Firefox 3 Beta 1

[Fash]

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html

Early indications seem to suggest that it is indeed a major revamp of both the core and the UI, and that Firefox will be a much better browser for it.

Is Firefox 3.0 going to be better? Given what I’m seeing so far, I think so. Why? Because it looks like Mozilla have gone back to basics and worked on what really matters to users - security, speed and ease of use.

Everything about Firefox 3.0 beta 1 is fast. The download package is small which means that it comes in fast, the installation is fast, the browser fires up fast, pages and tabs open fast, the browser shuts down fast, and the uninstall process is fast and painless (I always like to test the uninstall process on applications because there’s nothing worse than having a bad house guest on your system that you can’t get rid of). This is all good stuff.

Without a doubt the Firefox 3.0 UI has been dramatically improved. Compare version 3 to version 2 and you instantly see the difference. Everything is brighter, clearer, and easier to access. Things that should be simple, such as bookmarking, saving passwords, and finding words and phrases in the text of a web page are now simple. Page zooming is brilliant, as is the feature that resumes interrupted downloads.

Security is also greatly improved. Only time will tell if the core of Firefox 3.0 will be any more secure than previous versions, but without a doubt version 3 makes it harder for hackers to get a foothold into systems. Not only have the SSL error pages been redesigned, but there’s also malware and web forgery protection available. Add-on and plugin security has also been beefed up considerably. To top that off, Firefox integrates with your anti-virus app and with the Parental Controls feature in Windows Vista.

I've installed it and it's running very nicely so far. I had issue with Firefox 2's memory and cpu usage, especially when the flash plugin is active. So far so good with 3.