The first beta of FireFox 1.5 is now available for those folks who wish to give it a spin. This release is aimed more at testers, extension/theme authors and web developers than standard users at this point so you may want to hold off for the final release due later this year if you’re not one of those folks.
New features include an improved software update system, faster Back and Forward navigation, a feature for clearing private browsing data, drag-and-drop reordering of browser tabs, a redesigned Options/Preferences window and better popup blocking. Web standards support is also improved, with support for Scalable Vector Graphics, JavaScript 1.6 and more CSS. Accessibility is also better (including new DHTML accessibility features), security has been enhanced and there’s now greater support for Mac OS X.
Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 can be downloaded from the Firefox project page or the Firefox 1.5b1 directory on ftp.mozilla.org. The Mozilla Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 Release Notes have more information and The Burning Edge has an unofficial list of what’s new in Firefox 1.5 Beta 1.
Sounds like the final release will be worth the wait.
Unfortunately some extensions don’t work at the moment. I’m sure most will be updated before the final version is released, but for now I’m staying with the stable version.