If you're one who enjoys testing out early software releases, you’ll be glad to know Mozilla has made the next alpha release of its upcoming Firefox 3 browser, code-named Gran Paradiso, available for download.

Among the noticeable security features debuting in alpha 8 is the new built-in malware protection which will use information provided by Google to flag potentially-dangerous sites, warn users trying to reach those URLs, and automatically block access to the site. Other features include a new bookmark interface which supports bookmark tagging, a new password manager interface that sits at the top of the page, and an improved auto-complete algorithm for the location bar that can match against page titles as well as URLs.

Firefox 3 is due for release before the end of the year. You can get more information from the Gran Paradiso release notes.