More glimpses of Firefox 3.1

[PrntRhd]

Showed at a Southern California Linux conference:
http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/02/mozilla-demos-impressive-firefox-31-features-at-scale.ars

[PrntRhd]

Seems the feature set of the new browser keeps increasing, but delays the final release.
Final release may be called Firefox 3.5

The 3.1 Beta 3 is officially out now, almost done but remember it is still beta:
http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/03/firefox-31-beta-3-officially-released.ars

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html

Edit:
It installs into a different directory than the 3.0.7 which is convenient for testing. I am editing this using the new beta.
No Scripts works with the beta3 as well.

I like it a lot, decided to try it when I saw reports that it can run for 36 straight hours or more with no crashes.

[PtBetsie]

Something I read in a non tech column per Firefox 3.5:
I have always thought all computers were traceable by their isp etc. The article said that now FIrefox will be adding a gps style location indicator. I probably have the wording incorrect but does anyone know how far this reaches into individual privacy? For now I've turned off automatic updates.

[Sylvander]

If you're concerned about your privacy & security, check out Incognito (http://www.browseanonymouslyanywhere.com/incognito/).

One of the things it does is to hide your IP address.

[PrntRhd]

If you're concerned about your privacy & security, check out Incognito (http://www.browseanonymouslyanywhere.com/incognito/).

One of the things it does is to hide your IP address.

If you communicate with a network using TCP/IP, your packets have to know where to go and your ISP has to know where to send their packets to you. Ingognito may mask the address with a false one but you can still be not as anonymous as you think. Your hardware can be recognized and traced by a hardware hash.
And what does your broadband modem pick up to communicate with the IP assigned by your ISP?
Yes, Icognito uses Tor servers to mask locations. http://www.torproject.org/overview.html.en

PtBetsie,
I have always thought all computers were traceable by their isp etc. The article said that now FIrefox will be adding a gps style location indicator. I probably have the wording incorrect but does anyone know how far this reaches into individual privacy? For now I've turned off automatic updates.
An excellent question, but it is a legitimate feature. Turning off auto updates makes you more vulnerable and does not add security.
v3.1b3 does have a Private Browsing mode, you turn it on and it erases files, history, and cookies on the PC for your session.
and finally:
(edit)
Mozilla explains the geolocation feature:
https://developer.mozilla.org/En/Using_geolocation

They explain it as a feature that the USER can turn on as an option, and not a "sneaky" security problem.
Firefox 3.5 and later support the Geolocation API; this allows the user to provide their location to web applications if they so desire. For privacy reasons, the user is asked to confirm permission to report location information.

More about this feature specification here:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-geolocation-API-20081222/

Opera browser is also adding the geolocation feature for their future builds.