Firefox 3.5 is based on the Gecko 1.9.1 rendering platform, which has been under development for the past year. Firefox 3.5 offers many changes over the previous version, supporting new web technologies, improving performance and ease of use. Some of the notable features are:
Available in more than 70 languages. (Get your local version!)
Support for the HTML5
Changes from v3.1 Beta 3 -> v3.5 Beta 4
Firefox 3.5 Beta 4 is based on the Gecko 1.9.1 rendering platform, which has been under development for the past 10 months. Firefox 3.5 offers many changes over the previous version, supporting new web technologies, improving performance and ease of use, and adding new features for users:
This beta is now available in 70 languages - get your local version.
Improved tools for controlling your private data, including a Private Browsing Mode.
Better performance and stability with the new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine.
The ability to provide Location Aware Browsing using web standards for geolocation.
Support for native JSON, and web worker threads.
Improvements to the Gecko layout engine, including speculative parsing for faster content rendering.
Support for new web technologies such as: HTML5
Changes from v3.0.1 -> v3.1 alpha 2
Support for the HTML 5
Changes from v3.0.10 -> v3.0.11
Fixed several security issues.
Fixed several stability issues.
Several issues were reported with the internal database, SQLite, which have now been fixed by upgrading to a newer version.
Fixed an issue where, in some specific cases, the bookmarks database would become corrupt. (bug 464486)
Changes from v3.0.6 -> v3.0.7
What's New
Fixed several security issues.
Fixed several stability issues.
Official releases for the Estonian, Kannada and Telugu languages are now available.
Items in the "File" menu show as inactive after using the "Print" item from that menu - switching to a new tab restores them (bug 425844). This issue has been fixed.
For some users, cookies would appear to go “missing” after a few days (bug 444600).
Mac users of the Flashblock add-on, experienced an issue where sound from the Flash plug-in would continue to play for a short time after closing a tab or window (bug 474022).
Fixed several issues related to accessibility features.
Fixed in Firefox 3.0.7
MFSA 2009-11 URL spoofing with invisible control characters
MFSA 2009-10 Upgrade PNG library to fix memory safety hazards
MFSA 2009-09 XML data theft via RDFXMLDataSource and cross-domain redirect
MFSA 2009-08 Mozilla Firefox XUL Linked Clones Double Free Vulnerability
MFSA 2009-07 Crashes with evidence of memory corruption (rv:1.9.0.7)
Changes from v3.0.2 -> v3.0.3
Fixed a problem where users were unable to retrieve saved passwords or save new passwords (bug 454708)
Changes from v3.0 RC 3 -> v3.0
Firefox 3 is based on the Gecko 1.9 Web rendering platform, which has been under development for the past 34 months. This new platform includes more than 15,000 changes to improve performance, stability, rendering correctness, and code simplification and sustainability. Firefox 3 is built on top of this new platform resulting in a more secure, easier to use, more personal product with a lot more under the hood to offer website and Firefox add-on developers.
More Secure
One-click site info: Click the site favicon in the location bar to see who owns the site and to check if your connection is protected from eavesdropping. Identity verification is prominently displayed and easier to understand. When a site uses Extended Validation (EV) SSL certificates, the site favicon button will turn green and show the name of the company you're connected to.
Malware Protection: malware protection warns users when they arrive at sites which are known to install viruses, spyware, trojans or other malware.
New Web Forgery Protection page: the content of pages suspected as web forgeries is no longer shown.
New SSL error pages: clearer and stricter error pages are used when Firefox encounters an invalid SSL certificate.
Add-ons and Plugin version check: Firefox now automatically checks add-on and plugin versions and will disable older, insecure versions.
Secure add-on updates: to improve add-on update security, add-ons that provide updates in an insecure manner will be disabled.
Anti-virus integration: Firefox will inform anti-virus software when downloading executables.
Vista Parental Controls: Firefox now respects the Vista system-wide parental control setting for disabling file downloads.
