Firefox 3 Beta 4 and IE8 Beta 1

Read on to get first impressions of both the latest browser releases and some of their neatest features.

Firefox 3 Beta 4 has been available to the general public for some time and is likely the last beta before they put out a release candidate.  My first impression of this browser is: NICE!  I really don’t have much bad to say about it.  As promised it is extremely efficient and noticably faster.  After playing with it for less than a day I already had a bunch of my friends and associates ditching their stable 2.x build and jumping ship for a beta.  I think that says a lot in and of itself.  The type of people I convinced to upgrade include one gentlemen that uninstalled IE7 after a forced upgrade on our network last week (because he claimed it slowed down his machine) and another guy who doesn’t mind trying the latest stuff,  but has probably never loaded a beta on his work machine ever.  Not only did they agree about the performance benefits they didn’t even complain after using it for a few days!  So bottom line is the new Firefox beta is wonderful and worth a test drive

IE8 on the other hand is a bit rough around the edges.  I think Microsoft is on the right track with their pursuite of ACID perfection and by the time they reach beta 4 will also have a much snappier browser that people will prefer over IE7.  For now, expect the crashes and page rendering issues that are expected at this early stage of development.  Don’t even expect to be able to use your Windows Live Hotmail service - it won’t render (GMail works :).  Activities will be a useful built-in addition to the browser once more activities are available.  They offer a nice stepping stone towards the Firefox add-on model and make it easy for noobs to get much needed interactivity in their Microsoft browser without any brain trauma of dealing with browser add-ons.  WebSlices haven’t shown their worth to me as of yet.  It seems like the HDDVD vs Blueray battle when it comes to WebSlices and RSS.  With RSS fully entrenched and reaching critical mass, WebSlices will likely be too little too late for the Microsoft camp.

So what is going to be great about IE8?  I think AJAX navigation will save countless users the frustration of trying to use the browser back button at inopportune times so general ease of use is one reason.  I would definitely say web developers will see it as a blessing and a curse.  In basic testing it definitely renders content differently so they will have to deal with yet another browser variation (not to mention the IE7 emulation mode and “quirks mode“) but it does offer built-in developer tools that will help them fix those layout issues on the fly from within the browser.  Firefox users have been using the Web Developer Add-on for years and it really is a necessary plugin given the complexities of modern day web development.  It will definitely be interesting to see how this browser evolves and if it is enough to stem the flood of Firefox defections.

Firefox 3 I am saddened to say, jumped on the IE7 look-and-feel wagon.  According to their web site they claim to have done extensive usability research to support this redesign but I am more inclined to think a graphics designer honed in on the “key shape” idea and everyone in marketing just went along for the ride.  Besides the ugly factor, everything else about the new Firefox seems spot on.  The enhanced auto-complete is almost good enough that I might even consider starting to use it.  The single click favorite management is also a really cool addition, once you know it exists.  Search shortcuts are also at the top of my list.  I like being able to switch between search providers in the search drop down but adding a single letter to my search terms seems a more power user friendly way of handling things (if only I could do this from within the search box that I am used to typing in).  Hey, what do you know, the download dialog box isn’t displayed by default!  The download dialog box is the only feature more annoying than the “Do you want Firefox to remember this password” dialog.  Did I mention this dialog is gone too!  You are now prompted to remember passwords in Firefox from a new toolbar button similar to the one employed for pop-up handling.

If you are planning on trying either of these browsers be prepared to endure the beta-ness of both.  They are still in beta and crash rather frequently on both XP and Vista.