First Look Review – Installing and running Firefox 3.1 beta 1 is a revealing experience. Just like Chrome reminded us a few weeks ago, the basics of a browser matter. While Microsoft is figuring out new proprietary features for Internet Explorer 8, Apple, Google and Chrome have been working on the browser foundation and made their software much more nimble. The speed improvements that have been made in less than a year are nothing short of amazing. We have been using Firefox 3.1 beta 1 for a day now and we have come to two conclusions: We refuse to go back to a previous version and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is in deep trouble.  


At first sight

The first public beta of Firefox 3.1 offers a handful of new features such as a 3D preview during tab switching, location awareness, better compliance with web standards and much improved JavaScript performance. Additional features planned for the beta 2 include a new privacy browsing mode, an Opera-like Speed Dial feature, improved private data deletion and URL bar tweaks. But clearly, if we trim the features down to what matters most, speed is the primary battle that is fought in the browser arena these days - and Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 sports dramatic speed gains. Chrome, Safari and Firefox are in a neck and neck race, while IE8 is left in the dust. In fact, the recent improvements leave us scratching our heads what Microsoft is doing right now. As it looks right now, IE8 could end up as the Windows Vista of the browser market – a software that holds the majority of the market, but has to give up market share with very little opportunity for defense.

In reaction to Chrome and the recent JavaScript (JS) engine optimization in Safari 4 beta, Mozilla decided to add a few more weeks to the Firefox 3.1 development schedule. "We're watching other browsers as much as they're watching us," said Mike Shaver, Mozilla's interim vice president of engineering. The extra time will come in handy to tweak the JS and rendering engine and iron out new features. The first results of this effort are now visible in Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 (FF31) that delivers some of the planned new features, with more features being expected to arrive with the beta 2 (code freeze on November 4) and the final version that is planned to be released before the end of the year.


A closer look: New Firefox 3.1 beta 1 features

- JS speed gains: Mozilla claims JS speed gains of up to 40x thanks to an optimized engine called TraceMonkey. There is virtually no way to verify this claim in a real world browsing experience, but at least subjectively, sites like Facebook and Google Docs feel much snappier. Complex layouts render noticeably faster, courtesy of the Gecko 1.9.1 rendering engine. In a side-by-side comparison, Firefox 3.1 beta 1 eliminates many delays we are used to today when a layout is built in the browser window. Even complex pages are built almost instantly.

Earlier today, our managing editor wrote that "the new Firefox plays in the same league as Google Chrome." And subjectively, I believe that this is a fair statement. In direct comparison, Chrome still seemed to have a slight edge on our system, but the difference was negligible. We here at TG Daily believe that there is true value in those speed gains as it makes your browsing much more efficient, reduces wait times and prepares the browser for future applications. This is by far the most noteworthy browser enhancement since the introduction of phishing filters.

- HTML <video> and <audio> tag support: FF3.1 supports the open-source A/V codecs Ogg Vorbis and Theora, in addition to <video> and <audio> tags, part of HTML5 specification, that enable developers to tag audio/video content in pages instead of using JavaScript to launch video. You can test the marriage of two by visiting Wikimedia's gallery of human genitals.

- Geolocation API: FF3.1 taps third-party services to determine and feed your location to sites that will then create personalized content, news and information relevant to your current geographical location. You will be able to set the extent of the geolocation feature. The Mozilla Labs add-on Geode is currently required for this functionality but shipping desktop and mobile version of FF (code-named Fennec) will include geolocation features by default. This is certainly a killer feature, but also a potential privacy nightmare, as explained in our Yahoo! FireEagle story. In our opinion, any service that transmits your location to services you have no control over should be used with caution.

- Ctrl-Tab: There is a new Ctrl-Tab shortcut with SHIFT modifier that cycles forward and backward through open tabs.

Read on the next page: Future feartures, Conclusion