Firefox 3 is here, but is it the fastest, smartest, most powerful Firefox yet?
Yesterday evening, Mozilla marked the launch of Firefox 3 with a dedicated download day aimed at setting a Guinness world record.
Despite all the hype, Mozilla may not have anticipated the sheer quantity of visitors to its Firefox 3 webpage when the new browser launched at 6pm on June 17th. Its servers immediately crippled under the vast amounts of traffic and users were left seeking download sources elsewhere.
Once up and running, however, Firefox 3 downloads began to soar. In the 19 hours since launch, Firefox 3 has been downloaded over six million times, averaging over five thousand downloads per minute. Figures that even Mozilla admits it hadn't anticipated. The download counter, which continues to rise rapidly, can be viewed here.
So, now that hype begins to subside and we know for certain that Firefox 3 will hold the record for the most software downloads in 24 hours, how about the browser itself?
Mozilla has promised over 34 months of active development and over 15,000 improvements, but is Firefox 3 the best browser available?
Here at HEXUS, we've been putting the browser through its paces and we've found it to be generally quicker and more responsive than Microsoft's IE7 and IE8 beta.
But what we really want to know, is what do you, our readers, think of Firefox 3? Has it convinced you to replace your previous browser, and if so, why? Has it left you underwhelmed? Are you excited or frustrated by any of the new features, or, have you opted not to try a new browser so soon after release?
Share your first impressions of Firefox 3 in our forums.
Previous question's of the week
9th June 2008: do you use antivirus software?26th May 2008: do you take the time to exercise?
19th May 2008: are UK speed limits out of date?
14th May 2008: do you still use an alarm clock?
