We have been waiting for this moment to come anxiously since the last Release Candidate version of Firefox (Firefox 1.5RC3) on November 17, 2005. Now the final version of Firefox 1.5 is available. Previously, we can reach the download page of Firefox from either www.getfirefox.com or www.spreadfirefox.com, but now all these websites will be directed to the main page of www.mozilla.com, which is the developer of the famous Firefox.

Since quite a number of bloggers have already talked about the release of Firefox 1.5 in PPS by providing the download link and some introduction of the new features, I will skip those parts as you can read it from the link.

I, Myself just downloaded Firefox 1.5 and started playing with it to see what are the new features and stuffs. I found out most of the themes are not compatible with this latest version. Out of 8 themes I have, only 2 have the latest compatible version, they are Noia 2.0 (eXtreme) and Aquatint. Anyway, you still can download whichever compatible themes that suit you from the themes page.

Besides the theme issue, I found that some of my extensions are working fine despite no new update from any of them after the release of Firefox 1.5. Those extensions are Google Toolbar, FasterFox, and FlashGot. For first time Firefox user, you may download Firefox 1.5 with Google Toolbar at the same time by clicking the white square button at the sidebar on your right. However, please be aware that some extensions are not compatible with the latest Firefox such as SessionSaver .2. SessionSaver .2 is one of my favourite extensions, it will save all addresses in the tabs when we click on the big red X on the top right corner so that all those webpages will be displayed the next time we relaunch Firefox. There are lots of extensions available for Firefox in the extensions page, but you will need to pick those compatibled ones if you were to use it on Firefox 1.5. :)

As for the new features found in Firefox 1.5, I like the function of Clear Private Data (Ctrl+Shift+Del), which allows us to quickly delete some personal data. This feature was already available in previous versions but we could only do it in the Option page instead of using short cut. Well, now even the Option page has a new layout in Firefox 1.5, neat and easy to use.

Another new feature I like is the Drag and drop reordering for browser tabs function. Now we can shift the order of tabs according to our preference. This particular feature was available in Opera 8 but now it’s available in Firefox too, nice!

Firefox 1.5 promises faster browser navigation with improvements to back and forward button performance and this is so obvious while using it, thanks to its improved cache session I suppose.

*EDIT* The addition of Answers.com into the built-in search engine list of Firefox 1.5 makes my life easier as a blog reader. Very often I don’t understand some bombastic english words, especially while reading blogs like The Digital Awakening by Peter Tan. This is where Answer.com comes in handy, it serves as an online dictionary and provides me the meaning of any dictionary word I can ask. I have been using Answer.com for quite some time already and I’m so glad Firefox 1.5 has it integrated now.

Well, all in all, Firefox 1.5 is no doubt another milestone in the development of Mozilla Firefox web browser integrating so many new features and remaining the old useful ones. Apart from being compatible with current web standards, it supports new web standards like SVG, CSS 2 and CSS 3, and JavaScript 1.6 as well. This is something Internet Explorer does not have. I can only praise Firefox 1.5 being one of the best freeware installed in my PC. Well done again, Firefox development team!

p/s: Coincidentally, Opera also have an updated version Opera 8.51 ready to be downloaded.