Firefox 3.0, Day 2

June 17th, 2008 was Firefox 3.0 Download Day and Mozilla.org is claiming over 8.2 million downloads -- I've seen Guinness Record Certificates on the web but am waiting to see something on the Guinness Records site. This was more of a marketing gimmick, as downloading does not mean loading, but it will be fun to see the result.

On the 18th, I wrote Firefox 3.0, Day 1 with some early observations on the new Firefox.

Now to Day 2 observations --

1. Well, like any big software, it took less than 24 hours for security groups to issue a security bulletin -- a zero-day vulnerability that allows remote attackers could execute malicious code on a user's computer if they successfully exploited the flaw. It is important to note that, like most browser-based vulnerabilities, a successful attack requires active user participation. A user would have to click on a malicious link sent in a phishing e-mail or to visit a malicious Website for the user's computer to become infected. This kind of exploit is quite common.

   For those who want to track these on the Mozilla site, bookmark this link.

2. So far, this has been fast. While the initial load is not as fast as some previous versions, the speed once loaded beats IE easily. This is due, in part, to a consistent low memory usage.
3. It readily displays many kinds of sites, meaning it has taken care to be standards compliant (some browsers distort the pages you are viewing). The location bar does a good job of predicting the site you want.
4. I do like some of the accessibility features ... the zoom in particular.
5. Password management seems to be better, and the prompts are more user-friendly. I'm not a big fan of browser-based password management, but I will consider using this for some sites.
6. The download pause, resume, and search features are nice (though I generally use a separate download manager that can also accept commands from IE and Maxtron).
7. While the "Smart Bookmarks" are nice, the sidebar doesn't switch between history and bookmarks, a feature I'd really like.

The only major negative I have found thus far is the lack of a default button for creating a new tab -- it requires a File/New from the menubar. This is something Mozilla needs to fix quickly.

I'll take more time to play with it before another followup, including some time on Linux.

In the meantime, Day 2 -- still like it.