New Features in Firefox 3.6 Beta 1

Firefox 3.5 is already a few months “old” and Mozilla is gearing up to launch its follow-up, Firefox 3.6. This latest version is only a small evolution nowhere near the number of updates and new features that 3.5 had but it's still more than just a bug-fixing release. Now, the first Firefox 3.6 beta is out the door bringing with it better customization options courtesy of the newly integrated Personas theme engine, and a couple of new features plus the usual batch of fixes and performance updates. 
 High on the list of new features is Personas, which is now fully integrated into the browser, allowing users to change the look of their Firefox with just a couple of clicks. Personas is a lightweight theme engine that has been in development for about half a year over at Mozilla Labs. It permits users to easily create and install new skins for Firefox. The feature is now mature enough that Mozilla developers believed it was time to make it a part of the proper browser. And, with over 30,000 designs to choose from, there's probably something there for anyone. 

Firefox now comes with a notification feature warning users if the plugins they have installed are out of date. This may not be too glamorous but it's a very important step towards making the browsing experience safer as old versions may have unplugged security holes that malicious attackers could exploit. The feature has been around since Firefox 3.5.3 and 3.0.14 but initially it only notified users if their Adobe Flash plugin was old.

The new beta also continues to broaden the support for modern web technologies like HTML5 but also adds new CSS and DOM features. The
Firefox 3.6 Beta users can now take advantage of the some of the same graphical user interface enhancements in Windows 7 as those running IE8. While Google and Opera are lagging behind when it comes down to tailoring their browsers to Windows 7, the same is not valid for Mozilla. And as Windows 7 became available for purchase on October 22, 2009, customers running the OS in combination with Firefox 3.6 will certainly enjoy the bells and whistles of the new Windows Aero GUI. 

Mozilla enumerated some of the changes in Firefox 3.6 Beta:

“* This beta is available in more than 50 languages - get your local version.
* Users can now change their browser's appearance with a single click, with built in support for Personas.
* Firefox 3.6 will alert users about out of date plugins to keep them safe.
* Open, native video can now be displayed full screen, and supports poster frames.
* Support for the WOFF font format.
* Improved JavaScript performance, overall browser responsiveness and startup time.
* Support for new CSS, DOM and HTML5 web technologies.”

Download Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 for Windows here: 
 Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 (Link 1) Size 8 MB 
 Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 (Link 2)