Every time I hear about a new dot-zero release of any software, my QA-engineer antennae immediate rise up since dot-zero software releases usually mean major changes with some bugs sprinkled in for good measure. After spending the last two days with the new Firefox 2.0 release , I'd have to say that my initial impressions are mainly positive despite some minor bugs. The tabbed browsing approach that gave the Moz Every time I hear about a new dot-zero release of any software, my QA-engineer antennae immediate rise up since dot-zero software releases usually mean major changes with some bugs sprinkled in for good measure. After spending the last two days with the new Firefox 2.0 release , I’d have to say that my initial impressions are mainly positive despite some minor bugs.The tabbed browsing approach that gave the Mozilla-spun browser its leg up until very recently – Internet Explorer 7 now offers tabbed browsing – have received some useful functional improvements in this 2.0 release. Each tab now has its own close button which speeds up productivity. Moreover, users going to the History menu will find that they can easily re-open a closed tab by clicking in the “Recently Closed Tabs” option of the menu. A new Live Titles feature also lets you view updated Web page summaries in a bookmark label.Aside from core functionality, one of the things that make Firefox compelling is the level of extensibility one can achieve with it. Through a combination of plug-ins, extensions, and themes, a user (or site administrator) can truly tailor the browser to meet their particular needs.I haven’t downloaded all of the more than 1,000 add-ons available for the browser, but of the several that I have tried thus far a fair number of them have been quite compelling. For example, an extension called Cooliris enables you to hover near a link in any Web page and quickly see the contents of the page represented by the link without actually having to launch the Web page. Other add-ons let you make phone calls, block ads, get a weather report, view download statuses within your browser, and a lot more. (QA hat on here still – many more add-ons to test!) Developers will find a plethora of new features and functionality in this release. For example, Web developers will find added support in Firefox 2.0 for client-side session and persistent storage of structured data as well as the new mozStorage database API, which is supported via SQLite. XML aficionados will find SAX support a useful addition and “Javascripters” will find support for version Javascript 1.7 in this release. A useful breakdown of these additions and other new development-related features can be found here.Aside from the QuickTime issue, there were several other add-ons and themes that I liked from previous releases that are not yet available in the 2.0 release. Firefox does include an enhanced, built-in update manager that can keep you posted on new Firefox and add-on versions. As much as I liked the easy recovery, there are also times when I don’t want to save and restore things. Firefox provides a useful option to protect your privacy: Clear Private Data.This function lets you choose when to clear things like cache, cookies, browsing history, and the like. I set it up to ask me each time I close out Firefox so I can choose what to keep and what to clear. Also on the privacy front, this Firefox release includes useful tools to warn the user of phishing scams before they click on a bad link. This browser release also will not just allow software installation. Only authorized sites are permitted. In similar fashion to the Opera browser, Firefox 2.0 also sports the ever-useful pop-up blocker.On the search front, Firefox continues to offer useful in-browser search support. I also like the expanded number of search interfaces that are supported. Users can choose from a bevy of general and content specific search engines. And, for some search engines, the interface can provide searching suggestions as the user starts typing in their query.Firefox has always been RSS-friendly. New in this release, users can choose which feed reader they want to use. Firefox supports Firefox Live Bookmark as well as services, such as Bloglines, My Yahoo, Google Reader, or a third party feed reader you have installed. I rather like a scrolling newsticker RSS reader that I’ve been using for a time and Firefox took right to it.Finally, Firefox provides useful accessibility features for the visually impaired. This release includes support for Microsoft’s Active Accessibility API standard for Windows, which allows Firefox (Windows version) to work with screen readers that meet government standards for folks with physical impairments. The new Firefox 2.0 Web browser contains a few bugs and some add-ons from earlier versions that are not yet available. Yet, giving Firefox a look at your organization is highly worthwhile. Mozilla Firefox 2 Platforms: Linux, Mac OS X, Unix, Windows Cost: Free Verdict:This Web browser continues to innovate in line with a very rapid release cycle, which its users have come to appreciate. The great degree of extensibility and usability will increase user productivity. Given one or two minor point releases to address bugs, this browser can be an easy and useful fit in most any enterprise. Technology Industry