Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 Acid3 Results

After testing Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 on the Acid3 test, the new browser scores an impressive 89/100. This compares to other browsers as follows:

• Firefox 3 scores 71/100
• Opera 9.6 scores 85/100
• IE7 scores a dismal 12/100
• IE8 Beta 2 scores 21/100
• Safari 3.1.2 scores 75/100
• Safari 4 Beta 100/100

This is a great improvement and a step to being fully standards compliant. Mozilla still have some work to go to get to that magic 100 mark, but things are heading in the right direction.

Mozilla has just released Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 to the web. The new browser includes numerous improvements including:

• Web standards improvements in the Gecko layout engine
• Added support for CSS 2.1 and CSS 3 properties
• A new tab-switching shortcut that shows previews of the tab you’re switching to
• Improved control over the Smart Location Bar using special characters to restrict your search
• Support for new web technologies such as the <video> and <audio> elements, the W3C Geolocation API, JavaScript query selectors, web worker threads, SVG transforms and offline applications.

You can download the Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 from the Firefox beta page. Currently the beta is available in over 35 languages.

I hope to put the browser through a few tests to see how it benchmarks in both Acid3 and JavaScript tests shortly. Stay tuned…

Fennec Acid3 Results

Mozilla has been working hard on it’s mobile version of Firefox dubbed Fennec. Building on top of Firefox 3’s reduced memory footprint, Mozilla is aiming to bring the desktop browsing experience to your mobile.

With the hastened development, the latest version of Fennec scores a very impressive 88/100 in the Acid3 test on Windows Mobile. In comparison Firefox 3 only scores 71/100, while Opera 9.6 scores 85/100.

Once released, Fennec is sure to set the mobile browser market on fire, giving stiff competition to already established browsers such as Opera Mobile. It’s sure to be an interesting year ahead for the mobile browser market.

Web surfers will now be able to find local services when they browse thanks to a new plugin from Mozilla for Firefox.

The plugin known as Geode calculates a users position based on their current and near-by networks.

Accuracy is said to be within 10-20m and it can find your location in just seconds.

Mike Shaver from Mozilla was very positive about the project, talking briefly about the applications of Geode. “People have got to eat, but there is a lot more to it than that.”

“We see location as adding an extra layer to help get people the information they need.”

The technology which is similar to AGPS currently found on the iPhone and iPod touch.

The project is only an experimental add-on for Firefox, but a full launch of geolocation technology is expected in version 3.1 of Firefox.

Users can download the Geode plugin from Mozilla Labs.

With all the news that Google Chrome’s market share has droped since it’s release, I thought it was only fitting to add some more statistics to the fire.

On another technology site that I run, browser stats were as follows for the month of September:

Browser Market Share for September

Through the month of September, Chrome’s usage has dropped around 30% from its release. Usage seems to have stabalised since then.

Of interesting note, is that Google Chrome has still gained a larger market share than Opera. It should also be noted that Chrome is still only available on Windows. Perhaps it’s market share will again increase when offical Mac and Linux versions are released.

Perhaps Google Chrome hasn’t shaken up the market as much as everyone predicted. Did you try Google Chrome and are you still using it?

Just days after the release of Firefox 3.0.2, Mozilla has released Firefox 3.0.3. The new release fixes a single bug that stopped some users from accessing their stored usernames and passwords.

The bug itself was discovered within 24 hours of the previous release, and was patched much quicker than expected.

You can read the full bug details on the Bugzilla site. The patch should automatically be rolled out to Firefox 3 users, or alternatively you can download it using the link below.

Download Firefox 3.0.3

Mozilla has just updated both Firefox 2 and 3. Both releases are security fixes, patching critical security vulnerabilities.

A full list of changes can be found in the both the Firefox 2 and Firefox 3 security advisories.

Most users should find the new versions are pushed out to them automatically, or alternatively you can download the new releases from Mozilla.

Download Firefox 2.0.0.17
Download Firefox 3.0.2

ExitReality has today released a plugin that allows users to surf the web in 3D. This will allow surfers the chance to walk through their favourite websites as if they were playing a computer game.

The 3.5MB plugin will turn any normal website into a compelling virtual room.

The idea from ExitReality’s founder Danny Stefanic has been in development for 13 years.

Mr Stefanic says “It is the entire web in 3D – making 40 billion virtual worlds – and it will instantly transform 2D content into 3D“.

Flickr can be turned into a virtual art gallery, while YouTube can be turned into a virtual cinema. It’s second life for every day people.

Currently, the browser plugin only works on Windows and is compatible with both Internet Explorer and Firefox. The plugin can be downloaded from the ExitReality website.

There are many cool little Firefox tweaks that users often don’t know about, all hidden away and editable from a special link within Firefox. These following tweaks will make your Firefox quicker and more efficient for today’s broadband connection.

To get to this special menu, in the address bar type about:config and then press enter. Firefox 3 presents you with an extra button asking you to “promise and be careful” which you can safely click.

Now you should be presented with a list of options that you can change to improve Firefox’s performance. Below are some common settings that can be changed. Simply click on the filter box and search for the following settings and change their values as below:

• network.http.pipelining → true
• network.http.pipelining.firstrequest → true (Not in Firefox 3)
  
• network.http.pipelining.maxrequests → 32
• network.http.proxy.pipelining → true
• nglayout.initialpaint.delay → 0 (Not in Firefox 3)

These little gems will help your Firefox fly faster. Pipelining allows multiple HTTP 1.1 requests to be sent before any responses are received from the browser, hence allowing you to ask for more data at once. Give it a go and try it out – you’ve got nothing to loose!

With the release of Google Chrome, John Resig has performed JavaScript benchmark tests on a wide variety of browsers on both Windows Vista and XP. These browsers include:

• Chrome 0.2
• Safari 4
• Safari 3.1.2
• Opera 9.5.2
• Firefox 3.1
• Firefox 3.0.1
• IE7
• IE8 Beta 2

Testing, using three benchmarking tools; SunSpider, V8 Benchmark, and Dromaeo, has produced some interesting results. Results show that Google Chrome is ahead in all but one benchmark test – very impressive for a browser that is still in its early beta stages. It shows the performance of the new V8 JavaScript engine and the power of the WebKit rendering engine found in both Chrome and Safari.

You can read the full JavaScript Performance Rundown article to see the other (not-so)surprissing results.