Effective top-level domain (eTLD) service better restricts cookies and other restricted content to a single domain.
Better protection against cross-site JSON data leaks.
Easier to Use
Easier password management: an information bar replaces the old password dialog so you can now save passwords after a successful login.
Simplified add-on installation: the add-ons whitelist has been removed making it possible to install extensions from third-party sites in fewer clicks.
New Download Manager: the revised download manager makes it much easier to locate downloaded files, and you can see and search on the name of the website where a file came from. Your active downloads and time remaining are always shown in the status bar as your files download.
Resumable downloading: users can now resume downloads after restarting the browser or resetting your network connection.
Full page zoom: from the View menu and via keyboard shortcuts, the new zooming feature lets you zoom in and out of entire pages, scaling the layout, text and images, or optionally only the text size. Your settings will be remembered whenever you return to the site.
Podcasts and Videocasts can be associated with your media playback tools.
Tab scrolling and quickmenu: tabs are easier to locate with the new tab scrolling and tab quickmenu.
Save what you were doing: Firefox will prompt users to save tabs on exit.
Optimized Open in Tabs behavior: opening a folder of bookmarks in tabs now appends the new tabs rather than overwriting.
Location and Search bar size can now be customized with a simple resizer item.
Text selection improvements: multiple text selections can be made with Ctrl/Cmd; double-click drag selects in "word-by-word" mode; triple-clicking selects a paragraph.
Find toolbar: the Find toolbar now opens with the current selection.
Plugin management: users can disable individual plugins in the Add-on Manager.
Integration with Windows: Firefox now has improved Windows icons, and uses native user interface widgets in the browser and in web forms.
Integration with the Mac: the new Firefox theme makes toolbars, icons, and other user interface elements look like a native OS X application. Firefox also uses OS X widgets and supports Growl for notifications of completed downloads and available updates. A combined back and forward control make it even easier to move between web pages.
Integration with Linux: Firefox's default icons, buttons, and menu styles now use the native GTK theme.
More Personal
Star button: quickly add bookmarks from the location bar with a single click; a second click lets you file and tag them.
Tags: associate keywords with your bookmarks to sort them by topic.
Smart Location Bar: type in all or part of the title, tag or address of a page to see a list of matches from your history and bookmarks; a new display makes it easier to scan through the matching results and find that page you're looking for. Results are returned according to their a combination of frequency, and recency of visits to that page, ensuring that you're seeing the most relevant matches. An adaptive learning algorithm further tunes the results to your patterns!
Library: view, organize and search through your bookmarks, tags and browsing history using the new Library window. Create or restore full backups of this data whenever with a few clicks.
Smart Bookmark Folders: quickly access your most visited bookmarks from the toolbar, or recently bookmarked and tagged pages from the bookmark menu. Create your own Smart Bookmark Folders by saving a search query in the Library.
Web-based protocol handlers: web applications, such as your favorite webmail provider, can now be used instead of desktop applications for handling mailto: links from other sites. Similar support is available for other protocols (Web applications will have to first enable this by registering as handlers with Firefox).
Download & Install Add-ons: the Add-ons Manager (Tools > Add-ons) can now be used to download and install a Firefox customization from the thousands of Add-ons available from our community add-ons website. When you first open the Add-ons Manager, a list of recommended Add-ons is shown.
Easy to use Download Actions: a new Applications preferences pane provides a better UI for configuring handlers for various file types and protocol schemes.
Improved Platform for Developers
New graphics and font handling: new graphics and text rendering architectures in Gecko 1.9 provides rendering improvements in CSS, SVG as well as improved display of fonts with ligatures and complex scripts.
Color management: (set gfx.color_management.enabled on in about:config and restart the browser to enable.) Firefox can now adjust images with embedded color profiles.
Offline support: enables web applications to provide offline functionality (website authors must add support for offline browsing to their site for this feature to be available to users).
