Firefox Features
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The new version of our favorite open source web browser, Mozilla Firefox 3, offers dozens of new features and fixes, but only a handful will make the difference more dramatic every day navigation. After 17 months of alpha and beta, Mozilla has finally made a feature-complete release candidate available, then it is time to highlight the most important improvements that will make “Gran Paradiso” the browser to beat. Almost everything in the open-source app has got a second look from the minds at Mozilla, from back buttons bookmarks, address bar add-ons, passwords to performance, and the changes will make Firefox 3 worth the upgrade is its output Official date scheduled for the next few months. Let’s take a look at the 10 best upgrades in Firefox 3, and how they will enhance the navigation, after the jump.
Note: Firefox 3 has not yet been officially released, a public preview version is available and intended only for testers. Although it is a very stable preview, only use if you’re willing to deal with bugs and instability as the Mozilla team ready the official release.
That said, our favorite Firefox 3 features include:
1. Add-ons Manager rigged
Much of what makes Firefox so special for advanced users is its extensibility with extensions, add-ons, plug-ins and themes, and Firefox 3 Add-ons dialog got the attention it deserved. The Fox Add-Ons menu is more robust and intuitive on at least two fronts. You can search for and install extensions and themes directly from the pop-ups, no browsing required. In addition, a new plug-in manager lets you enable and disable third-party helpers like Flash, QuickTime, and anything else that makes content work (and causes of pain).
2. Generally a more intuitive interface
Mozilla amended and updated a lot of little things here and there throughout Firefox 3, which is equivalent to a big boost in terms of overall usability. The most noticeable when you first switch the Back button only appears on the address bar if there is a page to come back, and when it does, it’s bigger and easier to click. Users who want to make sites with small text more readable permanently are in luck, Firefox 3 can increase the size of images and text, or just the text, on-site hard to read. In addition, Firefox 3 applies favicons more consistently to bookmarks, you can click the favicon of a site to get extended site identification information, you can re size the search box to contain more than two words, and the find-on -page search box automatically takes the currently selected word, just to name a few new UI improvements.
In the long term, once webapps get, Firefox 3 will allow you to do something really neat in your browser, like register your favorite webapps to open certain file types, and access to online data even when not connected to the ‘net.
3. Stronger phishing and malware
Firefox 3 has stronger filters and protection against malware, phishing sites, cookies and other tools that compromise privacy and security. A notice of malware appears when visiting sites known to install malicious software, Firefox 3 does not show the contents of the knock-off sites (like PayPal “Update Your Account” phishing scams) by default, and Firefox 3 checks against Google is constantly growing blacklist of phishing sites. Now you can feel even better to spend your less tech-aware relatives to the open-source browser.
4. Best download manager
Do not wonder where a download from, or went to, again. Management of the Gran Paradiso download allows you to search through recent files, resume big downloads after a crash or reboot, and allows you to keep an eye on your transfers in the status bar.
5. Search native to each system
Your browser is a serious part of your time on the computer, so you have to look like nothing else on your system can be seriously annoying. Firefox designers made system integration a priority with this release, and it shows, even Windows XP and Vista’s button layouts have subtle differences in color and shading. There are differences at deeper levels, too, with Cover Flow-type design add-ons manager for OS X, transparencies in key places in Vista and OS X, and other changes that make the browser feel like a natural extension of the system.
6. Streamlined management “Remember password”
No more guessing if you’re saving the right password or clicking “Cancel” on unnecessary pop-up requests. Gran Paradiso only asks to use your password saving function once you’re already in and that everything worked, and it stops to see the log-out version of a page if you do not want to sign
7. Smart bookmarks
Much like Smart Playlists in iTunes’, Firefox 3′s new Smart Bookmarks function can analyze your browsing habits and create lists of links based on it. The default bookmark toolbar only comes with three standards, “most visited”, “In recent favorites” and “Recent Tags” (more on that later), but it is not too hard to make your own.
8. Places Organizer replaces the Bookmark Manager
Previous versions of Firefox bookmarks organizer were very utilitarian things that make you drag and drop your links around nested folders. Organizing With new Firefox 3 places, those with reams of URLs can be found using Boolean rule searches and multi-column results, as well as keep them better organized with a tagging system. Better yet, you can save searches for intelligent next time you need it.
9. Smart Location Bar learns how you browse
Like a personal assistant who telepathically knows when you’re going to need just the right phone number (or Starbucks fix), Firefox 3′s address bar, now dubbed the Smart Location Bar, helps you reach your frequently visited, or newly discovered sites in super-quick fashion. That application you just read on Life hacker, but can not remember the name? Type “li” in the address bar, and Firefox instantly pulls the relevant sites from your history. The bar also learns through repetition, so the next time you start the search with “them”, you know that you are looking for Life hacker, not Linux.
10. Improved performance instantly
It is not flashy, and has no social networking features, but the actual performance Firefox 3 is the best reason anyone should consider updating or making the switch to the ‘fox. Firefox’s engineers claim that their third major release is 9.3 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 in JavaScript performance, and 2.7 times faster than Firefox 2. This means snappier browser performance when using web applications like Gmail, Remember the Milk, and more. Even more important, especially for Mac users is the use of improved memory and more than 15,000 improvements that make it less risky to crash the browser.