 Firefox 3.6 Beta 2, running in Windows Vista
Second beta is more stable, fixes many minor problems
Firefox 3.6 brings a new version of the
Gecko Rendering engine -- 1.9.2 -- which should make for faster page
loads and snappier performance (Firefox 3.5 uses Gecko 1.9.1).
Originally codenamed Namoroka, Firefox 3.6 finally aired in beta form
after a couple delays at the end of last month. In our testing,
the first beta crashed
a lot, however, that may soon be remedied as Mozilla has just
released Firefox 3.6 beta 2.
The second beta fixes a reported
190 major issues. Most of the issues revolve around
responsiveness, crashes, or broken features. Among other
things, the fixes help to improve the thumbnail preview, which is
offered when you press Ctrl+Tab.
Speed in the new browser is
improved in some areas, but still lags in others, reportedly.
According
to BetaNews, CSS and Javascript is faster in 3.6.
However, the browser still lags behind Chrome 3/4 and Safari in the
critical onLoad() event, which allows the browser to begin executing
code while the remainder of the page downloads and
renders.
Reportedly, the 3.6 beta 2 is also slower than
Firefox 3.5.4 at standard page loads and loads of pages with HTML
tables. Overall, the browser is more responsive and slightly
faster, by feel.
If Firefox 3.6 beta 2 can deliver stability
in the long term, Mozilla may have a winner on its hands.
While Chrome, Opera, and Safari have all been
faster than Firefox for some time now, many users prefer Firefox
due to its interface and easy-to-use extensions. Still, with
Chrome and Opera gaining ground, its important for Firefox to
continue to deliver improvements.
You can download the new
beta from here
and try it for yourself.
"Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment -- same piece of hardware -- paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be." -- Steve Ballmer
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