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Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 available for download
Firefox 3.6 finally hit its first beta milestone during the weekend, so those of you who were holding off until a more mature build of the upcoming browser became available will be glad to know this is it, no more test candidates or nightly builds needed.
We've been closely watching the development of Firefox's next iteration which brings a long list of additions and refinements to the popular Web browser. After a small developmental setback, Beta 1 arrives highlighting the following new features:
- Users can now change their browser’s appearance with a single click, with built in support for Personas
- Firefox 3.6 will alert users about out of date plugins to keep them safe
- Open, native video can now be displayed full screen, and supports poster frames
- Support for the WOFF font format
- Improved JavaScript performance, overall browser responsiveness and startup time
- Support for new CSS, DOM and HTML5 web technologies
Since the release of Google Chrome, a lot more focus has been put on browser's speed, not only by Mozilla but all major players including Microsoft. While I still consider Firefox the best all-around browser out there (in good part thanks to the numerous useful add-ons available), I've been experimenting severe slowdown problems on JavaScript heavy pages, whereas even Internet Explorer seems to behave just fine.
Other additions should appeal to a variety of users, depending on what you like to do with your browser. Personas support lets you skin your browser instantly, in fact you can preview Firefox's modified looks by merely hovering over the different styles available. Video support continues to be enhanced on the browser, while developers will be keen about Web Open Font Format (WOFF), HTML5 and CSS' new features support.
Last but not least, Firefox 3.6 Beta will likely break a majority of your current add-ons, however, if you are lucky you should still be able to override compatibility and put them to use regardless.
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User Comments (36)
Post a comment| razerblade on November 2, 2009 4:27 AM | I have just downloaded it and I think they have made some good improvements. One thing I noticed which was good was the support for the windows 7 task bar. It now shows each tab as a windows on the Aero Peak feature which is very useful. |
| kimsland on November 2, 2009 5:06 AM | Running
Namoroka Firefox 3.6b1 right now, all seems
well It did startup quicker, but I'll have to test over a few days to confirm all is ok But obviously this is still Beta version software |
| aestarvirus on November 2, 2009 5:12 AM | wow, ths is great! i don't know about this latest version of
of firefox. i am using firefox as my browser for the couple
of years and it doesnt disappoint me at all. it is good that firefox 3.6 improves it's java script feature for sometimes when i'm browsing, some script is not shown or blocked. i like waching movies on the internet and with the latest inovation of this firefox version, i think i'll be spending more of my time in front of the computer... and there is an allert status wherein users can be notice about the latest update in the stored plugins. that's beneficial to techy users like me. |
| anonemus on November 2, 2009 5:17 AM | I downloaded and installed this a few days ago. As expected,
it won't work with add-ons yet--and add-ons and RSS feed
subscriptions--are the two reasons I use FF. For browsing, I
use Chrome. I just read the link on this article to force add-ons to work with newer versions of FF. Still, its too much of a hassle to do. I'll just wait for FF 3.6 to go Gold before leaving 3.5. In the meantime, I'll continue with Chrome. |
| zaidpirwani on November 2, 2009 5:42 AM | Just installed it and tried it... works like a charm.. no problems... I think it should be made final now... you ask why, it starts FAST, thats why.. |
| spikester48661 on November 2, 2009 6:04 AM | run it works good ,speeds good too. add-on not working.but for browsing it aok so go get it. |
| limpangel on November 2, 2009 6:21 AM | As far as I know, Mike Beltzner said that Firefox 3.6 will
be considered a minor release, mostly under the hood changes
for security and stability. So the question is: will Firefox update automaticly when the stable selease is done or will you have to specifically choose to install it as for 3.0->3.5 upgrade ??? |
| elroacho72 on November 2, 2009 6:25 AM | I'm on the fence I've used older versions of Firefox but
always ended up going back IE. Can I ask what are the pros to Firefox? What is your best plug-in? Plus the cons Thanks |
| Kibaruk on November 2, 2009 7:06 AM | Excelent news, since a lot of improvements have been
made. Didn't want to try this before because of the constant changes and the security threat an explorer (Even if it's not new) can be in it's first stages, will be following up. |
| njel on November 2, 2009 7:12 AM | I test Firefox 3.6b1 and Firefox 3.7a1pre. The 3.6b1 use a
lot of memory after a few hours and 10 tabs opened. I hope
they will fix that for the release version. The 3.7 is too buggy for a daily usage. But I really like the new look. I hope the speed won't be the only enhancement of those versions. It would be sad if you have to restart your browser every 4 hours because it uses too much memory. |
