The alpha version of *Firefox* arrives just days after the final release of
version 6. Mozilla continues to follow the same strategy as Google does with
*Chrome*, creating different development channels to release early versions
of their browser as soon as they're available and keep the final one
updated as often as possible. Note that Firefox 8 Aurora is strictly a
developer Alpha release meaning no guarantees can be made about stability or
functionality. The most notable change in Firefox 8 Alpha from the stable and
beta versions are the way that third-party add-ons are handled. Firefox now
disables third-party programs from installing without user permission. It can
either automatically disable add-ons or you can receive a notification after
the add-on has been installed for the first time which allows you to accept
or decline it. In addition, Firefox 8 Alpha sorts add-ons into categories -
those that you've added yourself and those automtaically added by third
parties. However, there's still no way of removing elements that you may not
want such as Java and .Net Framework. The interface is pretty much the same
as Firefox 6, with a minimalist toolbar. There have been some improvements to
HTML5 that should allow Firefox to handle a much greater number of media
without crashing and there's been a WebSocket update to support the latest
API's. The major downside for most users is that very few plug-ins or add-ons
work with Firefox 8 Alpha so if you have a lot installed, prepare to be
disappointed. *Firefox 8 Alpha has some useful enhancements for those keen to
control exactly what and what is not added to their browser.*Download
*Firefox (Aurora) 9.0 a2* in Softonic
