The new version of Firefox which is 3.5 is a substantial upgrade from the previous version and features a lot of new functionalities with the default install – yes without the addons duh! Here is a rundown of the ones to watch out for.

##Tab Tearing:
This is similar to the feature that Google Chrome has. Users will be able to hold a single tab and drag it to make it as a new Window. The reverse is also possible ie. opened browser windows can be dragged into tabs as well.  Here is a video exhibiting the same.

Tear tab feature in Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 from Percy Cabello on Vimeo.

##Session Restore – Restored.
The session restore in Firefox has a big issue. The tab which caused the browser to crash [ usually because of a Flash plugin mishap] is opened as well when the session is restored. This particular feature now smartly recognises the cause and prevents the browser from opening that particular tab. Kind of a controlled session restore or more like a crash recovery.

##Private Browsing.
This is the answer to Chrome’s Incognito Window – or the PORN MODE. No history recorded, no cookies stored. Also handy for checking email on a friend’s machine, or even a quick online transaction.

##Keyword AwesomeBar Upgrade !!!
The Auto-suggestive AwesomeBar of Firefox is cluttered with irrelevant suggestions for keywords, possibly because it is derived from History, Bookmarks and Tags. The special character filters which are included in the new Firefox fixes this issue. So, say goodbye to clutter.

##The Big One. HTML5 and Video PIMPED!
The keywords here are Opensource, HTML5, Oggvorbis, Theora. To put it simply, browsing a page encoded in HTML5, featuring a video in Oggvorbis or Theora – and the video can become a webpage i.e. carry act, look and behave like a webpage. I wouldn’t talk much and just let you watch this one.

So, what do you think about Firefox 3.5?

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