April 2, 2008 Mozilla launched the latest Beta version of Firefox 3, (Beta version 5). If you have not tried Firefox 3 yet and are like most who wait for the final release candidate you just might want to test drive it. After all Firefox 3 will eventually be released and used by most Firefox users in the near future. So what is so great about Firefox 3? Number one on my list is SPEED! Firefox 3 is without a doubt many times faster than Firefox 2 and is made for todays resource intensive media driven web sites.

Websites today are very resource needy on both the server side and the client side. Browsers can use a significant amount of resources and drain your operating system. Firefox 3 which is based on Gecko 1.9 has over 12,000 updates designed not only to secure your web browsing experience but to also bring added functionality, personalization and style to your desktop. The Gecko 1.9 platform is significantly more efficient and will drive your Firefox browser to the outer limits of Cyber Space without slowing your computer down.

So what else is there to know about Firefox 3? I will show you just a few of the things I really like about Firefox 3 and the rest is up to you to try!

In the picture you will notice how the new and improved browser bar displays websites and information about them. To me there is nothing more annoying than having to type http:// or www to get to a web page, especially if I have already visited the website or have if I have it bookmarked. The new and improved browser bar has become somewhat similar to the Google search tool bar suggesting and filtering results based on your browser history, bookmarks, and tags. Getting to the websites you need just became easier and more efficient! The results in your location bar are determined by the number of visits, recency of visits, bookmarks, and tags. Brilliant! This is one of the best enhancements of Firefox 3. If your a web mail user this feature allows you to even find email messages easier, however sensitive information could be possibly viewed by others if you are a habitual page closer and don’t log out of your web mail.

Another fantastic improvement over Firefox 2 is the new bookmarking system. Just by clicking the Star button in the location bar you can easily book mark a page. A second click allows you to tag and file the page for easier retrieval. The tags and the book mark will be shown in your location bar when you type into the bar. If you book marked http:// firefoxisbetter .com and tagged it Firefox 3 article you would find that by merely typing in a tag or term for Firefox would bring up your book mark in your location bar. Todays web sites have a lot of information and organizing the valuable information for later viewing has become even more practical with the improvements of Firefox 3.

Keep in mind that Firefox 3 is in a Beta release and by no means is bug free or guaranteed 100% secure. As always use caution when using a Beta release product. The great thing about using Firefox 3 Beta release is the contribution you can make to the community by testing the latest release for future improvement and bug detection.

One of the drawbacks to the Beta release is the loss of functionality of most of your add-ons and themes. But if you are a Windows user there is no need to be sore. You can run Firefox 2 or 3 on your computer without sacrificing version 2 off of your computer. Firefox 3 installs in a separate folder. Let me know if you are test driving Firefox 3 and be sure to let everyone know what you think!