| Vrmithrax on November 2, 2009 7:27 AM | As the author noted, I've been experiencing some slowdowns in later releases of FireFox as well... I'll try 3.6 to see if it hopefully improves. Interesting note: same exact configuration of FireFox runs approximately twice as fast (particularly at browser startup) on my slower older WindowsXP computer than it does on my year old much more powerful Vista computer. The new IE behaves exactly opposite, runs twice as fast in Vista... Once I upgrade to Win7 it'll be interesting to see if anything changes. |
| salbar1981 on November 2, 2009 7:40 AM | I use Chrome when I need fast browsing ... I'll try this beta right away ! (and I'll cross my fingers it won't swallow up much memory) |
| psycholexx on November 2, 2009 9:06 AM | The Mozilla is for sure the most user friendly and mature
browser around. Chrome on the other hand added speed over
conventional browsers and made the competition for market
absorption more interesting, by giving tremendous speed to
the user. Now Mozilla in order to grow and keep its adepts
must tweak the browser for a snappier feeling. Another nice
feature is the extended video support, which in this
multimedia era is a big plus. The bad thing I've experienced the most is a not-so-good java integration, which sometimes freezes the browser, and makes me end the process tree and restart Mozilla, but doesn't happen so often to annoy me, anyway, is good to hear that they are working to solve this issue. |
| treeski on November 2, 2009 9:19 AM | Sounds like a great improvement to Firefox, or at least it will be when it finally releases. I've been sold on Chrome mostly since it came out though. I love the speed and the sleek, clean look. |
| Deso on November 2, 2009 9:27 AM | limpangel said: You will have to specifically choose to install
3.5 from 3.0 and older version.
As far as I know, Mike Beltzner said that Firefox 3.6 will be considered a minor release, mostly under the hood changes for security and stability. So the question is: will Firefox update automaticly when the stable selease is done or will you have to specifically choose to install it as for 3.0->3.5 upgrade ??? |
| Puiu on November 2, 2009 9:48 AM | I'm in no hurry to upgrade. I always wait for the final version before downloading. I don't have to worry about beta bugs. Does anyone know when the 3.6 will be released? (an approximate date will be good) |
| Kibaruk on November 2, 2009 10:03 AM | I use Firefox, it's clean, secure and very customizable with
the plugin features. For those opting Chrome, it has as light security as it can be, there are tons of programs (And even manually you can do it) out there that can easily crack any password you have stored (Although I still don't know if it uses a main password encryption yet), and for what I've read there has been some holes in it's security that makes the computer vulnerable. Yes, it's fast but at what cost? On the other hand, IE... I think it has been a microsoft issue here, forcing many users to pick their explorer with so many options out there to get every user happy to what they seek. |
| MBK on November 2, 2009 10:12 AM | Cool, will be waiting for the actual 3.6 release I'd
imagine, I just got windows 7 sorted, don't want to cause
myself more problems already... I noticed someone mentioned that some Windows 7 features have been integrated. Hopefully there will be some useful jump list features. Improved functionality on java script pages can only be a good thing too, especially with the web becomming more and more about rich internet apps. Kinda peeved that a lot of the addons will break, but that's kinda the down side of open source/extensible software, the creators make changes and extension devs are constantly playing catch up. Oh well, I'm sure many of them will be updated soon and as I'm quite probably waiting for final release, I'm hoping the few I use will be functioning fine. |
| jazboy on November 2, 2009 10:15 AM | I am mozilla fan from quite long time, as mozilla is fast
compare too IE8. They are getting serious competition from
chrome. But i like Mozilla more because of availability of
plugins for Mozilla , secure and more over i got used to
this. |
| k0eff on November 2, 2009 10:34 AM | The function which I love is when I type in address bar, for example - the pirate bay, firefox will open http://thepiratebay.org. Nice! |
| fida1989 on November 2, 2009 11:35 AM | I am quite happy with Firefox.My only complain is about it's page loading issue.Sometimes I need refreshing to load a page even for the first time. |
| FrankTank on November 2, 2009 12:02 PM | Still using 3.0, I've been hesitant to upgrade due to all
the mixed reviews and security issues. I've definatley preferred it over IE. Plus it works out great on the home PC. I use Firefox, the wife uses IE. Can't say I've used the brower to its fullest potential in it's current state so I'm not sure if the upgrade is worth if for me but maybe I'll give it a try. |
| kodrutz on November 2, 2009 1:38 PM | It seems Firefox skins will also become much more
interesting than until now - take a look at Operetta and
Operetta Advance, for example. Firefox with Opera looks,
that's awesome! 
|
| freedomthinker on November 2, 2009 1:40 PM | Finally , i can once again , i can use the mighty FireFox ! It was starting the get annoying using Opera ;/ . Can't wait for the full version to come out ! Trying it out right now , and works awesome , not perfect but big still improvements ! |
| lxtrix on November 2, 2009 2:43 PM | I like trying the firefox betas but they always seem to crash when i do. |
