Mozilla today released Firefox 3, a major update to its free, open source Web browser. According to Mozilla, Firefox 3 is the culmination of three years of efforts from thousands of developers, security experts, localization and support communities, and testers from around the globe.
Available today in approximately 50 languages, “Firefox 3 is two to three times faster than its predecessor and offers more than 15,000 improvements,” including the smart location bar, malware protection, and extensive under the hood work to improve the speed and performance of the browser.
“We’re really proud of Firefox 3 and it just shows what a committed, energized global community can do when they work together,” said John Lilly, CEO of Mozilla, in the press release.
What’s New in Firefox 3:
• User Experience. The new Firefox 3 smart location bar, affectionately known as the “Awesome Bar,” learns as people use it, adapting to user preferences and offering better fitting matches over time. The Firefox 3 Library archives browsing history, bookmarks, and tags, where they can be easily searched and organized. One-click bookmarking and tagging make it easy to remember, search and organize Web sites. The new full-page zoom displays any part of a Web page, up close and readable, in seconds.
• Performance. Firefox 3 is built on top of the Gecko 1.9 platform, resulting in a safer, easier to use and more personal product. Firefox 3 now uses less memory while it’s running, and its redesigned page rendering and layout engine means users see Web pages two to three times faster than Firefox 2.
• Security. Firefox 3 offers new malware and phishing protection helps protect from viruses, worms, trojans and spyware to keep people safe on the Web. Firefox 3’s one-click site ID information allows users to verify that a site is what it claims to be. Mozilla’s open source process leverages the experience of thousands of security experts around the globe.
• Customization. Everyone uses the Web differently, and Firefox 3 lets users customize their browser with more than 5,000 add-ons. Firefox Add-ons allow users to manage tasks like participating in online auctions, uploading digital photos, seeing the weather forecasts, and listening to music, all from the convenience of the browser. The new Add-ons Manager helps users to find and install add-ons directly from the browser.
More information about Mozilla Firefox 3 features here.
Mozilla Firefox 3 is available now for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows as a free download here.
ooooh snappy
It’s fast! Or maybe I just expect it to be fast so I think it is.
doing my part as we speak to help Firefox break download records. Not sure why, but doing it just the same…
using it to write this comment…
Same here, WriterGuy.
Can anyone give me some real-world examples why I should care if my browser is Safari vs. Firefox? Assume I’m not the type of guy to worry about fancy extensions or third-party plug-ins.
@ WriterGuy: I’d say the most important thing is the speed and security of the browser. I just like Safari because its easy to use, and it works with my other applications better. It shows webpages the way I like. (I’m downloading Firefox 3 as I type this, I haven’t used it yet, I don’t know wether its any different to Firefox 2) I also think safari in leopard just looks better.
Whoah! This new Firefox app is so damn speedy! it even makes MDN seem to load up quickly (which is unworldly LOL!)
Kudos to the Mozilla group! Cheers! Thank you.
I didn’t think I’d switch from Safari, but this is too good.
Yeah, FF3 seems to cut through a lot of crap quickly. I’d call it . . . snippier. Snappish?
It’s 2 or 3 times faster. And man is it web complaint! The new interface and font rendering engine are cool too.
It may be “web compliant,” but it’s not rendering my iWeb pages correctly! The image frames that are part of our pages are not showing up at all.
My fairly basic iWeb page is also crashing IE on Windows XP. But that’s another post…
just started using it… feels nice and… snappy!
I’m calling it SnappyFox.
“Oh snappy day (oh snappy day)
Oh snappy day (oh snappy day)”
Perfect for hymn or her.
@writerguy
you’re right..iWeb is snapped. no images. very straahnge…
meh…back to bundubashing safari
you know that this would never have happened if Apple did not come out with Safari. Competition is good.
I apologize for this post, but I read MDN everyday and I just thought I needed to share. I saw a zune in the wild today. I travel (fly) once a month or so. I am in many major cities throughout the year. And today a saw my first zune in the wild. Just thought I would share. Now back to firefox 3…
Not coming up as an update when I launch the previous version of Firefox. I made the browser check for updates and nothing. Curious indeed.
It’s OK now I did a direct download. It’s much faster than the last version. Pop-under blocking is superior to Safari.
I definitely agree with MacLovin. I just find Safari 3 with the latest nightly builds to have a smoother feel and the UI is much better. Although you can apply themes to Firefox, only one theme actually looks native, YummyGrapple and it is a Safari 3 look a like!
I’ve also added Saft and Inquisitor. The nightly builds of Webkit is extremely fast and very stable. Firefox has always been a long time favorite of mine but after discovering the nightly builds of Webkit I’m hooked on Safari 3 now.
A Zune in the wild. Does this mean you saw one in the bushes because someone had thrown it away?
a zune on safari?
shoot it. culling is necessary when the herd gets too big…
Very Snappy! I wonder how Safari 4 will compare?
Yup I concur with the iWeb issue. On Safari plays well. On FF nada.
Still this is a .0 release. Bound to be a few bugs. Maybe iWeb pages aren’t fully compliant with the web standards.
Good to see FF updated. Hopefully it will reduce IE share by another 10 points.
Who cares… It’s just crap ware with little support.