Firefox 3 Beta 1 is available for download here.

When Mozilla launched early versions of Firefox 3 earlier this month, there were complaints it had too many bugs and vulnerabilities and critics said Mozilla should have waited until it fixed the bugs before releasing it. But Mozilla seems to want to release the browser soon, so it's now in Beta 1 stage meaning it's closer to completion and the bugs are being fixed.

Mashable.com thinks the full version of Firefox 3 will be released in a month or two, as Firefox 2.0 was launched in a similar manner.

So what is the difference between Firefox 3.0 and Firefox 2.0? The theme, look and feel of Firefox. Mashable.com says don’t expect miracles and revolutionary changes, but the upgrade experience from 2.0 to 3.0 should be seamless. The rendering engine used in the browser Gecko 1.9 is faster, more stable and more accurate than earlier versions.

The main features of Firefox 3.0 are:

- Antivirus software integration built in the browser. It may prevent the and protect against virus-loading software that installs through the Web browser.

- Phishing protection by verifying the authenticity of the website (some sites may pretend it to be Amazon or Ebay, for example, but have strange web addresses so this new Firefox will prevent that).

- Handles plug-ins better and provides support for Vista parental controls.

- File downloader has been improved and now includes a feature that enables resuming downloads.

- Add-on manager helps users manage plug-ins better.

- Web pages can be bookmarked with a single click, and you can use tools like a Del.ici.ous Toolbar.

These are just a few of the new features but there are many more.

Firefox 3 will also likely use less of your computer's memory (RAM), which is a great feature. Without a reasonable amount of RAM, previous versions of Firefox as well as other Web browsers such as Internet Explorer can have trouble running, or freeze your computer periodically.

Personally, I have downloaded the beta but I will hold off on testing it because some of the extensions I use frequently may not be available with the new version yet. But I am sure it will be a better browser than Firefox 2.0, and I know it will be far superior to Internet Explorer browser.