We’re almost there! First of all - check why you shoud upgrade Firefox as soon as possible. When you are already convinced, continue reading.

When can I get Firefox 3?

Download Day has already started. In order to get the new Firefox, you just have to wait for 10:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time (PDT). This is when it’s going to be available for download for all of us.
It’s 10:00 AM for the west coast, 11:00 AM for the mountain zone and 1:00 PM in the eastern time.

Where do I take it from?

Check for the download at http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/….
For the news, go to http://wiki.mozilla.org/Releases/Firefox_3.0.

Old extensions

Be aware, that when you update Firefox, some of your extensions may stop working. There is, however, a way to use them even if they are not updated yet.

When you start Firefox after update, you’ll get a list of the extensions, which are no longer compatible with your browser. Write them down and choose one of three solutions to make them work.

1) about:config extensions.checkCompatibility fix

You can make Firefox load extensions without checking if they are compatible. Even though it is the easiest way, it is a risky one.

Something may go wrong. First of all, the add-ons may not start or behave as they are not supposed to. But you can also cause Firefox not to start or even break your computer. If you are aware of it and still want to use it, follow the steps below:
(i) Type “about:config” in the location bar
(ii) Select “I’ll be careful, I promise” to skip the warning message
(iii) Right click anywhere in the window and select New > Boolean
(iv) Enter extensions.checkCompatibility as the preference name, set the value to false
(v) Make another new boolean extensions.checkUpdateSecurity and set the value to false
(vi) Restart Firefox

2) Nightly Tester Tools extension

Download the extension.
Right-click on an incompatible extension and chose “Make compatible” from the menu.
Obviously, it is not going to work for all the extensions. Unfortunately, just like the other two solutions.

3) Change the code of the extensions

Firefox extensions, although they are .xpi files, are in fact zip archives. You can download add-on (right-click on the link to it and choose Save), change its extension to .zip, unzip the file and change what it includes.
In the unzipped folder find install.rdf file, open it in a text editor (like Notepad) and change the maxVersion.
Change the appropriate line to <em:maxVersion>3.0.*</em:maxVersion>
Save the file, create a zip archive from the folder and change the extension of the file from .zip to .xpi. Double click it and install the add on.

Actually, you can also change the maxVersion attribute of the add-ons, which you have already installed. You just have to find the appropriate folder with the extension in your profile folder.

For more, go to textgoeshere.org.uk.

History of Firefox

You may be also interested in what have been changing in Firefox through the years. If so, go to The History of Firefox 1.0 to 3.0 in Screenshots.

I haven’t witten about the new Firefox yet. But I suppose, that most of ImproveFirefox readers already know about it. It’s coming and we will probably get the final version soon.
It’s going to have plenty of new features, be faster, use less memory. The newest release candidate seems to be the fastest browser in the world. It beats both Opera and Safari. I suppose that many of you are waiting for it. I’m not going to describe it now - you are either already using (the release candidate) or going to be able to see it as soon, when it is finally released (and the Download Day is not far away for sure).
I just want to share a few links connected with Firefox 3.

First of all - a fantastic overview of its features.
If you like it, but haven’t already tested it, you may be interested in using the portable version, which doesn’t mess up the existing installation of Firefox 2, or creating a new profile for testing Firefox 3.
And finally, if you haven’t read the last post, you may be interested in subscribing for the Firefox news about the Download Day 2008.

Spread Firefox is attempting to set a new World Record for the most software downloaded during one day: the Download Day 2008.

Help Mozilla set a Guinness World Record by pledging to download Firefox 3 today.
Support Download Day by hosting a Firefox 3 party, by inviting your friends to participate or by placing our buttons on your site.

You can also:
- plan a Download Fest in your school or office
- join one of the social networking groups linked on the site
- become a Firefox Campus Rep and collect pledges from fellow students
- add buttons or banners to your site, blog or profile.

