Firefox 3 Reviewed

Firefox 3 is the latest release of the Firefox Browser and it is an amazing update. Firefox 3 was released on June 17th 2008. I took this time to look at it in depth and make sure that all of its features were actually useful. So far I have been pleasantly surprised.

I have talked before about making sure not to jump into any piece of software until it has been tested for a while. The same holds true for your web browser and once it has passed the critical and usually rocky first month of public release then you should update. Keeping your internet browser updated is vitally important.

So what’s so great about the new Firefox browser and why should you switch?

• Improved Security
• Better Graphics/Flash
• Faster Loading
• New Themes
• Improved Password Management
• Improved Navigation

The biggest issue I had with using firefox was how slow it often was when starting up. Loading any of the many thousands of available addons did not make the problem any better. Fortunately the new Firefox fixes all of these issues and it now starts very quickly, almost as fast as safari.

Each version of Firefox now has a theme for the particular operating system it is being deployed on. This means that I no longer have to look at the somewhat ugly interface that was Firefox 2. It now looks different and appropriate on each platform.

The new navigation bar is surprising in that it actually made a huge change in how I browse. The navigation bar now pops open when typing in a url and displays not only the web address but the site Favicon if available and the Page title. It does take up more screen real estate but it helped me navigate much easier than I had before. New RSS signup and other goodies are also included.

The final great new feature is password management. Firefox now will only ask to save your password after it has been entered and the page loaded. This means that it does not automatically save passwords that you enter incorrectly. A simple fix that works very well, the annoying password popups are also gone, replaced with elegant drop-down menus.

Firefox 3 is the first browser that has made me seriously consider switching from Safari. As I work and play on a Mac, the built in Safari browser is great, it is still faster than Firefox and integrates with all of my other programs. Because of this I am still sticking with it, though I do tend to keep both open at the same time with different things running in them as its easy to switch.
If you are on a PC though it is hands down a complete Internet Explorer killer. Internet Explorer feels clunky by comparison. It does not run as fast and has so far been more crash prone than Firefox. Install it and use it.