown. You can test it here.
- New SSL error pages: clearer and stricter error pages are used when Firefox encounters an invalid SSL certificate.
- Add-ons and Plugin version check: Firefox now automatically checks add-on and plugin versions and will disable older, insecure versions.
- Secure add-on updates: to improve add-on update security, add-ons that provide updates in an insecure manner will be disabled.
- Anti-virus integration: Firefox will inform anti-virus software when downloading executables.
- Vista Parental Controls: Firefox now respects the Vista system-wide parental control setting for disabling file downloads.
Firefox 3 beta 1 is reported to be the most tested version and the amounts of bugs left ain’t that much anymore. Give Firefox 3 beta 1 a try and help out by reporting any problems encountered. The more you report, the more stable this product is.
On a side note, Spread Firefox, the marketing portal for spreading the usage of Firefox, has released a version 2 of its website at here. Head over there and have a look at the new design.
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