Firefox, the open source browser from Mozilla, has launched its latest version of its browser to the public. The major update, codenamed Shiretoko promises major speed improvements using the TraceMonkey JavaScript engine which they claim brings 'screaming fast performance to Firefox 3.5'.
Firing up the freshly downloaded Firefox you might not notice the major differences right away, except for perhaps the speed. That hasn't stopped users from grabbing the download quickly, with over 5 million downloads in the first 24 hours. You can follow the downloads live here, at the time of writing over 80,000 Australians had already grabbed a copy.
Our first tests here at Digital-Media reveal snappier performance, especially for resource hungry websites. The speed differences were most noticeable when using Picnik, a photo manipulation web app.
Check out the speed test video by Chris Blizzard, Mozilla's Director of Evangalism to get an idea of the difference you can expect.
It must be said that the browser wars aren't all about speed. After Google threw its hat into the ring with it's slimline browser project Chrome, things certainly heated up. Chrome is all about speed, but it had some great usability innovations. Some of these have been been borrowed in Shiretoko, and some of Firefox's original features have been updated.
Here is a rundown of some key new features:
Private Browsing (new)
Firefox 3.5 now comes with a private browsing mode, similar to Incognito mode in Chrome. This allows you to surf the web without a worry about leaving a history behind. No trail means no more awkward conversations as teenagers try to explain how that uh.. 'interesting' website was doing in the browser history.
Whilst not leaving a trail might be great for keeping your loved ones from asking hard questions, it must be remembered that it doesn't stop your IP from being tracked. So keep it legal folks!
Forget this site (new)
Similar to private browsing, the 'forget this site' command allows you to quickly dump all mentions of the website you are browsing. Do access just open your history (Ctrl + H) and right click 'forget about this site' to cleanse your browser of nasty places on the web.
Tab tearing (improved)
This is one of the most useful improvements for those with multiple monitors. You now have the ability to rip tabs into a new window, simply by dragging and dropping. If you have 15 tabs open, but one of them is a YouTube video that you would like to watch on the side, you can now drag that tab into a new window(see example below). This is favorite feature in Chrome, so its good to see Mozilla copying all the good stuff. After all, imitation is the greatest form of flattery.
With a plethora of extensions to make the browser your own, Firefox looks to continue to eat Internet Explorer's massive 58% market share with this release.
Firefox currently has just over 30% penetration within the Australian market with Chrome being used by just over 3% of browsers. Chrome has the speed and looks, but with extensions not yet available, its unlikely to see the popularity that Firefox enjoys.
It is interesting to see that Internet Explorer has actually gained in Australian market share in the past month, reversing the downward spiral (See Graph Below).
This rise may be due to the March release of IE8, which was lauded as a great step forward for Microsoft, is finally being respected again. Whatever has caused the jump it is clear that the last year has seen vast improvements in the web browsing experience. As always there is only one winner in the ongoing browser wars - the consumer.
What browser do you prefer? Let us know in the comments or via our Twitter account @digitmedia
