Firefox 3.0 is Easier To Use

Discuss Firefox 3.0
Live Firefox 3.0 Class

Firefox 3.0 offers features for security, graphics performance, and much more, but what about you, the user. That's why Firefox 3.0 includes upgraded password management, easier add-on installation, revised download manager, resume able downloading, full page zoom, tab scrolling, quickmenu, save browser tabs, text selection improved, Find toolbar, plugin management and more. These features are designed to flat-out make your online experience better.

Password Management

No more password dialog box for saving passwords. Firefox 3.0 replaces this with an information bar that offers to save your password. to view this feature you must turn on password saving by clicking Edit-Preferences-Security Tab-Save Passwords For Sites. Below is an image of the Firefox 3.0 information bar used to save passwords.

Easier Add-On Installation

Install Extensions from 3rd party sites quicker and easier with improvements to Firefox 3.0

Revised Download Manager

The download manager is as user friendly as ever enabling the location the file was retrieved from and location it was downloaded to be displayed in the properties window. To do this first open the download manager by clicking on Tools-Downloads.

With the download manager open we can see a list of files we have recently downloaded.

Right click on one of the files on the list and select Properties.

With the properties window open we can see where this download came from and where it was downloaded to.

Resume Able Downloading

If you need to pause a downloading file for one reason or another, now you can with resume able downloading in Firefox 3.0. First start downloading a file and click Tools-Downloads.To pause your download click on the pause link just below the downloads status bar.

Once the download has been paused you may resume the download by clicking onthe resume link below the status bar.

You can even close your browser and/or rest your network connection without loosing what you're downloading. This makes downloading files that much less encumbering on your system.

Full Page Zooming

The full page zooming feature for Firefox 3.0 shows some promise. Now you can click on View-Zoom to Zoom In, Zoom Out or Reset. You may also press Control ++ on your keyboard to zoom in. Control +- to zoom out and Control 0 to reset to normal zoom. Below is an image that show where this feature is located.

This is a excellent feature in you like to enlarge your text or have a hard time seeing the screen.

Tab Behavior

Now you have fast access to tabs and the quick tab menu. After opening more than one tab you should see an arrow to the right of the tabs. Left click the arrow and choose from a drop down list of the tabs open in that browser window. Below is an image of that menu.

Users can use the open in tabs feature now because it appends the new tabs rather than overwriting them. Also when exiting Firefox 3.0 users are asked if they would like to save the open tabs.

Improved Text Selection

Multiple text selections can be made with Ctrl/Cmd click.

Now you can select in word-by-word mode by double click drag.

Do a triple click to select an entire paragraph.

Using the Find Toolbar

The Find toolbar enables you to find instances and matches of the desired word from the page open in the browser window. You can narrow your search down by clicking the Match Case checkbox. Press Control F to open the Find toolbar.

Type the text you want to use and select Next to cycle through instances of that word on the page you are viewing. To jump back select Previous. A highlighted instance looks like this.

Clicking on Highlight all causes all instances of the specified word to be highlighted on the page.