Many have been awaiting the release of Mozilla Firefox version 3.0, as this version of the Firefox web browser will have many improvements over previous versions of it. I was not quite able to wait until the expected release date of June 17th to be able to start using Firefox 3. So I decided to take the time to back up my Firefox profile data, download Release Candidate 3 of Firefox, which can be found here, and install this release candidate. However, I also wanted to be able to use the Firefox extensions that had become so much a part of my web browsing experience. And not all Firefox extensions that I use had been upgraded to work with Firefox 3. So perhaps it was not only because of a lack of time that I did not previously install any Firefox release candidates. I consider Firefox’s extensions to be what truly sets it apart from other browsers. Therefore, Firefox’s extensions being upgraded to be compatible with Firefox 3 mattered just as much to me as Firefox 3’s release.
Within the last few days before this June 17th scheduled release date for Firefox 3, a new version of Greasemonkey was released. Although this new version has a number of useful new features, its compatibility with Firefox 3 is what may be considered more important than any feature added to this new version. And this new version’s compatibility with Firefox 3 may also be the reason it is being released now. This compatibility is what many Greasemonkey users have requested, and it is not likely a coincidence that this version was released only a few days before Firefox 3’s scheduled release date. There are still a few bugs in it that need to be corrected. And perhaps if Firefox 3 were scheduled to be released at a later time, then time might have been taken to correct these bugs before this new version of Greasemonkey would have been released. Still, it is good to have this extension released in time for the release of Firefox 3, as many of those who will be downloading and installing Firefox 3 will not want to be without Greasemonkey.
Perhaps it was this news of the release of a Greasemonkey version compatible with Firefox 3 that made me want to download and install this release candidate. I installed this release candidate before extensions that I find very useful, such as Firebug and Tab Mix Plus, were available for this new version of Firefox. Although I missed being able to use those extensions, the overall web browsing experience that I had with this release candidate was a good one. A list of new features in this version can be found here. However, I would recommend upgrading to this version for the performance improvements, which are noted here, alone. Using Firefox without being concerned about it running slowly and taking up much memory has been something I have wanted to be able to do for a long time. A new world record for most software downloads within twenty-four (24) hours could be set with this release, as you can see here. And as someone who has enjoyed using this new version of Firefox, I can tell you it would be appropriate for this record to be set. This new version of Firefox should be considered one that many wanted as soon as it was made available.