Firefox 3.0 Debuts, Server Crashes

Like so many people who have expressed their fondness for the web browser, Firefox, I have been patiently waiting for the release of version 3.0. Yesterday, I downloaded my copy, snagging it between server crashes.

Yes, Mozilla’s server crashed, probably several times during the day, as the company could not keep up with download requests. Blame Mozilla for this event anyway — they were trying to set a Guinness record for the most downloads in one day with hundreds of thousands perhaps millions of people doing it on June 17th. Hence the broken server issue.

Anyway, if you haven’t downloaded your copy yet, then head over to Mozilla right now and get one immediately.

As far as the latest version goes, Mozilla says they made over 15,000 improvements over the previous version. Version 3.0 is faster, safer, and smarter (so they say) and my quick take on it is that it is easier to use.

I’m one of the early users of Firefox, having gotten fed up with Internet Explorer and making the switch over soon after its November 2004 release. I hardly ever use Internet Explorer, but I still have to in order to see how IE scrambles my blogs. It is so easy to be comfortable with Firefox and forget any other browsers exist, though I do use Opera on my laptop as Firefox got fried and I still can’t use it!

Some of the other big changes with version 3 include:

  • An improved address bar that will try to guess where you’re going. So far, this has worked out okay, but it hasn’t always guessed what site I want. Just pay attention to what the toolbar is doing and then choose the right URL to go to.
  • Bookmarks, history, and start page all carry over from version 2.0 which is great; previous updates meant doing this all over again — what a pain that could be when you had scads of bookmarks to handle.
  • Malware protection is new — if you attempt to download something harmful to your computer, Firefox will warn you before you can.
  • New web forgery feature could be useful. Yes, stolen content won’t see the light of day with Firefox.

There are countless other updates that I am just now finding and you’ll want to explore on your own once you download your copy.

Got to love Firefox. Together with Word Press, working online has gotten a whole lot easier!

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Matthew C. Keegan

General Entries

June 18, 2008