Firefox 1.5 Beta 1, First Glance Review

The next big release of Mozilla Firefox — version 1.5 — is on Beta 1 now. You can download it from Mozilla Firefox Project. I am testing it and here is my first glance review of Firefox 1.5 Beta 1.

What’s New?

According to the Release Note, come of the changes are:

• Automated update — Now update Firefox is easier. No need to download the multi megabytes installation file at every minor upgrade.
• Faster browser navigation — We have see this on Opera browser, now Firefox has it too. Navigating forward or backward is almost instant now!
• Drag and drop reordering for browser tabs — Finally, the feature bundled inside the core, no need install tabs drag & drop extension

First Glance Review

Since Firefox 1.5 is still in Beta stage, I have no intention to replace current stable version (1.0.6) with it. However, I still installed it for testing (this is the objective of Beta version!) and let you know what’s great about the new Firefox. :)

Incompatible Extensions

I install Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 as usual, it popup extension checker at first time startup. Most of my current extensions are not compatible with Firefox 1.4 and therefore disabled.

Disabled Firefox extensions

The “Reporter” is pre-installed extension from Firefox 1.5. It allows you to report website that is not compatible with Firefox. Great huh? ;)

I am not sure if my trick to upgrade incompatible Firefox extension works on Firefox 1.5 or not. Again, try it at your own risk.

Faster?

Perhaps many extensions have been disabled or the improvement of Firefox core, I feel that it is running faster and smoother than previous version.

New position for feed button

The site feed button is move up from bottom of the page to the end of address bar, like Safari style. It will increase the percentage people subscribe to the site feed, I believe.

By the way, the loading bar position also changed to bottom right.

Clear Private Data

Found a new item under “Tools” menu, called “Clear Private Data“.

With the “Clear Private Data“, you can easily erase your web browsing trace on Firefox. It is especially useful if you are browsing with a public computer.

New Options Layout

Click “Options…” under “Tools” menu, you will found that the Options window design is changed. Now, all option buttons moved from left hand side to the top.

It is easier to navigate between options with the button on the top. I think Mac user will found this layout similar. :)

My two cents

It is great. I do not face any problem with Beta 1 yet. As soon as the extensions upgraded, I will switch to Firefox 1.5. (Oh, I just cannot live without those extensions!)

What have you found in Firefox 1.5? Share with us pleasae. :)