Review - Firefox 3 was released yesterday and we have taken the final version on a thorough day 1 test drive. There is a boatload of tiny tweaks, a couple of major new features and a completely overhauled engine at its core are the three major selling points. Our initial take on Firefox 3 final is that that the browser accelerates web browsing and makes your online activities more enjoyable, more secure and more reliable.

Looking back at the history of Firefox, it is immediately apparent how different the launch scenarios of version 1, 2 and 3 were. Firefox now holds almost 20% of the browser market and has established itself as a serious rival for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. That may have been especially obvious when Mozilla’s download servers where overwhelmed by download requests today (there were more than 2.9 million downloads within the first 8 hours after launch) and we saw a flood of articles complaining that Mozilla’s servers were unreachable – a circumstance that was largely forgiven during the launches of version 1 and 2.  
 
With Firefox 3, Mozilla takes the browser war to another level and can claim dramatic speed gains and feature optimizations. In fact, the browser turned out to be a well-balanced application, with just enough innovative features to enhance the user experience and many minor tweaks – some of which you will notice most likely only after a few days of using the software. Personally I believe that Firefox 3 is to the browser world what Apple gadgets are to consumer electronics – a sleek, beautifully designed piece of software that connects with you personally, enabling you to concentrate on the task ahead, not on the software itself.


A closer look: Installation and first startup

The new browser comes in a 7.14 MB package, which is a slight increase over Firefox 2.0.0.14 (5.75 MB), but still half the size of Safari 3.1.1 (18.6 MB in Windows XP/Vista versions) or IE7 (14.7 MB in the Windows XP version). The installation sets Firefox as the default browser without asking for a confirmation (you can change this setting in the browser’s preferences later on.) Since Apple's Safari push has triggered a new browser race, browser makers are resorting to more aggressive tactics to push browser onto user computers and Mozilla’s move is just the latest (and not so great) example.

When you load the browser the first time, you are unlikely to notice any big difference to Firefox 2.0 besides the blue "back" and "forward" buttons located on the redesigned button bar. On closer inspection, however, you will notice that the browser now complies with the design guidelines of your operating system. Under Vista, Firefox 3 looks and feels like a Vista application, delivering subtle shading and transparency effects. OS X owners will benefit the most since Firefox has always felt strange as the software was breaking every interface guideline provided by Apple. Firefox 3 finally looks and behaves like a native OS X application and includes even some OS X- specific touches, such as a Cover Flow-like styling in the application’s add-ons manager.


Killer features

In terms of speed, Firefox 3 brings more than you would expect. The boot time is drastically reduced and the performance is noticeably snappier. Opening dozens of tabs does not seem to bring a penalty in performance or responsiveness - unlike Firefox 2 that crawls to a halt if you open too many tabs. We found that flipping between tabs is faster and web pages load faster as well. The most significant speed gain can be seen with Web 2.0 sites and web applications, thanks to an optimized SpiderMonkey technology that is powering Firefox 3's JavaScript engine. Speed and performance is Firefox 3's primary killer feature, no question about it.

If you think speed isn't that important, we are pretty certain that you will change your mind when you try Firefox 3. In the end, it is the latest version of an application that's not loaded with features you don't need and is actually faster than the previous version. Now how often do you see that? The speedy, smooth performance contributes greatly to a more relaxed and streamlined online experience. I haven't done any speed tests but my initial impression is that Firefox 3 is the fastest browser on the market at this time.

I also have to highlight Firefox 3's stability. The browser has not crashed so far on day 1 on two of our PCs. And even when it crashes (you know it is just a matter of time), it retains your browsing sessions, open tabs, preferences, bookmarks and other data securely stored in an internal transactional database. The application is particularly more reliable in a low-memory situation.  Gone are the memory leaks that have plagued previous Firefox releases.

An improved malware protection and phishing filters are stronger and rely on Google's database of known malicious sites. There are redesigned warning pages that warn you when you visit a suspected forgery site, offering a first line of online protection. Another security layer is Extended Validation SSL certificate support (EV), which is built-in IE7. It will show a green button when you reach a site with an integrated EV certificate, which enables you to check the site owner's ID, connection encryption etc. A great new security feature is that the software now notifies your anti-virus software whenever it wraps up the download of an executable file.

With these features, Firefox 3 has finally caught up with IE7 in terms of security. There is now a solid base of security features, especially targeting less experienced users who are easier to lure into online scams and malware downloads. However, I have to admit that I was hoping for more ideas in this area. It turns out that the security improvements have brought Firefox 3 on par with IE7, but not ahead of it.

Read on the next page: What else is new? Missing features and a not so apparent feature you should know about