Mozilla has launced a new version of its popular Firefox Web browser. Mozilla calls it a "Release Candidate 1" which would be as a public preview release. This version is intended for developer testing and community feedback. This developmet took close to 2 years and nine months.

Mozlilla has stated that the new software has the following features.

- Better speed: Improvements in JavaScript engine and other optimizations have resulted in a better and improved performance. Compared to Firefox 2, web applications like Google Mail will run twice as fast in the new Firefox version.
-Improved Memory usage: New technologies were used to reduce the amount of memory used by the new Firefox.
- Reliability: The user's bookmarks, history, cookies, and preferences are now stored in a more secure database format which will prevent data loss even if their system crashes.

Firefox features many new features including a better password management. Firefox RC1 is available for download from the Mozilla Web site.

Firefox also offers a highly controversial package, called the "Ad-block" plus. This add-on package is highly controversial as it virtually eleminates all the advertisements and popus from a given website. This website may soon face a number of lawsuits for preventing or blocking advertisements.
A lot of add on tools are not yet available for this version of Mozilla. All in all updating to the new firefox might be a good move.