With the release of Firefox 3.0 and Over 9 Million downloads, comes the information and new feathers about the new version of the unparalled web browser. Here is the information released directly from mozilla.com
Personal
Library
Make your browser as efficient as you can imagine. Your browsing history (all the websites you’ve seen) and your bookmarks (all the websites you’ve saved) are archived in the Library, where they can be easily searched and organized. You can also save your frequent searches in dynamic smart folders that automatically update as your bookmark list and history grow.
Smart Location Bar
A quick way to get to the sites you love—even the ones with addresses you only vaguely remember. The new Firefox 3 location bar learns as you use it—it’s so highly evolved that we like to call it the “Awesome Bar”. Over time, it adapts to your preferences and offers better fitting matches. Type in a term and the autocomplete function includes possible matching sites from your browsing history, as well as sites you’ve bookmarked and tagged in a drop down. For example, you could enter the tag: “investments” to find “www.fool.com”. Matched terms are highlighted, making the list of results easy to scan.
One-Click Bookmarking
Manage your bookmarks a lot or a little. One click on the star icon at the end of the location bar bookmarks a site. Two clicks and you can choose where to save it and whether to tag it. File bookmarked sites in easy-to-access folders and organize according to theme (like “job search” or “favorite shopping”). Find your bookmarked sites in a flash by entering the tag, page or bookmark name into the location bar. The more you use your tags and bookmark names in the location bar, the more the system will adapt to your preferences.
Smart Bookmark Folders
These dynamic folders give you easy access to your favorite sites and can be placed in your Bookmarks menu or Bookmarks toolbar. We’ve included some for you as defaults, including one that shows you the sites you visit most frequently (create your own by saving your searches in the Library).
Security & Privacy
Instant Web Site ID
Want to be extra sure about a site’s legitimacy before you make a purchase? Click on a site favicon for an instant identity overview. Another click digs deeper: how many times have you visited? Are your passwords saved? Check up on suspicious sites, avoid Web forgeries and make sure a site is what it claims to be.
Anti-Malware
Firefox 3 protects you from viruses, worms, trojan horses and spyware. If you accidentally access an attack site, you’ll receive a full-sized browser message as a warning. A continuously updated list of attack-sites tells us when to stop you from browsing, so there’s nothing for you to update or maintain.
Anti-Phishing
Shop and do business safely on the Internet. Firefox gets a fresh update of web forgery sites 48 times in a day, so if you try to visit a fraudulent site that’s pretending to be a site you trust (like your bank), a browser message—big as life—will stop you.
Parental Controls
Enforce parental control settings you’ve entered on Windows Vista with Firefox 3—stop unwanted downloads and more. Firefox’s intuitive design keeps you from second-guessing your setup.
Anti-Virus Software
Firefox 3 integrates elegantly with your antivirus software. When you download a file, your computer’s antivirus program automatically checks it to protect you against viruses and other malware, which could otherwise attack your computer. [available in Windows only]
Add-ons
Firefox looks for a secure connection before installing or updating add-ons, 3rd party software, and Personas.
Password Manager
We’ve seamlessly integrated this feature into your surfing experience. Choose to “remember” site passwords without intrusive pop-ups. Now you’ll see the “remember password” notification integrated into your view at the top of the site page.
Clear Private Data
Clear your private data automatically—with just one click or a keyboard shortcut. Your info is gone for good—on your own computer or the one at your local library. It’s that easy.
Customized Security Settings
Control the level of scrutiny you’d like Firefox to give a site and enter exceptions—sites that don’t need the third degree. Customize settings for passwords, cookies, loading images and installing add-ons for a fully empowered Web experience.
Automated Update
Our open-source security strategy lets us find—and fix—security issues in record time, making Firefox the safest way to surf. Install upgrades when you receive automatic notification or wait until you’re ready.
Pop-Up Blocker
Banish pop-ups (and pop-under windows) from your surfing experience once and for all. Or, find a happy medium—choose to view blocked pop-ups or create an “allow” list of sites whose pop-ups you’re okay with seeing.
Customization
Add-ons Manager
You can now find and install add-ons directly in your browser. You no longer need to visit the add-ons Web site, simply fire up the new Add-ons Manager. Not sure which add-on is right for you? Ratings, recommendations, descriptions and pictures of the add-ons in action help you make your selection. The fully integrated Add-ons Manager even lets you view, manage and disable third-party add-ons in a few easy clicks.
