Honestly, this is the 1st time i using firefox.. itupun my friends paksa me to use it. But this is some of the info about Beta 3.
Version 3.0The development name for Mozilla Firefox 3 is Gran Paradiso. The precursory releases are codenamed "Minefield", as this is the name of the trunk builds. "Gran Paradiso", like other Firefox development names, is an actual place; in this case the highest mountain group in the Graian Alps.
The development team has asked users to submit feature requests that they wish to be included in Firefox 3.
On November 19th, 2007, Firefox 3 Beta 1 was released. With a second beta planned for December 2007 and at least three total beta releases planned, it is estimated that Firefox 3 will be released in early 2008.
Backend changesOne of the big changes in Firefox 3 is the implementation of Gecko 1.9, an updated layout engine. The new version fixes many bugs and implements new web APIs. In particular, it will make Firefox 3 the first official release of a Mozilla browser to pass the Acid2 test, a standards-compliance test for web-page rendering.
Many of the new features are defined in the WHATWG HTML5 specification. In particular, support for the controversial "ping" attribute in <a> and <area> HTML elements is implemented and enabled by default. The purpose of this attribute is to allow tracking clicking on links without the disadvantages of traditional methods such as redirects and JavaScript, which can be cumbersome to implement and often slow the user from reaching their intended destination. Another advantage over current techniques is that the user has the option of turning the "ping" feature off (although as of Firefox 3 Beta 1, it can only be turned off using about:config). LWN notes that "[t]he redirect technique is arguably worse than the ping attribute".
Other new features include support for offline web applications, cross-site XMLHttpRequest, and APNG support.
Gecko 1.9 uses cairo as a graphics backend, allowing for improved graphics performance and better consistency of look and feel on various operating systems. Because of cairo's lack of support for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me and Windows NT (versions 4.0 and below), and because Microsoft ended support for Windows 98 and Windows Me on July 11, 2006,
Firefox 3 will not run on those operating systems. Similarly, the Mac version of Firefox 3 will only run on Mac OS X 10.4 or higher, but, unlike previous versions, will have a native Cocoa widget interface.
Frontend changesWork is currently in progress to make default themes for Windows, Mac OS X and GNU/Linux, giving Firefox a more native look and feel on different operating systems.
Mockup of the new Firefox 3 theme under Mac OS X.
As far as frontend changes go, Firefox will boast a brand-new redesigned download manager with built-in search. Also, a new plug-in manager is included in the add-ons menu. Microformats are supported for use by software that can understand their use in documents to store content in a machine-readable form.
The password manager in Firefox 3 will now ask the user if they would like it to remember the password after the log on attempt rather than before. By doing this users are able to avoid storing an incorrect password in the password manager after a bad log on attempt.
Firefox 3 will use the new Places system for storing bookmarks and history in an SQLite backend. The new system stores more information about user's history and bookmarks, in particular letting the user tag the pages. It is also used to implement improved algorithm for location bar autocomplete.
The Mac version of Firefox supports Growl notifications, and Aqua-style form controls.
The new Download Manager ('DM') for the Mozilla Firefox 3 software.
