Mozilla locks in Firefox 3.1 feature list 10 Oct 2008

Mozilla has finally locked down the list of new features that will be added to Firefox 3.1. (This release is a crucial one for the organisation/browser now that Google has entered the market).

Perhaps the most significant improvement to FF is the addition of a new privacy mode (or "porn mode" as some have dubbed it). This feature limits the information that the browser records as the user surfs the web (e.g. URLs aren't recorded in the history, cookies aren't saved, and so on). Mozilla's decision to implement this mode has clearly been influenced by the competition, since its already available in the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Chrome and Safari.

Other improvements to FF include faster JavaScript execution (Again, Mozilla seems to have been influenced by Chrome here), tweaks to the Awesome Bar (e.g. cross-tab searching, better tagging etc.), support for the video HTML tag and improved tab-bar functionality (e.g. the ability to drag a tab to the desktop to open a new browser window).

Mozilla is also contemplating (but not committing to) a suite of further additions - the most significant being the inclusion of a Speed Dial feature which would show users their favourite and/or most-recently-visited sites as a series of thumbnails whenever they open a new tab or browser window. This feature is another example of the organisation playing "catch-up" since it's been available in Opera for some time and has, more recently, been added to Chrome.