Get involved! :)

That’s simply one of the most useful extensions I have ever seen. A perfect tool especially for people who prefer clicking rather than typing, highly customizable and incredibly useful. I’m not going to describe it - the demo movie speaks for itself:

The extensions is very powerful, go to its homepage in order to find out what it is capable of:

• Download Hyperwords
• Homepage

This is not going to be a strictly Firefox related entry. I’ll try to suggest some solutions to privacy threats connected with surfing the web. There is not such thing as being anonymous in the Internet, but you may easily make it much harder to track your activity.

Temporary e-mail address

When a website requires you to give your mail in order to register, you can usually expect some spam messages later on. Using a temporary mail is a good solution. You can create a virtual mail account, which forwards mails to your real address only until you remove it. There are plenty of websites offering it, like guerrillamail.com, 10minutemail.com or spambog.com.
I’ll just focus on two with support for Firefox.

Tempomail

• Download Tempomail
• Tempomail Homepage

Right click and choose tempomail from the context menu.

Enter your real address in the pop-up and in the next step you’ll see the temporary address automatically put in the form.

Perfectly simple and useful.

Gish it!

• Download Gish it!
• Gishpuppy Homepage

Pretty similar to Tempomail. Register at the extension’s homepage and install the add-on. Now, when you need to register, just click the Gish it! button in the right-click menu.
In the pop-up window that appears you get an automatically created virtual e-mail account.

Copy the temporary address, paste it to the registration form and you’re done.

Control cookies

• Download CS Lite
• CS Lite Homepage

Cookies can be used for tracking your Internet behavior. Therefore, you may want to be able to manually allow websites to install them on you computer.
CS Lite will allow you to easily control cookie permissions. It can be accessed from the statusbar, a toolbar button, or the context menu.

Just click on the icon to allow, block, or temporarily allow the site to set cookies. You can also view, clear or edit the cookies and exceptions by right clicking on the cs lite icon.

For safer browsing you may choose to deny cookies globally and then enable them on a per site basis. You can also download a blocklist that contains a list of untrusted hosts that you may choose to import into FF and block.

The ultimate anti-tracking solution. Tor: anonymity online.

Tor project homepage
Tor works independently from Firefox, but I decided to put it here as it may be a very useful application for those of you, who need absolutely safe Internet websurfing.
Tor is a software project that helps you defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security. Tor protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, and it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location. Tor works with many of your existing applications, including web browsers, instant messaging clients, remote login, and other applications based on the TCP protocol.

FoxyProxy

• Download FoxyProxy
• FoxyProxy Homepage

Your IP address is recorded every time you visit a website. Sites like Google tie your searches with your IP address. Every search you perform may be used for gaining some knowledge about you - your hobbies, medical remedies and so on.
FoxyProxy is a Firefox extension which automatically switches an internet connection across one or more proxy servers based on URL patterns. Put simply, FoxyProxy automates the manual process of editing Firefox’s Connection Settings dialog. Proxy server switching occurs based on the loading URL and the switching rules you define.
For even more safety, this extension can also be used with Tor, the project described before.

Don’t send the referring site information

• Download RefControl
• RefControl Homepage

When you click a link, the website you visit can check where you’re coming from. This may be used for example for analysis. If you want to disable sending information on the referrer, RefControl is for you. You can enable referrers on a per site basis.

Other privacy-related apps and add-ons

NoScript (download) - this extension blocks scripting languages globally, protecting you from attacks like XSS, XSRF or CSRF. It can be configured to allow scripts to run on a per domain basis.

LocalRodeo (download) - JavaScript can make your browser connect to a site with a different IP address than originally set. If you don’t use NoScript or want to check even the pages you excluded from NoScript protection, you may find it useful.

SafeCache (download) - segments browser cache, which an be used for tracking your activity.

SafeHistory (download) - restricts the marking of visited links on the basis of the originating document, defending against web privacy attacks that remote sites can use to determine your browser history at other sites.

Even more stuff

8 Firefox extensions towards safer browsing
Porn addict’s toolbox: 100 Tools and Resources to Keep Your Privacy and Security