Firefox 3 is in development beta 4. My first impressions of Firefox 3 are that it is a big improvement from Firefox 2.x, and some of the new features are really nice.

The first thing I noticed about the new release was the interface. Mozilla have had a complete overhaul of the interface, and it looks more like a browser to come out of Microsoft. The buttons are even different in XP and Vista, which I found slightly odd - but I guess it’s to match the Windows Vista blue and the Windows XP green feel.

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I know the interface will probably be subject to lots of changes - so i’m not taking this as the final version. Plus, the one of the first things I noticed about the new interface was the lack of a home button, and the fact that it was on the bookmarks toolbar. I personally don’t like the bookmarks toolbar open, so I hope they bring back the ability to put a home button in the toolbar. At present, it isn’t even available on the right click > customize menu, so they have completely nuked it for some reason.

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Another great new feature is the interface in UNIX operating systems, such as Ubuntu Linux. The interface including web forms has comepletely changed to match the system theme, so Firefox will no longer use the horrible Win9x button style. I’m sure that the interface for mac users of Firefox has changed to match it - but sadly I couldn’t get it up and running on my old mac running OSX 10.3.9 (Darwin). One thing I am undecided upon though is the way the Firefox 3 team have changed the download manager for Firefox into something a little bit more like Safari’s, which I don’t really know is a good idea or not. In windows vista it certainly looks cooler, but the lack of a “Clean Up” button will probably throw me off for a bit.

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They also changed the FTP interface. Although it doesn’t allow you to upload files still, it is better from the directory-list type file display - i’m going to watch this space.

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It now feels like you also have greater control over the plugins that are running in firefox, thanks to the UI that they’ve added to control which plugins are allowed to run. If a plugin pisses you off, for instance the way Java integrates itself into firefox, you can simply disable it until you need it. Also, the “Add Ons” window also has a “Get Add Ons” tab, which shows some recommended add ons that you can download. (Screenshot.)

If you want to try our Firefox 3 beta 4 for yourself, hit the link to get it over on mozilla.com.

Oh, and Firefox 3 Beta 4 passes the ACID 2 test ;)