Mike Southby

Finally, after all of the recent testing Mozilla has released the much anticipated Firefox 3.6, the latest version of what many consider the de-facto browser.

So what’s changed from Firefox 3.5?

The most important claim is a 20% increase in speed, or at least that’s what Mozilla tell us!  The latest release uses Gecko 1.9.2 web-rendering which is said to improve its load times, start-up speed and overall stability.  JavaScript execution has had a makeover too, meaning it’s now faster and smother; other noteworthy additions are Personas which allow you to customise Firefox with a single click and without the need for a restart and full HTML5 compatibility.

Full features can be found here and you can download Firefox 3.6 here.

Mozilla has now released the beta of the soon to be released Firefox 3.6 release which has optimisations across the board, a new theme feature as well as a whole load of minor tweaks and updated platform technologies.  It’s been over 2 months since Mozilla unveiled Firefox 3.6 alpha and whilst work is a long way off being finished, they are now pushing forward with the public beta.  It’s been code named ‘Namoroka’ after a national park on the island of Madagascar.

The beta is built on the Gecko 1.9.2 rendering engine and is said to contain many improvements for web developers as well as end users.  The beta will feature a built-in theme engine which has been called ‘Personas’.  The Personas feature allows you to dress up your browser in colours using various user interface themes which will not require a restart to install.  Personas will be available initially as a Mozilla Labs experimental extension so officially, may not feature in the final release.  Another notable feature is a new dialog that will let you know when any of your installed plug-ins expire, ensuring that you are kept up-to-date and safe.

The beta supports the WOFF font format and new CSS, DOM and HTML5 web technologies.  It will be able to display open video in full screen and supports poster frames.  Needless to say the final release will have even more features.  The full list of features and changes can be found here [Link].

If you want to give the beta a try yourselves, here are the installers:

Windows |  Mac |  Linux

Caveat:  I have provided the installers for your convenience, please only download and install them if you understand the concept of a beta release.  I will not be held responsible for any problems you have, nor will I be able to offer any support.  Please ensure you backup any personal data before using beta software!

If you do decide to give the beta a try, let me know how you get on and your thoughts.