When the new Beta 2 release came out, I had to take it for a spin… Like everyone else, I hoped for css compliancy, tabs, real security and plugin integration. I think we got most of it, and hopefully everything we wished for will be in place before they turn it out in Alpha. It helps to know right off the bat that they aren’t going for full web compliance. Thanks for relieving the suspense, guys.

Wikipedia has a much more comprehensive list of what’s new, but what I especially like: The text renders better than Firefox, like they smooth the pixels… which is what they do with desktop icons. Could this be the ClearType at work?
Built in pop up blocker.
Tabs!
Support for alpha transparency in PNG images.
Support for RSS feeds.
Integrated search box, with a drop down box so you can add more ‘providers’.
Zoom in the lower right hand corner.
SpyBot has been upgraded to work with it.

What I don’t like: Better, but still limited css compliance… The tabs seem awkward… or maybe it’s just not as ’sleek’ as Firefox… some text won’t appear until I hover over it, like it’s ‘lost’ and scrolling seems strange. Personal preference, I guess.

There’s a lot under the hood I’m not familiar with, not being too ‘geeky’, but all in all I’m sure I’ll stay with Firefox.