Firefox 3.6 Beta, R2. Is it Right for You?

Exciting news for Firefox users:  On November 10th Mozilla released Firefox 3.6 revision 2 for beta testing!  I have been using the new version for a couple of days and I’m impressed.  It includes over 190 bug fixes from the previous beta which improve stability, security and speed. There are many new additions to this version of the IE killer including a new version of private browsing mode, forget this site, restore closed windows (previously only restore closed tabs was available) and integration of the TraceMonkey JavaScript engine.

Among the new features is ability to share your location with their new Location-Aware browsing.  This feature is compatible with websites that use the technology to help bring more relevant information to the user.  All one would need to do is type in their location and then searches will automatically show close and relevant results.  Fortunately this function is optional.  The paranoid among us will likely not use this function.

Most add-ons are still functional including the invaluable Adblock Plus.  If you haven’t been using this add-on; go find it and use it.  You will never regret it.  Unfortunately, one of my favorite add-ons CoolPreviews is not compatible yet.  Hopefully this is a temporary problem.  You also won’t be able to watch HomestarRunner in full screen right now but that too will likely come soon.

The “forget this site” feature will prove to be useful to those who are browsing at work and would like to delete only one or two pages from the browser history.  OF COURSE you only visit pages that are required for work! No one will ever know that you visit twitter, facebook or that you spent half an hour updating your blog because you can have Firefox forget that you were ever even there.

PC users who are running Windows 7 will quickly notice how well this new version of Firefox integrates.  The Aero Peek within Windows 7 will show a peek for each tab that is open within the browser.  Previous versions of Firefox, including the current official release, only display a peek for the current tab.  This is probably the most fun and useful feature for the novice user.   Aside from these two features the average user will likely not notice any difference between this and previous versions of Firefox.

All in all, the newest beta of Firefox is worth a shot.  I’m no power user but I’ve not experienced any problems that have made me go back to the most recent official release.  3.6R2 is stable and fast and a joy to use.

Want to give it a try?  Click on the Fox.

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