A more complete overview of Firefox 3 for developers is available for website and add-on developers.
Improved Performance
Speed: improvements to our JavaScript engine as well as profile guided optimizations have resulted in continued improvements in performance. Compared to Firefox 2, web applications like Google Mail and Zoho Office run twice as fast in Firefox 3, and the popular SunSpider test from Apple shows improvements over previous releases.
Memory usage: Several new technologies work together to reduce the amount of memory used by Firefox 3 over a web browsing session. Memory cycles are broken and collected by an automated cycle collector, a new memory allocator reduces fragmentation, hundreds of leaks have been fixed, and caching strategies have been tuned.
Reliability: A user's bookmarks, history, cookies, and preferences are now stored in a transactionally secure database format which will prevent data loss even if their system crashes.
Changes from v2.0.0.14 -> v3.0 RC 3
More Secure
One-click site info: Click the site favicon in the location bar to see who owns the site and to check if your connection is protected from eavesdropping. Identity verification is prominently displayed and easier to understand. When a site uses Extended Validation (EV) SSL certificates, the site favicon button will turn green and show the name of the company you're connected to. (Try it here!)
Malware Protection: malware protection warns users when they arrive at sites which are known to install viruses, spyware, trojans or other malware. (Try it here!)
New Web Forgery Protection page: the content of pages suspected as web forgeries is no longer shown. (Try it here!)
New SSL error pages: clearer and stricter error pages are used when Firefox encounters an invalid SSL certificate. (Try it here!)
Add-ons and Plugin version check: Firefox now automatically checks add-on and plugin versions and will disable older, insecure versions.
Secure add-on updates: to improve add-on update security, add-ons that provide updates in an insecure manner will be disabled.
Anti-virus integration: Firefox will inform anti-virus software when downloading executables.
Vista Parental Controls: Firefox now respects the Vista system-wide parental control setting for disabling file downloads.
Effective top-level domain (eTLD) service better restricts cookies and other restricted content to a single domain.
Better protection against cross-site JSON data leaks.
Easier to Use
Easier password management: an information bar replaces the old password dialog so you can now save passwords after a successful login.
Simplified add-on installation: the add-ons whitelist has been removed making it possible to install extensions from third-party sites in fewer clicks.
New Download Manager: the revised download manager makes it much easier to locate downloaded files, and you can see and search on the name of the website where a file came from. Your active downloads and time remaining are always shown in the status bar as your files download.
Resumable downloading: users can now resume downloads after restarting the browser or resetting your network connection.
Full page zoom: from the View menu and via keyboard shortcuts, the new zooming feature lets you zoom in and out of entire pages, scaling the layout, text and images, or optionally only the text size. Your settings will be remembered whenever you return to the site.
Podcasts and Videocasts can be associated with your media playback tools.
Tab scrolling and quickmenu: tabs are easier to locate with the new tab scrolling and tab quickmenu.
Save what you were doing: Firefox will prompt users to save tabs on exit.
Optimized Open in Tabs behavior: opening a folder of bookmarks in tabs now appends the new tabs rather than overwriting.
Location and Search bar size can now be customized with a simple resizer item.
Text selection improvements: multiple text selections can be made with Ctrl/Cmd; double-click drag selects in "word-by-word" mode; triple-clicking selects a paragraph.
Find toolbar: the Find toolbar now opens with the current selection.
Plugin management: users can disable individual plugins in the Add-on Manager.
Integration with Windows: Firefox now has improved Windows icons, and uses native user interface widgets in the browser and in web forms.
Integration with the Mac: the new Firefox theme makes toolbars, icons, and other user interface elements look like a native OS X application. Firefox also uses OS X widgets and supports Growl for notifications of completed downloads and available updates. A combined back and forward control make it even easier to move between web pages.
Integration with Linux: Firefox's default icons, buttons, and menu styles now use the native GTK theme.
