Firefox, the web browser for people who don't much care for Microsoft's Internet Explorer, has been release to developers. The second beta version of Firefox 3.0 promises better security features and performance (hopefully that dreaded memory leak will be history!)

Among the new development found in this beta will be protection from cross-site JSON data leaks, tighter restrictions on site-specific content using effective TLD service, better presentation of website identity and security, malware protection, stricter SSL error pages, anti-virus integration in the download manager, version checking for insecure plugins.

Also ease of use is said to be improved with better password management, easier add-on installation, new download manager with resumable downloading, full page zoom, animated tab strip, and better integration with Windows Vista, Mac OS X and Linux.

Other features include one-click bookmarking, smart bookmark folders, location bar that matches against your history and bookmarks for URLs and page titles, ability to register web applications as protocol handlers, and better customization of download actions for file types.

There are also performance improvements such as: better data reliability for user profiles, architectural improvements to speed up page rendering, over 330 memory leak fixes, a new XPCOM cycle collector to reduce entire classes of leaks, and reductions in the memory footprint.

The company said that the release is aimed at web developers and Mozilla's testing community, and is not intended for us average joe-shmoes.

"We encourage testers to download and install the Beta 2 release to test it against the Web sites they normally visit, and provide feedback about any incompatibilities," Mozilla said in a statement. "It is intended for testing purposes only."

You can download the beta here.