Firefox 3. Takes a bit of getting used to.

Let's face it, the majority of the thousands of improvements bundled into the latest version of Firefox will be pretty much transparent to the average user. Most of these changes involve honing the engine under the bonnet to make Firefox faster or closing security loopholes, many of which we were unaware of in the first place.

As an avid Firefox fan over the years, I've seen many UI changes come and go. In fact, I have known Firefox since it was originally called Phoenix (and subsequently Firebird) so it would take a dramatic change in the interface to get me overly excited.

In fact, the interface looks disappointingly similar to that of previous releases. Some users may argue that consistency is key, however when I download a new release of software, I want to be in no doubt that I am using the new version. Firefox 3 is perhaps slightly too subtle in that respect (compare it to the complete UI overhaul of Opera 9.5 and you'll see what I mean).

Where Firefox 3 comes into it's own is with the new 'Smart Location Bar'. Initially I am sure this will appear to many users as perhaps being slightly too smart for it's own good. It's certainly confusing in comparison to how the location bar used to function.

Previously the location bar would merely hold details of the URL's you had visited. Now, typing anything into the location bar will create a flurry of activity in a dropdown menu displaying any sites from your history or bookmark list which contain the selected text either in their web address or page content.

Initially this is quite annoying as even entering a few letters creates such a furious, ever changing number of options to pop up but once you start to alter your way of thinking, the benefits of such a tool become really apparent.

Say for instance you saw a pair of Merrill trainers on a page somewhere but can't remember where. Merely typing 'Merrill' into the location bar will bring up a list of sites from your history which contain the term 'Merrill' in the page, hopefully allowing you to find the site you previously visited. It's certainly a radical departure from the norm and time will tell how popular this is. Tellingly, there seems to be no option in the browser settings to disable this.

Much will be written about Firefox 3 in the coming days and weeks and it will take time using the software for any of us to get a true feel for whether it is an improvement. We should all be thankful though that the Mozilla Foundation still seem to be striving for improvement.