14 DAY TRIAL // The first Firefox 7 Beta is here and the stable release of probably the biggest update since Firefox 4 is getting closer, just one more month and a half to go.
If you don't mind a few hiccups or the occasional bug, you can grab the latest Firefox 7 Beta and enjoy the lightest and fastest Firefox to date before most other users.
One of the big improvements in Firefox 7 Beta has to do with memory management and consumption.
Several changes have been made which, combined, result in significantly reduced memory usage as well as better performance over time, i.e. no more memory leaks.
"The latest Mozilla Firefox Beta is now available for testing on Windows, Mac, Linux and Android," Mozilla announced.
"This beta includes performance enhancements that improve the browsing experience for users and enable developers to create faster Web apps and websites," it said.
One patch in particular has a big effect on memory usage, but there are several improvements and tweaks that add up
Improvements in memory usage, overall, will be on the order of 20 percent to 30 percent, but will go up to 50 percent in some cases.
In particular, users that usually have a lot of tabs open will see an improvement, both with the tabs open as well as after they close many of the, memory will be freed up more efficiently. This also benefits those that keep Firefox running for longer sessions, hours and even days at a time.
In fact, Mozilla is so confident in the improvements that it believes Firefox 7 will take the crown when it comes to web browser memory performance.
That said, this is not the only new thing in Firefox 7 Beta. Firefox Sync, the cloud data sync feature, is now faster when updating bookmarks or passwords.
Also on the performance front, though only for Windows Vista and 7 users, Firefox 7 uses Direct 2D to accelerate Canvas applications, which should result in significantly faster animations and graphics.
If you're using the Firefox Beta channel, an update is already in the pipes. Alternatively you can grab it from the links below.
Firefox 7 Beta and Firefox 6 for Windows are available for download here. Firefox 7 Beta and Firefox 6 for Linux are available for download here. Firefox 7 Beta and Firefox 6 for Mac are available for download here.