Mozilla today released the latest beta version of Firefox 3.5, which was formerly known as Firefox 3.1. Beta 4 is now available in over 70 different languages, and, compared to the stable version, features improved privacy controls, and support for HTML5 and elements. Since the release of the last beta version, Mozilla has also tweaked its TraceMonkey JavaScript engine, which now runs a bit faster, and the Firefox team has added geolocation features that allow web apps to customize your browsing experience or search results depending on your location.
The new beta also features support for native JSON, as well as a Private Browsing mode, which is now becoming a standard feature for modern browsers, and which will allow you to browse the web without leaving any traces of your activity behind on your computer.
Compared to Safari and Google Chrome, Firefox’s JavaScript engine (TraceMonkey) is still a bit slower, though in day-to-day use, most users aren’t likely to notice any real differences.
Obviously, this is a beta product and you will inevitably run into some problems (here is a list of known issues), but in our own tests with Windows 7 and on OSX, beta 4 felt very fast and, maybe more importantly, extremely stable. You should, however, be aware that a lot of plugins and extensions like Greasemonkey will not work in beta 4 yet, though usually it only takes a few days before developers update their programs.
