Firefox 2 Alpha 2

The new FireFox alpha is out, the second release along the path to full release.

Called 'Bon Echo', the alpha is 5.3MB on Windows (although a bizarre 17MB on the Mac). The list of changes in this alpha include:

• Links default to opening in new tabs, not new windows
  
• Close buttons now appear on every tab, and the close behaviour is slightly different
  
• Inline spell checking in text boxes
  
• Automatic restoration of your browsing session if there is a crash
  
• Search suggestions now appear in the search box auto-complete for Google and Yahoo!
  
• New search plugin manager for removing and re-ordering search engines
  
• Improved support for previewing and subscribing to web feeds
  
• New microsummaries feature for bookmarks
  
• New Add-Ons manager improves the user interface for managing extensions and themes
  
• Updates to the extension system to provide enhanced security and to allow for easier localization of extensions
  
• New search service that supports Sherlock and OpenSearch engines
  
• Support for SVG text using svg:textPath

Mozilla says that the release is primarily for developers, but there's nothing to stop average Joes like us going and grabbing the latest release to have a fiddle with.

Surely the major thing is that spell checking is built in and works - great for anyone who spends a large amount of time on forums!

Why not go and have a play and let us know what you think over in the forums - maybe with your new spell checker?