Back in early 2007 we put the first version of Firefox 3 online, expecting it to reach beta stage fairly quickly. It didn't. At the end of 2007 we were still posting previews online and this ended up confusing many general Internet users. Of course, Firefox 3 did enable you to install and use it without affecting your Firefox 2 installation, but it also installed separate versions for each beta and each new version affected your previous working add-ons and extensions.

Firefox 3.1 Alpha 1 codenamed 'Shiretoko' is now available to download, although we're going to hold off putting it on vnunet.com/downloads until it reaches beta stage. This new version brings a host of minor new features that didn't have time to get in to the original 3.0 release. These include support for the latest Gecko rendering engine, improvements to the Smart Location Bar and a brand new tab system that enables you to browse through a visual film strip of your previous opened tabs.

Firefox 3.1 Alpha 1 link.

30 Jul 2008