Firefox is a Web browser that features tabbed browsing, plugin support and extensions support.
This second version comes with some new features that in the previous stable releases of Firefox (1.5.x) were available only by using certain extensions. This is a good thing because in this way you get a stronger browser than the previous v1.5.
The producers said there are new features in this release. Here is a list with those new features: Visual Refresh, Built-in phishing protection, Enhanced search capabilities, Improved tabbed browsing, Resuming your browsing session, Previewing and subscribing to Web feeds, Inline spell checking, Live Titles, Improved Add-ons manager, JavaScript 1.7, Extended search plugin format, Updates to the extension system, Client-side session and persistent storage and SVG text.
I think most of the Firefox users like the fact that the Session Saving functionality is an option and not an add-on like it was before. You need to enable that options from the preferences panel though. You can find it in the 'Main' tab under the drop-down menu named 'When Firefox starts'.
I liked the fact that the producers implemented a single add-ons panel in this version. You can manage your Extensions and Themes from the same window. Any change enables a 'Restart' button. The restart of your browser is required when installing Extensions or Themes, or when you do certain modifications. Another nice thing is the possibility to disable an extension, rather than uninstalling in in order to make it cease function.
I need to say a few words about the Web standards too. Since most of the current browsers are trying to comply with the W3C standards, I had to test the browser with the well known
Acid2 test. This build of Firefox failed again the test. The programmers of Mozilla have been making gradual efforts in order to pass this test. So far there is a unstable public release which passes this test. The engine will be available in the v3.0 of Firefox.
Pluses: it has an improved tabbed browsing and other new features in this build, it has a better rendering speed than the previous release. The 'Preferences' panel and the 'Add-ons' panel looks better.
Drawbacks / flaws: In conclusion: the product looks like an evolution, not like a revolution, but you can't have them all. It is a better implementation and the producers already have plans for a third version. A strong alternative for this product is
Opera, a Web browser that is improved by its producers with every new version.
Safari also started to look more serious since Apple released a beta build of the v3.0. If you would like to taste the Mozilla flavor into a Macintosh package, then you can always try
Camino.
version reviewed: 2.0.0.6
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