Mozilla has just released Firefox 3.1 Beta 2. The new version comes with plenty of bug fixes and a final set of features which are expected to be in the final release of Firefox 3.1.
New features include:
- Private browsing mode
- Gecko 1.9.1 rendering engine
- Tear off tabs to new browser windows
- Support for HTML5 elements <video> and <audio>
A full list of features can be found in the Mozilla Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 release notes. Users already using Beta 1 will be automatically updated, while new users can download Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 here.
Firefox
Beta, Firefox, Firefox 3.1 Beta 2
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.
Firefox
Acid3, Beta, Firefox, Firefox 3.1 Beta 1
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…
Firefox
Acid3, Beta, Firefox, Firefox 3.1 Beta 1, Mozilla
Google has just opened up Chrome’s dev channel. The dev channel gives early access to new features and bug fixes. Google promises to release Chrome updates to the dev channel frequently, providing webmasters the ability to test their sites and script with the latest version of the Chrome browser.
Google does warn however that dev channel releases are prone to be less stable than their Beta cousins released on the main Google Chrome website.
To subscribe to the dev channel, you simply need to download and install the Google Chrome Channel Chooser. Full details and installation instructions can be found on the dev channel website.
Chrome
Beta, Chrome, Dev Channel, Google Chrome
Opera has released a beta version of its next generation web browser. The browser includes some fancy new features, including Link It. Link It allows you to synchronise searches and typed history across multiple computers. You can read a full list of changes in their changelogs.
Included in the release is a new version of Opera Mail. You can download the new beta software from the Opera Software website. Happy testing!
Opera
Beta, Link It, Opera, Opera 9.6 Beta, Opera Beta