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Firefox 2 is the next generation release of the award-winning Firefox web
browser from Mozilla.
What's New in Firefox 2
* Visual Refresh: Firefox 2's theme and user interface have been updated to
improve usability without altering the familiarity of the browsing
experience.
* Built-in phishing protection: Phishing Protection warns users when they
encounter suspected Web forgeries, and offers to return the user to their
home page. Phishing Protection is turned on by default, and works by checking
sites against either a local or online list of known phishing sites. This
list is automatically downloaded and regularly updated when the Phishing
Protection feature is enabled.
* Enhanced search capabilities: Search term suggestions will now appear as
users type in the integrated search box when using the Google, Yahoo! or
Answers.com search engines. A new search engine manager makes it easier to
add, remove and re-order search engines, and users will be alerted when
Firefox encounters a website that offers new search engines that the user may
wish to install.
* Improved tabbed browsing: By default, Firefox will open links in new tabs
instead of new windows, and each tab will now have a close tab button. Power
users who open more tabs than can fit in a single window will see arrows on
the left and right side of the tab strip that let them scroll back and forth
between their tabs. The History menu will keep a list of recently closed
tabs, and a shortcut lets users quickly re-open an accidentally closed tab.
* Resuming your browsing session: The Session Restore feature restores windows,
tabs, text typed in forms, and in-progress downloads from the last user
session. It will be activated automatically when installing an application
update or extension, and users will be asked if they want to resume their
previous session after a system crash.
* Previewing and subscribing to Web feeds: Users can decide how to handle Web
feeds (like this one), either subscribing to them via a Web service or in a
standalone RSS reader, or adding them as Live Bookmarks. My Yahoo!, Bloglines
and Google Reader come pre-loaded as Web service options, but users can add
any Web service that handles RSS feeds.
* Inline spell checking: A new built-in spell checker enables users to quickly
check the spelling of text entered into Web forms (like this one) without
having to use a separate application.
* Live Titles: When a website offers a microsummary (a regularly updated
summary of the most important information on a Web page), users can create a
bookmark with a "Live Title". Compact enough to fit in the space available to
a bookmark label, they provide more useful information about pages than
static page titles, and are regularly updated with the latest information.
There are several websites that can be bookmarked with Live Titles, and even
more add-ons to generate Live Titles for other popular websites.
* Improved Add-ons manager: The new Add-ons manager improves the user interface
for managing extensions and themes, combining them both in a single tool.
* JavaScript 1.7: JavaScript 1.7 is a language update introducing several new
features such as generators, iterators, array comprehensions, let
expressions, and destructuring assignments. It also includes all the features
of JavaScript 1.6.
* Extended search plugin format: The Firefox search engine format now supports
search engine plugins written in Sherlock and OpenSearch formats and allows
search engines to provide search term suggestions.
* Updates to the extension system: The extension system has been updated to
provide enhanced security and to allow for easier localization of extensions.
* Client-side session and persistent storage: New support for storing
structured data on the client side, to enable better handling of online
transactions and improved performance when dealing with large amounts of
data, such as documents and mailboxes. This is based on the WHATWG
specification for client-side session and persistent storage.
* SVG text: Support for the svg:textpath specification enables SVG text to
follow a curve or shape.
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