SitePoint Pty. Ltd.
BY FABIO CEVASCO
E-Book {PDF}
"www.sitepoint.com"
Firefox 3 Revealed
What’s New, What’s Hot, & What’s Not
Welcome To Firefox 3
The third major release of the much-acclaimed Firefox web browser is out.
Although slightly belated, this release actually is another important chapter in open source history:
Firefox 3 is truly much better than its predecessors (yes, all of them!).
If you weren’t too happy with Firefox 2—many quickly tired of its slowness, unattractive appearance, and bare-bones interface (without extensions installed, that is)—you’ll be glad to find out that Firefox 3 is much faster, more modern looking, and packed with new, very interesting features.
A large number of users (including me) ended up switching to another browser such as Opera because they couldn’t endure the severe memory problems of Firefox 2.
Different browsers have different problems, though, and while I learned to enjoy Opera’s extremely quick response and handy built-in features, I undoubtedly missed some of Firefox extensions.
Common pleas from users of Firefox 2 included:
¦ If only Firefox could be faster …
¦ If only Firefox didn’t eat up so much RAM …
¦ If only this or that could be improved …
Well, it looks like Mozilla developers really did listen to their users, and the final product truly deserves praise. Let’s find out why.
A Streamlined User Interface
Even if a lot of new features are actually “under the hood,” Firefox 3 definitely looks different in many different ways.
There’s a new default theme (sorry, make that four default themes), and plenty of GUI improvements.
Visual Refresh
If you’ve already tried out Firefox 3—and you should have, by now—the first thing you would have noticed is its new default theme.
No matter which operating system you’re running, it is indeed different.
Alex Faaborg, in writing about the Firefox 3 visual refresh,1 wrote:
“One reason we want to focus to this level of detail on visual integration with various platforms is because the web browser is an incredibly central piece of the user’s operating system, and we don’t want the user’s initial reaction to be that they have modified their computer to add some type of strange, foreign application.”
While this comment may have made some users rejoice, I wasn’t too happy with the default Windows XP theme, it just doesn’t feel as if it’s integrated with the operating system at all!
If you compare the Windows XP theme with the Windows Vista theme, the only real difference is the color of the arrows: blue for Vista, and green for XP.
Apparently the icons were designed by Iconfactory (as were the Windows XP and Vista icons).
Let experienced web developer Fabio Cevasco guide you through all of the new features in Firefox 3 both on the surface and under the hood.
Whether you’re a beginner user or an experienced web developer, the latest version of Firefox makes your web browsing easier, faster and more secure … and this eBook will show you how.
In Firefox 3 Revealed, you’ll learn:
* how the new user interface will streamline your browsing experience
* why the new security improvements will keep you, and your data, more secure
* what new features are available for storing bookmarks, passwords and more
* how the AwesomeBar will make locating pages you’ve visited in the past faster and easier
* and much, much more!
With improvements to everything from the user interface, the security model, and performance to powerful tools for developers, Firefox 3 Revealed is all you need to make the most of everybody’s favorite browser.
Firefox 3 Revealed
Download Link:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HA4IK241
Or
http://rapidshare.com/files/143612577/Firefox3R.rar
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1.25 MB (1,310,720 bytes)
10:14 AM 9/8/2008
