Firefox 3 was released earlier this week. If you're not familiar with Firefox it is a full featured open source web browser with many core features including - tabbed browsing, integrated Google search, pop-up blocker, and more. Oh yeah, and it's free!

Firefox 3 is available for various operating systems but no longer supports Windows 95, 98, Me and on the Mac if you're running OS X versions 10.2 and earlier you're out of luck.

Over the past couple days I haven't run into any problems with it during normal use nor while testing websites I developed.

There are many new features and enhancements in Firefox 3, here are 5 that intrigued me the most. If you weren't one of the 8 million people that downloaded Firefox 3 earlier this week maybe this will motivate you to give it a try.

5. Download Manager

The all new Download Manager includes a pause and resume feature allowing you to continue downloads if you need to disconnect or if your system crashes.

4. Smart Location Bar (the "Awesome Bar")

The new Firefox 3 location bar learns as you use it offering better matches over time. Just type in a term and the auto complete function will include possible matching sites from your browsing history, as well as sites you’ve bookmarked and tagged.

3. Color Profiles

Firefox 3 now supports color profiles. This means that Firefox is now able to render images with their proper colors. Visit http://www.dria.org/wordpress/archives/2008/04/29/633/ for more details.

2. Security

Firefox has always been considered more secure than Internet Explorer and has added even more security features and enhancements in version 3. Instant Web Site ID, Anti-Malware, Anti-Phishing, Parental Controls, Password Manager, Clear Private Data, Pop-Up Blocker and more it's got them.

1. Performance

Running 2-3x faster is the result of Improved Memory Management, Smaller Memory Footprint, Faster JavaScript, Faster Page Load, and Graphics Engine Improvements. See the resources listed below for benchmarking and other geeky details.

What's your favorite new feature or enhancement in Firefox 3?

Additional Resources

Download Firefox 3

Firefox 3 Features 

Firefox 3 FAQ 

Firefox guided Video tour 

Top 10 Firefox Features 

Firefox 3 Revealed