Download Mozilla Firefox 3.0 beta 1

On DevNews, Mozilla developers released the first beta version of Firefox 3.0 announced. The beta is available from this ftp folder for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. New in Firefox 3.0 is improved security and ease of use. The browser also includes Gecko 1.9, the new Firefox engine with new graphics and font rendering and improved support for html and css. Performance improvements have also been made in the new browser series. What exactly has changed can be found on this page being read. Below is a brief overview of the main improvements posted:

New features and changes in this milestone 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, color 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.

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