Firefox 3
A large and growing minority of people have made the switch from the Internet Explorer Web browser that is bundled with Windows to Mozilla Firefox. Very few go back. The reason is that Firefox offers handy features such as tabbed browsing — the ability to open different websites in the same browser window — and a plug-in system that allows the browser to be extended in cool new ways.
It’s estimated that about one in five Web punters regularly use Firefox, and the figure is growing all the time. The latest version of the browser, which is released free under an open-source licence, contains a number of big improvements and fixes that are likely to win new converts. Version 3 offers significant enhancements in speed when accessing online applications that use JavaScript, such as Google Docs. Independent tests show it is now the fastest browser for using these online applications.
It also offers malware protection. This feature warns users when they visit websites that are known to install viruses or spyware. Other nifty features include the ability to resume downloads if a connection is interrupted. It’s also possible to quickly zoom in and out of Web pages.
The new version’s user interface integrates better with the operating system it’s running on, be it Windows XP, Windows Vista, Mac OS X or Linux. Best of all, most of the memory leaks that previously plagued Firefox have been fixed.
Firefox 3 is currently available as a release candidate for testing. The final version is expected in the next two weeks.
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