Firefox 3 is one step closer to being launched; On Friday, Mozilla rolled out Release Candidate 1 of the revamped browser for developer and open-source communities to test.

The latest version is based on the Gecko 1.9 rendering platform; Mozilla says the new browser will be more secure, easier to use, more personal and faster.

Release Candidate 1 (RC1) is now available for download from Mozilla’s website for testing purposes in order to collect feedback from developers and the Firefox testing community.

Firefox 3 now offers simplified password management via an information bar that can be used to save passwords after a successful login, simplified add-on installation and a new simplified download manager that enables users to search for downloads by the name of the website they came from. It will also use less memory than previous versions.

One of Firefox 3’s new security features is one-click access to site information and provides details such as who owns it and whether the connection is protected from “eavesdropping”. Also, new malware protection warns users when they visit a site known to install viruses, malware or spyware.

Improvements have been made to its JavaScript engine, which will enable applications such as Google Mail and Zoho Office to run twice as fast in Firefox 3 compared to Firefox 2.

Executives previously stated it will be available in June, but there is no set date yet. “The final version of Firefox 3 will be released when we qualify the product as fully ready for our users,” the outfit said in the release notes for RC1 on its site.

Tagged , and