Firefox 3 Beta 1 released

Mozilla released Firefox 3 Beta 1. This is the ninth development aimed at testing the core functionality of Firefox 3, provided by many new features and changes to its platform.

Note: This version is intended for testing purposes only and Mozilla do not recommend that anyone other than developers and testers download it.

New features and changes in this release that require feedback include:

• Improved security features such as: better presentation of website identity and security, malware protection, stricter SSL error pages, anti-virus integration in the download manager, and version checking for insecure plugins.
• Improved ease of use through: better password management, easier add-on installation, new download manager with resumable downloading, full page zoom, animated tab strip, and better integration with Windows Vista and Mac OS X.
• Richer personalization through: one-click bookmarking, smart search bookmark folders, direct typing in location bar searches your history and bookmarks for URLs and page titles, ability to register web applications as protocol handlers, and better customization of download actions for file types.
• Improved platform features such as: new graphics and font rendering architecture, major changes to the HTML rendering engine to provide better CSS, float-, and table layout support, native web page form controls, colour profile management, and offline application support.
• Performance improvements such as: better data reliability for user profiles, architectural improvements to speed up page rendering, over 300 memory leak fixes, and a new XPCOM cycle collector to reduce entire classes of leaks.

Users can learn more about all the features in the “What’s New” section of the release notes.

Testers can download Firefox 3 Beta 1 builds for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux in over 20 different languages. Mozilla highly recommend that testers be sure to read the full release notes before using this preview release. Developers should look at the Firefox 3 for Developers article on the Mozilla Developer Center.