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Last Updated June 17, 2008   Product Rating   Robust security features Location bar Vista-like interface Improved performance   None

The Mozilla Foundation, the developers of the ever-popular Firefox Web browser, have just released the brand new version of the browser, Firefox 3, after three years of development. The new version is based on a new version of their Gecko code platform and it fixes over 11,000 issues with more than 2 million code changes from Firefox 2. Version 3 offers a whole new level of stability and security for Firefox because of the newly written code. Special attention has been paid to a few specific issues, such as the memory usage issues that have plagued all previous versions of Firefox.

When you install Firefox 3 on a computer with Firefox 2 already installed, you don't have to worry about losing any of your personal settings and bookmarks because the installer will automatically import them all over to the new browser. The 7MB installer works amazingly well and installs quickly on most of today's modern systems.

When you first open the new browser, you'll immediately see a few changes to the user interface, but one will probably stick out the most. The new "Location Bar" is where the traditional URL address bar is and it takes it to a whole new level. When you enter a Web address or a few words into the location bar, Firefox will automatically suggest Web sites that you are either looking for or would be helpful alternatives to the site you are going to. For example, you can enter in a company name that you might not know their Web address for and Firefox will automatically (and quickly) display below your query give you a few suggested sites, one of which will probably be for that company's Web site. Firefox looks through your history and bookmarks to find what you are looking for. This saves time and few mouse clicks by skipping right over doing a search via a search engine because now you can do it all from Firefox 3's new location bar.

Firefox 3's new Vista-themed interface looks really nice on computers running Windows Vista's Aero visual styles.

The new Location Bar searches through your bookmarks and Web history to locate Web sites that you are attempting to visit.

There's also a new feature called "Smart Bookmarks" which is a menu of a few folders located on the favorites bar. When you click on the Smart Bookmarks button, you'll see a list of a pop-out menu with Most Visited and Recently Bookmarked. Each one displays either your most visited sites or recently bookmarked sites for quick and easy access.

Firefox 3 also has a new password manager with a few tweaks from past versions. The most drastic change is the prompt when you used to log into a site. In past versions, when you have typed in user name and password login information and submit it, a little dialog box used to appear asking if you wanted to remember, never for this site, or not now. In Firefox 3, when you visit a site with a login field, a new toolbar appears with the same options.

As we mentioned before, previous versions of Firefox have had a very rough reputation with memory management. As the browser stayed open for long periods of time, it would start to consume massive amounts of memory and slow the computer down. However, the new rendering engine, Gecko 1.9, fixes that issue and improves memory management drastically.

The redesigned add-on manager allows you to search for new add-ons right from the manager instead of the Mozilla Web site. You can also manage Web plugins, such as Flash, right from this window as well.

Firefox has always been a very secure browser and with the new version, Mozilla has taken it one-step further. There is a phishing filter built-into Firefox 3 which helps to detect malicious sites posing as legitimate Web sites by using a blacklist compiled by Google and other security firms. In addition to that, there is a SSL verification system also that checks secure site's SSL certificates for validity and tells you so via a red/green cop logo in the address bar.

The new phishing filter in Firefox 3 goes one-step further...it checks the site against a central blacklist to identify malicious sites.

Overall, Mozilla has developed another fantastic version of the Firefox Web browser that tops all the rest, including the competition. They have included some really nice features that put it way on top over other browser, such as Internet Explorer. Mozilla has included many fixes, especially the memory usage bug, that make Firefox extremely robust and user-friendly. It is definitely a must-have download if you are a Firefox user or a user of another browser looking to make a switch to Firefox.