Firefox Internet Browser Version 3.1 Available

By: Sara Smith
Staff Writer
Published: Oct 15, 2008

The Mozilla Foundation has released a new beta version of its Firefox Web browser. The new browser includes a new tab switcher and support for open source multimedia formats. The JavaScript has also been overhauled to boost performance.

The Mozilla Foundation on Wednesday released a new beta version of its Firefox Internet browser. The new browser has a collection of new features which include better video and audio enhancements.

Firefox 3.1 has better performance in JavaScript by using the TraceMonkey engine. Mozilla claims that the new Java engine will is much faster. However, the engine is off by default in the Internet browser. You can enable it from the controls.

The new tab switcher can show image previews of selected tabs. The new tabs also let users drag and drop tabs from one Firefox window to another. Users can preview tabs by using CTRL-tab.

Similar to Internet Explorer, Firefox has improved fonts. The Internet browser now sports a variety of supported fonts to make the browsing experience better.

There is a new set of Web tools that allow users to plot maps, give directions and Geo-tag photos. The browser will also allow users to give a location on a blog posting.

The browser has new built-in multimedia formats. It not only enhances video, but it also supports Ogg Vorbis and other open audio formats.