As of Wednesday morning, the day after the latest version of Firefox 3 was released, more than 7.9 million copies of the software had been downloaded.

The crush of demand made access to the new software spotty for much on Tuesday after its debut. But by Wednesday, new copies of the software were being downloaded at a rate of 5,523 per minute.

Mozilla is pushing to set a record for more software downloaded in a 24-hour period, and it’s clear Mozilla is set to beat that goal, in addition to surpassing its own target of more than 5 million downloads over that period. Mozilla said it’s waiting for the Guinness Book of World Records to review the results.

Of course, it’s easy to dismiss the rush to download the new software as hype. The open-source software has been available in various beta forms since 2007, and none of its new features have been kept under wraps.

New features of Firefox 3

Enhanced bookmarking abilities and security features are main themes for Firefox 3, the Mozilla-backed open source Web browser. The new browser will also sport a slightly new look. Makers of the software, many whom have volunteered their efforts for free, hope to set a world record for the most downloads in a single day when the final version of Firefox 3 goes live next Tuesday.

Many of the enhancements in Firefox 3 involve bookmarks. The new version lets Web surfers add keywords, or tags, to sort bookmarks by topic. A new “Places” feature lets users quickly access sites they recently bookmarked or tagged and pages they visit frequently but haven’t bookmarked.

There’s also a new star button for easily adding sites to your bookmark list — similar to what’s already available on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7 browser.

Other new features include the ability to resume downloads midway if the connection is interrupted and an updated password manager that doesn’t disrupt the log-in process.

The new features of Firefox 3 include the following:

Personal

• Library

• Tags

• Smart Location Bar

• One-Click Bookmarking

• Smart Bookmark Folders

Security & Privacy

• Instant Web Site ID

• Anti-Malware

• Parental Controls

• Anti-Virus Software

• Clear Private Data

• Customized Security Settings

• Add-ons

• Automated Update

• Password Manager

• Anti-Phishing

• Pop-Up Blocker

Customization

• Add-ons Manager

• Over 5,000 ways to customize

• Browser Look & Feel

• Beyond Add-ons

Productivity

• Platform-Native Look & Feel

• Feed Reader

• Download Manager

• Spell Checking

• Session Restore

• Full Zoom

• Image Loading

Search

• Smart Keywords

• Search Suggestions

• Integrated Web Search

• Hundreds of Search Engines

• Find

Tabs

• Tabs

• Reopen Closed Tabs

• Drag & Reorder Tabs

• Smooth Scrolling

• Save on Exit

Universal Access

• Universal Customization

• The Language of Firefox

• Emphasis on Accessibility

• Improved Text Rendering

Performance

• Improved Memory Management

• Smaller Memory Footprint

• Faster JavaScript

• Graphics Engine Improvements

• Faster Page Load

Standards

• Online Application Support

• Color Profile Support

• Advanced Graphics

• Support for Advanced Web Technologies

• Offline Browsing

Help

• Live Support

• Firefox Support

You can read the details information of the new features of Firefox 3 here: [URL=http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/features/#instant-id]Read More [/URL]

And you can download Firefox 3 from here: [URL=http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/]Download Firefox 3[/URL]

Collective Development
Firefox is the No. 2 web browser behind Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. It comes from Mozilla an open source community in which thousands of people, mostly volunteers, collectively develop free products. Mozilla has been developing Firefox 3 for nearly three years and has been publicly testing it since November for Windows, Mac and Linux computers.