Firefox 3 Beta 1 released
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007 Before continuing please note that as of 11/21/07 Firefox 3 (FF3) is in the beta testing stages and is not the final release. If you choose to download, install, and use FF3 be aware of potential issues that could arise.
FF3 Beta 3 is based on the Gecko 1.9 rendering platform which according to the release notes has been in development for over 27 months. It is designed to make FF3 more secure, easier to use, and more personal. They also mention “more under the hood” as a result of the new rendering engine, but for the most part that won’t have any noticable effect on the day to day user.
Features include:
- Improved security features
- FF3 has several security improvements over previous versions
- One click site info
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- Clicking on the favicon will show who owns the site
- Identity verification is prominently displayed and easier to understand
- Extended Validation SSL certificate information will be displayed “in later versions”
- Malware protection
- Warns users when they navigate to a website that is known to install malware on a users system. You can test the protection here. According to the release notes the blacklist of sites is not active so I’m not sure exactly what is being tested or if it is just so we can see what it will look like.
- Improved web forgery protection
- FF3 will no longer show the content of pages suspected of being forgeries. In other words pages that are setup to look exactly like your paypal account page but are fakes won’t be displayed. This feature can be tested here.
- New SSL error pages
- The SSL error pages are clearer and stricter when you encounter an invalid SSL certificate.
- Add-on and Plugin version check and secure updating
- FF3 will automatically check for newer versions of add-ons and plugins and disable older, insecure versions. The release notes aren’t clear if this means that ALL older versions of plugins are disabled, or only older ones that are known to be insecure. FF3 will also disable any add-ons provided in an unsecure manner. Again the information isn’t very clear as to what this means, but I suspect any plugins/add-ons coming from a site you haven’t explicitly given permission to will be disabled.
- Anti-virus intergration
- FF3 will alert 3rd party virus protection programs when downloading executables. You’ll still need to have your own virus protection program running. Personally I recommend Avast 4 Home edition as it is reliable, lightweight, and free.
- Vista parental controls
- FF3 is compatiable with Vista controls and will “respect” its settings.
- Ease of use
- FF3 developers have taken steps to ensure that the end user experience is much more enjoyable.
- Easier password management
- Simplified add-on installation
- New Download Manager
- Resumable downloading
- Full page zoom
- Tab scrolling and quickmenu
- Save what you were doing
- Optimized Open in Tabs behavior
- Location and Search bar size can now be customized with a simple resizer item
- Text selection improvements
- Find toolbar
- Plugin management
- Integration with Vista
- Integration with the Mac
For more information take a look at the release notes. You can download Firefox 3 Beta 1 from here and see it in action for yourself. Before doing so be sure to checkout any known issues that might cause you problems.