Firefox 3.0 Beta 1, dubbed as Gran Paradiso is out already; not as an official release though. This beta release is intended for testers who would like to try out the new Firefox browser. Beta testers give feed back to the developers of any bugs for corrections prior to final release.

I have downloaded the 8.6Mb linux installation file firefox-3.0b1.tar.bz. Then extracted the tar file and run the shell script file named firefox.

Firefox opens up showing the splash page for Firefox 3 Beta 1.

It’s too early to say how the beta is performing but it seems to be faster than the earlier Firefox versions. I haven’t experienced the memory hogged problem. So, download and test it for yourself and send your feedback to Firefox developers.