18 Jun 2008 08:35
After months of testing, Firefox 3 (code name Gran Paradiso) is available for download from Mozilla. With its new Gekko 1.9 engine, the browser renders pages faster and uses fewer system resources overall. As with any new browser, some add-ons created for Firefox 2 may not work, but give them time.
Firefox 3 offers faster rendering, a vastly reduced use of system resources and clever new data-mining tools for your bookmarks and browser history. Most notable is the fact that Firefox 3 includes many built-in security-related features, such as the best-of-breed antiphishing protection, making Firefox the most secure browser on the market today. If you haven't already tried Firefox, what are you waiting for? Firefox 3 remains our Editors' Choice over Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Opera.
Interface tweaks
You'll probably notice that the icons on the toolbar are different. The new Firefox interface has gone native, so buttons and icons will look and feel like they are a part of your operating system environment. There's also a full page zoom option under View. Notice that an icon appears next to the URL in the address bar (more on that in a moment).
Verified pages
Firefox 3 makes it easy to see if the page you're on is secure: just mouse over the company icon in the address bar.
Awesome Bar
One obvious change is the Smart Location Bar, also known as the 'Awesome Bar'. As you type in a URL, the Awesome Bar searches through your history and bookmarks and presents a drop-down list of recently accessed pages with that same keyword. It works even if you already know the URL. Some people have found it annoying, so there is a way to disable it requiring a small tweak to the about:config file. An Add-On further allows you to learn which of the search results you want to always be on top.
Most Visited
Firefox 3 searches and indexes your history, surfacing frequently visited pages in several ways. In addition to the Awesome Bar, there's the Most Visited button.
Starred bookmarks
One-click bookmarks. Next to the URL within the address bar is a star icon. Click it to store the page's URL as a bookmark. Click it again to choose where to store the bookmark.
Tagged bookmarks
New in Firefox 3 is the capability to tag your bookmarks. This offers another level of granularity in sorting. Using the new Library feature, you can create custom bookmark searches and save them for later use.
Library and Smart Bookmarks
The Library feature allows you to search your bookmarks and surfing history by name, tag or recent visits. You can then save the search results and view them as part of your Smart Bookmarks. The Library also includes the capability to back up and restore your history and bookmarks.
Add-on enhancements
Improved within Firefox 3 are recommended Add-ons within the browser. Without going to the Firefox Add-on page, you can surf and select new Add-ons within the manager. The addons.mozilla.org site contains more than 5,000 Add-ons with ratings, recommendations, descriptions and images.
Downloads
The Download Manager is also enhanced with a new look and feel. Most important is the capability to search through active and past downloads. You can also pause and resume downloads and monitor your downloads in the main browser window. In Windows, all downloads are checked by your desktop's antivirus protection.
Story URL: http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/software/productivity/0,1000001108,39436017,00.htm
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