Firefox 3 RC2
Firefox 3 is days away from its final release and the recently released RC2 version may be the the last Release Candidate just before it hits the final Release.
Firefox 3 will be released simultaneously for Windows and the Mac’s OS X operating system, as well as for Linux. While each of the three editions will have the visual style of the operating system on which it runs, all three will have the same features.
Firefox 3 has a number of new and improved features. If you type any word or phrase into its address bar, the browser instantly searches your history and bookmarks for a possible match, to save you from typing or combing through your bookmark list.
Some of the many other prominent features are;
- One-click site info: Click the site favicon in the location bar to see who owns the site and to check if your connection is protected from eavesdropping. Identity verification is prominently displayed and easier to understand. When a site uses Extended Validation (EV) SSL certificates, the site favicon button will turn green and show the name of the company you’re connected to.
- New SSL error pages: clearer and stricter error pages are used when Firefox encounters an invalid SSL certificate.
- Anti-virus integration: Firefox will inform anti-virus software when downloading executables.
- Easier password management: an information bar replaces the old password dialog so you can now save passwords after a successful login.
- New Download Manager: the revised download manager makes it much easier to locate downloaded files, and you can see and search on the name of the website where a file came from. Your active downloads and time remaining are always shown in the status bar as your files download.
- Resumable downloading: users can now resume downloads after restarting the browser or resetting your network connection.
- Integration with Windows: Firefox now has improved Windows icons, and uses native user interface widgets in the browser and in web forms.
- Integration with the Mac: the new Firefox theme makes toolbars, icons, and other user interface elements look like a native OS X application. Firefox also uses OS X widgets and supports Growl for notifications of completed downloads and available updates. A combined back and forward control make it even easier to move between web pages.
- Integration with Linux: Firefox’s default icons, buttons, and menu styles now use the native GTK theme.
- Smart Bookmarks Folder: quickly access your recently bookmarked and tagged pages, as well as your more frequently visited pages with the new smart bookmarks folder on your bookmark toolbar.
- Speed: improvements to our JavaScript engine as well as profile guided optimizations have resulted in continued improvements in performance. Compared to Firefox 2, web applications like Google Mail and Zoho Office run twice as fast in Firefox 3, and the popular SunSpider test from Apple shows improvements over previous releases.
- Memory usage: Several new technologies work together to reduce the amount of memory used by Firefox 3 over a web browsing session. Memory cycles are broken and collected by an automated cycle collector, a new memory allocator reduces fragmentation, hundreds of leaks have been fixed, and caching strategies have been tuned.
- Reliability: A user’s bookmarks, history, cookies, and preferences are now stored in a transactionally secure database format which will prevent data loss even if their system crashes.
Firefox 3 RC2;
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