More Personal
Star button: quickly add bookmarks from the location bar with a single click; a second click lets you file and tag them.
Tags: associate keywords with your bookmarks to sort them by topic.
Location bar & auto-complete: type in all or part of the title, tag or address of a page to see a list of matches from your history and bookmarks; a new display makes it easier to scan through the matching results and find that page you're looking for. Results are returned according to their frecency (a combination of frequency and recency of visits to that page) ensuring that you're seeing the most relevant matches. An adaptive learning algorithm further tunes the results to your patterns!
Smart Bookmarks Folder: quickly access your recently bookmarked and tagged pages, as well as your more frequently visited pages with the new smart bookmarks folder on your bookmark toolbar.
Places Organizer: view, organize and search through all of your bookmarks, tags, and browsing history with multiple views and smart folders to store your frequent searches. Create and restore full backups whenever you want.
Web-based protocol handlers: web applications, such as your favorite webmail provider, can now be used instead of desktop applications for handling mailto: links from other sites. Similar support is available for other protocols (Web applications will have to first enable this by registering as handlers with Firefox).
Download & Install Add-ons: the Add-ons Manager (Tools > Add-ons) can now be used to download and install a Firefox customization from the thousands of Add-ons available from our community add-ons website. When you first open the Add-ons Manager, a list of recommended Add-ons is shown.
Easy to use Download Actions: a new Applications preferences pane provides a better UI for configuring handlers for various file types and protocol schemes.
Improved Platform for Developers
New graphics and font handling: new graphics and text rendering architectures in Gecko 1.9 provides rendering improvements in CSS, SVG as well as improved display of fonts with ligatures and complex scripts.
Color management: (set gfx.color_management.enabled on in about:config and restart the browser to enable.) Firefox can now adjust images with embedded color profiles.
Offline support: enables web applications to provide offline functionality (website authors must add support for offline browsing to their site for this feature to be available to users).
A more complete overview of Firefox 3 for developers is available for website and add-on developers.
Improved Performance
Speed: improvements to our JavaScript engine as well as profile guided optimizations have resulted in continued improvements in performance. Compared to Firefox 2, web applications like Google Mail and Zoho Office run twice as fast in Firefox 3, and the popular SunSpider test from Apple shows improvements over previous releases.
Memory usage: Several new technologies work together to reduce the amount of memory used by Firefox 3 over a web browsing session. Memory cycles are broken and collected by an automated cycle collector, a new memory allocator reduces fragmentation, hundreds of leaks have been fixed, and caching strategies have been tuned.
Reliability: A user's bookmarks, history, cookies, and preferences are now stored in a transactionally secure database format which will prevent data loss even if their system crashes.
Changes from v2.0.0.14 -> v2.0.0.15
MFSA 2008-33 Crash and remote code execution in block reflow
MFSA 2008-32 Remote site run as local file via Windows URL shortcut
MFSA 2008-31 Peer-trusted certs can use alt names to spoof
MFSA 2008-30 File location URL in directory listings not escaped properly
MFSA 2008-29 Faulty .properties file results in uninitialized memory being used
MFSA 2008-28 Arbitrary socket connections with Java LiveConnect on Mac OS X
MFSA 2008-27 Arbitrary file upload via originalTarget and DOM Range
MFSA 2008-25 Arbitrary code execution in mozIJSSubScriptLoader.loadSubScript()
MFSA 2008-24 Chrome script loading from fastload file
MFSA 2008-23 Signed JAR tampering
MFSA 2008-22 XSS through JavaScript same-origin violation
MFSA 2008-21 Crashes with evidence of memory corruption (rv:1.8.1.15)
Changes from v2.0.0.9 -> v2.0.0.10
Fixed
MFSA 2007-39 Referer-spoofing via window.location race condition
DVD Shrink v3.2.0.15
Media Player Classic v6.4.9.1 (20081210)
WinRAR v3.90 Beta 4