Over 5,000 ways to customize
The sky’s the limit with a growing library of over 5,000 Firefox Add-ons, little extras you choose to download and install for a browser that works your way. Manage online auctions, upload digital photos, see the weather forecast in a glance and listen to music all from the convenience of your browser. There’s no need to open a new window or tab for each task. Discover add-ons that help you streamline coding and Web development, like Firebug, which lets you look deep into the structure of a web page.
Browser Look & Feel
Dress up your browser as you like it. With themes, choose a darkened control panel reminiscent of a space ship, faux wood paneling, or hundreds of other unique looks to surround your surfing. With Personas, add a simple, lightweight “skin” to your browser in an instant. (Personas is a Mozilla Labs project.)
Beyond Add-ons
Add-ons are the cornerstone of customization, but adapting Firefox to suit your style doesn’t stop there. You can add new search engines, change toolbar preferences, display different sizes, shapes and styles for your browser’s navigation buttons and more. With additional preferences, you can specify a Web mail client, such as Gmail, to open up when you click on an address from a Web page or set up a news reader application for the blogs you encounter.
Productivity
Platform-Native Look & Feel
The new Firefox looks and feels like home. Think of it as a Firefox who’s really good at making friends. Whether you use Windows Vista, Windows XP, Mac or Linux, the browser seamlessly integrates into your computer’s environment. A native look makes for a flawless interface that never gives you pause.
Feed Reader
You can read feeds using an online Web service, a client-side feed reader or by creating a Firefox Live Bookmark. So there’s no need to comb the Web for the latest news and updates. See the latest headlines in the toolbar or menu and go directly to the articles that catch your eye.
Download Manager
An all new manager lets you download seamlessly, with even greater security. A pause and resume feature means there’s no need to wait for a download to finish before you disconnect. So, if you’re halfway through the latest White Stripes album and it’s time to catch the bus, just pause and pick up downloading when you get home. The resume function also works if your system crashes or is forced to restart. The manager shows your download progress and lets you search your files by name or the Web address where the download came from.
Spell Checking
A built-in spell checker lets you enter text directly into Web pages— like blog posts and Web-based email—without worrying about typos and misspellings. Work directly with the Web and save yourself a step.
Session Restore
If Firefox unexpectedly closes, you don’t have to spend time recovering data or retracing your steps through the Web. If you’re in the middle of typing an email, you’ll pick up where you left off, even down to the last word you typed. Session Restore instantly brings back your windows and tabs, restoring text you entered and any in-progress downloads. Restart the browser without losing your place after you install an add-on or software update.
Full Zoom
Visit your favorite news page and read the caption under the picture—or view the picture itself in a size you can see. An elegant new zoom feature lets you swoop in and see entire web pages. They scale in the way you’d expect them to, with all the elements of a page’s layout expanding equally, so you can zero in on what matters.
Image Loading
If you want to save time and bandwidth, view a site without images. Firefox will remember your setting the next time you view the page.
Search
Smart Keywords
Search the Web in record time with smart keywords. With a few clicks you can assign keywords to search engines, and then simply enter your key and search words in the location bar. With this feature, typing “book home building” can search Amazon.com, and take you right to books about home building without ever pausing at the homepage.
Search Suggestions
Start typing in the search bar and it will prompt you with a drop down of filled-in suggestions, plus you can use the search bar as a calculator, converter and more.
Integrated Web Search
Searching the Web is a breeze with the search box inline, just to the right of your location bar. Use the web engine of your choice to search by typing directly into the box. The width is adjustable so you can make it bigger if you need more space.
Hundreds of Search Engines
Access your favorite search engines quickly from the integrated search bar. You can use a new engine for each search, or stick to your favorite. Choose from a preset dropdown list of engines or select “manage search engines” from the same list to browse search engine options offered as add-ons. Check out your choices now.
Find
The find feature appears in a keystroke. Search for a word or phrase on an open Web page. Highlight text before using the feature and finder opens pre-filled with your selection. See all instances of your search at once, or scroll backwards and forwards through the appearances of the word on the page.
Tabs
Save on Exit
Now when you open Firefox, your tabs and windows look just like they did when you closed it down. No need to reopen all your windows each time you start a session.
