Are you using Firefox? Itching to update to the latest version? It is time to satisfy that itch. Staying true to their quick-release cycle pledge, Mozilla has released Firefox 8. And if you are an early bird, you can manually download and update now from Mozilla’s FTP repository (see links below); if you aren’t an early bird, expect Firefox 8 to be pushed on you through Firefox’s auto-update starting November 8.

The major changes in Firefox 8 can be read at Mozilla’s official release notes page. Of course Firefox 8 hasn’t officially been launched yet – it will be launched on November 8, as I mentioned above – so the release notes are for Firefox 8 Beta. However, the release notes for Firefox 8 Beta still summarize the main changes found in Firefox 8. If you are lazy and don’t want to read the release notes, I will spill the important beans.

While there are many changes in Firefox 8 (read the bloody release notes), probably the biggest change is how Firefox 8 interacts with addons. Now any third-party addons not installed by you (e.g. toolbars that come bundled with some software) will be automatically disabled by Firefox; users will have to manually enable them if they want them:

Additionally, to “right the wrongs of the past”, upon upgrading to Firefox 8 users will be prompted with a screen that lists all the addons they have installed. From this list users will have to pick which addons they want to keep:

Any addons not installed by the user (e.g. toolbars installed by programs) will be automatically disabled at this screen and users will have to select to enable them.

Ready to grab Firefox 8? Hit up the link below. You will have to select the appropriate operating system (e.g. win32 for Windows 32-bit) and language (e.g. en-US for American English) before you are giving access to Firefox 8’s EXE file:

Mozilla Official Firefox 8 FTP Repository

[via Ghacks]