11 million downloads!!!
Firefox 3 is available for download since Tue 17 June at around 5:00pm GMT (9:00pm Mauritius & 9:00am US) & the world has witnessed a new Guiness World Record being made: the most number of downloads in a day – 8.3 million! Download Day was supposed to be on Tue 17 June but it was mostly on Wed 18 June.


3M+ people had already pledged to download it! & (only) around 400 Mauritians as well... But on Download Day the number of downloads has literally exploded: 11M (& still counting)
& 1351 Mauritians have downloaded it! (yay!)
You can check the Mozilla counter here & the record count on SpreadFirefox.com
Average was 5500 downloads/min! But it had peaked at 12,000/min! xD


Well, it turned out more people have downloaded it than even Mozilla had expected! They had put the bar at 5M. The Mozilla servers were constantly overloaded. You couldn't load the site, but the download mirrors were working. Mozilla had obviously made no provision for so many people to connect at the same time. Hence the start time of the world record was pushed back by a few hours to 11.16am/pm.


It's only around midday yesterday (i.e. midnight in the US) that I could finally access the new Firefox site (great site btw) & I made my download count towards the record. :P
Actually I had already downloaded Firefox 3 when it was being uploaded on the Mozilla servers, a few hours before the flood gates were open... ;)

If you haven't already downloaded Firefox 3, download it now!
Here are the direct links:
Windows XP & Vista
Linux
OS X
The setup file is 7.15MB, so dial-up users can't have any complaints...


& here's my download certificate. Go & get yours here!

So what's new in Firefox 3?
There has been loads of improvements built into Firefox 3, but chiefly it has better memory management, less CPU usage & it's faster (in loading pages & starting up).
You can check the whole list of improvements on Wiki, but I'll concentrate on the best features.

The Location Bar

Dubbed the AwesomeBar, the location bar is just... awesome! It's an instant search bar than scans through your bookmarks & history to find the webpage you need. But instead of focusing just on the url, the AwesomeBar looks also for the title of the page, using multiple keywords. & it analyses your recent searches & clicks to present your most accessed content first. & of course, Firefox 3's extensive use of favicons makes it easier to find what you are looking for.

Library

Firefox 3 features a revamped history/bookmarks manager that is stored as a database, which means faster access & search. Firefox has introduced bookmark tagging & smart folders so that you can easily organise your favourites.

Password Manager

Firefox 3 no longer pop-ups a Remember Password dialog box. Instead it's just a pop-up bar that doesn't intrude you anymore while you are logging in. This prevents you to save the wrong password, coz it stays there after you have logged in. ;)

Different Themes for Xp, Vista, OS X & Linux

Yes, Firefox is a chameleon. Changes its skin according to the OS you are using.
Unfortunately, each installation has its own theme & you can't handpick which theme you want. :(
But until the skinners decide to make an installable Strata/Tango/Firelight theme, here's a simple solution. Check down below... More info about the themes here.

New Download Manager

The default download manager has had a change of look with a pause button & a redownload feature.

No need to monitor your downloads anymore - a download notification appears on the status bar.

Better CSS Support & Faster Javascript

Firefox's new Gecko engine loads javascript faster & scores a decent 71/100 on the Acid3 Test. I haven't seen a major difference in the page rendering either. Yes, Safari is the fastest browser, loads pages & javascript fastest & passes the Acid3 Test 100/100 with the latest nightly builds of Webkit (Eddy has posted about how to install the nightly build). But Firefox 3 isn't far behind...

Acid3 Test Results:
Safari (with latest Webkit): 100/100
Opera 9.5: 83/100
Firefox 3: 71/100
Firefox 2: 51/100
Opera 9.27: 46/100
Internet Explorer 7: 12/100 (LOL!)

Sunspider Benchmark Results:
Safari (with latest Webkit): 5127.6ms
Firefox 3 Final: 5671.8ms
Firefox 3 RC1: 5944.2ms
Firefox 3 RC2: 6102.4ms
Opera 9.5: 8776.8ms
Opera 9.27: 29434.0ms
Firefox 2: 54267.8ms
Internet Explorer 7: 127445.8ms (∞)

Btw Opera 9.5 has been released this week, & it features loads of improvements. I'll be posting about that soon. ;)
You might want to check Lifehacker’s Web Browser Speed Testing.

Conclusion
Firefox 3 is a major improvement over Firefox 2, with a revamped UI, better memory management, faster page loading & some ground-breaking features. Yet, Safari is still the fastest & Opera 9.5 has much more features... But why Firefox is the world's best browser comes down to one thing: Add-ons!

So once again, let me remind you not to forget to download to Firefox 3: firefox.com/download
Or get it with Google Toolbar.

Tips & tricks with Firefox 3

- Using Strata/Firelight/Tango OS theme
- Go to the installation folder of Firefox, usually C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox & open the Chrome folder.
- In the Chrome folder, there's a file named "class.jar" This is the theme skin archive of Firefox 3. Make a backup of it (i.e. copy it elsewhere)
- & replace the class.jar with the following class.jar
- XP Strata theme
- Aero Strata theme
- Mac OS X Firelight theme
- Linux Tango theme
You'll need to rename the above to class.jar
& when you start Firefox 3, you'll get the modified theme.
Note: The XP & Aero theme works perfectly on Windows. But the OS X theme & linux theme have some bugs. The drop-down menus are totally transparent & since the linux theme uses default Linux icons, the icons are not available. Anyone proficient with CSS should be able to tweak out the transparent background problem & make a custom icon set for the Linux theme.

Update:
No need to play with jars, just download these themes!
- XP Strata Theme
- Vista Strata Aero Theme & another one.
- Mac OS X Theme & the Proto theme.
But since the theme is still experimental, you have to log in…
- Username: bugged@dueprocess.neomailbox.com
- Password: bugmenot

- Firefox Explorer?
Try this: “file:///c:/”

- Robots Easter Egg

Type "about:robots" in the location bar & you'll get the above Easter Egg. & if you click on the Try Again dialog box, it'll disappear.

- about:config

The advanced configuration settings ask you to swear that you are up to no good. LOL

- Ctrl+Select
You can now select multiple lines of text just like in Word!

- APNG
Firefox 3 supports animated png!! Click here to watch the spinning Firefox logo. APNG only works on Firefox 3 & Opera 9.5. To create APNGs you need this Firefox 3 add-on. More about APNG here.

- Firefox Personas

Firefox personas is a skin add-on that allows you to change Firefox's header & footer appearance instantly. Download the add-on here & then update it to be able to use a custom background! Check this guide on how to make backgrounds.

P.S. Firefox 3.1 will be released soon, with a new Ctrl+Tab visual tab switcher. More info here.
Btw Firefox 4 will be released late 2009 & will feature the new Mozilla 2 platform. xD

More Reviews:
Field Guide to Firefox 3
Firefox 3 – What’s New, What’s Hot and What’s Not
Mozilla Links - Firefox 3 Review
Lifehacker - Top 10 Firefox 3 Features
Lifehacker - Power Users Guide to Firefox 3
Firefox Features
Firefox Tips
GeekScribes - Firefox 3 Final Review