Tabs
At first glance, they look like little labels living above the site you’re currently visiting. But they are a brilliant way to browse multiple sites at once. Simple and easy, you can think of them as the electronic version of a well kept filing cabinet, with the tabs as the dividers and the sites as the content kept in folders. Each new site appears as a new tab (not a new window) and can be accessed in one click.
Reopen Closed Tabs
If you accidentally close a tab, you can reopen it in one click. Just view Recently Closed Tabs in the History menu and select the tab you’d like to reopen.
Drag & Reorder Tabs
Get your sites in order. Simply arrange the order of your tabs by dragging them in one swift move of your mouse.
Smooth Scrolling
Like to have all 20 of your favorite pages open at once? An elegant new feature lets you scroll through tabs easily to see them all and access the one you want quickly.
Universal Access
Universal Customization
Go beyond translation and experience the web in a way that makes sense to you. Local developers who know what’s best for their community have customized your Firefox browsing experience with local dictionaries, search providers, live bookmarks and Web feeds. Depending on where you live, you’ll see things like BBC headlines tailored to your region or experience features that work with Baidu, the Chinese search engine.
The Language of Firefox
Firefox speaks your language like no other browser on earth. Because the Web is a worldwide resource and we believe that resource belongs to the people, we’ve made our browser available in as many local languages as possible. We have over 40 different translations, from French and Chinese to Finnish and Czech. Find your language.
Emphasis on Accessibility
By minimizing keystrokes, allowing users to zoom in on Web pages and supporting screen readers, Firefox is that much easier to use for those with mobility disabilities and visual impairments.
Improved Text Rendering
Read your language as it’s written—more like real life. With a new graphics engine, Arabic, Persian, Punjabi and other script languages now render in a remarkably seamless way.
Performance
Improved Memory Management
With all new management functions in place, Firefox 3 keeps memory usage under control. The XPCOM cycle collector continuously cleans up unused memory. Plus, hundreds of memory leaks are now remedied.
Faster JavaScript
Firefox now empowers even greater Web development, with JavaScript 1.8—including expression closures, generator expression and array reduce.
Smaller Memory Footprint
Short and sweet, Firefox now uses less of your computer’s memory while it’s running.
Faster Page Load
A redesigned page rendering and layout engine means you see Web pages faster—and in the way they were meant to be seen.
Graphics Engine Improvements
Improved text rendering is just the beginning of the benefits of an all new graphic engine for Firefox 3.
Standards
Advanced Graphics
You have to see it to believe it. The rendering of text and graphics, including SVG and Canvas, is faster, sharper and more true-to-life than ever before, thanks to our new graphics engine.
Online Application Support
Expand the power of Web-based applications. In the past you’d click on an email address in a Web site and your computer’s default email application would open up to send a message to the linked address—even if you never email through the program. Now you can choose a Web mail clients (like Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo! Mail) to launch when you click on that email address.
Support for Advanced Web Technologies
Brand new and enhanced functionalities enable Web site authors and developers to create advanced content and applications. Support is now available for CSS, ACID2, MathML, ECMAScript 4, Animated Portable Network Graphics (APNG) and Microformats, to name a few. See the full list of supported technologies.
Color Profile Support
Photographers and photo fans, your view of the Web from Firefox just gets better. You can choose to enable top-of-the-line image display which uses technical data, like the amount of light available and relevant distance information, to render images in an amazing new way.
Offline Browsing
Take your computer offline and still have information at your fingertips. Certain enabled sites may allow applications—like your Web-based email—to stay with you at all times. Many sites are not yet configured to work with this feature. Learn more about what works and what doesn’t.
Help
Live Support
We have Firefox experts waiting on stand-by to help you with questions that simply demand a live person and a real conversation. Now you can chat with knowledgeable Firefox community members who troubleshoot via our live chat site. You won’t be put on hold or have to wait for a response—solve your problem on the spot.
Firefox Support
Help is right where you would expect it, as well as a few places you might not. A link at the top of your browser takes you to a support site with the answers you’ll need. Want to dig deeper—or have a really tough question?
I am still using version 2.0.0.4
However, I read in some blog saying that it has some glitch on printing on some Printers. Some people says whey they print, the texts are not normal, they are zig-zag and unreadable.
Do you know such problems??
@admin
Thanks
Chris