New Features of Firefox 3.5
Firefox is out today so I thought we’d look at the new features that it offers. Like other past updates, this one is sure to swallow up add-ons that were previously not built in. Also if you use many add-ons, you may want to wait a while or check to see if your favorite add-ons are compatible yet. I’ve check my four add-ons and they are ready to go so I took the plunge. Here is what I particularly like.
1. Undo a closed window – How many times have you accidentally closed a window full of tabs and wanted it back? Now just go to the History window and go to ‘recently closed window’
2. Tab Tearing – This is one thing I haven’t played around with much but I think I’ll like it when I start using it more. Basically you drag a tab out in the open and it becomes a separate window. If you drag a tab that independent into a cluster of them, it joins nicely and you are rid of an extra window. I think Chrome and the new Safari already have this. Now I have the power too…muhahaahaha!
3. HTML5 + video = love – If a webpage is created with HTML 5 and it contains a video using some open source format, it will be treated like it is part of the page instead of a subset like a flash content. This will mean more creative use like text links in videos and other unthinkable things to come.
4. Geo Location – Tinfoil hat aside, this will let a website when coded correctly know where you are by ip address information and google wifi triangulation. Meaning a search for pizza will show you pizza venues near you and not nationwide. You can disable this of course if you want.
5. Faster JavaScript engine – This is basically saying websites will be loaded faster in 3.5 than previously. They are using TraceMonkey instead of SpiderMonkey. I dont’ care what kind of monkey they use, I have notice that sites load up much quicker. While I hear it is still not as fast as chrome or the new safari, it is still lightning fast compared to older versions of firefox.
6. Color profiles correction – Early in my mac to pc conversion days, I observed Safari showing websites with much richer colors. Now Firefox has dynamic color profiles that should show a website the way the designer or photographer intended.
7. Private browsing mode – This is great when you’re on someone else’s machine and do not want to leave cookies, login information, or browsing history on that computer. Great for all you paranoid people and those who frequent public computer terminals, provided they have Firefox installed and updated to 3.5. Also I think you can clear out one particular item in your history instead of clearing the entire history.
I hope this small list is enough for you to get excited about this update and install it on your machine.
