Mozilla launched a new beta of Firefox this week, essentially a developer preview of the features and functions promised in the third major point release of the popular open-source browser. Firefox 3 Beta 1 is available for testing so Mozilla can gain feedback before the software advances to the next stage in the release process.
“Much of the work leading up to this first beta has been around developing the infrastructure to support a bunch of exciting new features,” Mozilla noted. “With this first beta, you’ll get a taste of what’s coming in Firefox 3, but there’s still more to come, and much of what you’ll see is still a bit rough around the edges.”
Rough edges include the fact that Firefox add-ons don’t work properly with the beta version. Those add-ons include applications such as ad blockers, search engines, and dictionaries in other languages. Mozilla did not offer a final release date, noting only that the final version will be launched “when we qualify the product as fully ready for our users.”
What’s New in Firefox 3?
Firefox 3 Beta 1 is based on the new Gecko 1.9 Web rendering platform. The platform includes nearly two million lines of code changes designed to fix some 11,000 issues. Gecko 1.9 includes some major changes to enhance performance, stability, and code simplification and sustainability.
Mozilla said Gecko 1.9 makes for a more secure, easier to use, more personal product with a lot under the hood to offer Web site and Firefox add-on developers.
New security features include malware protection, more informative SSL information, and a one-click function to identify who owns a site. In addition, Firefox 3 automatically checks add-ons and will disable older, insecure versions. The browser even will inform antivirus software when downloading executables, and it respects the Windows Vista parental control setting for…