If you are a web developer and you need help, then you should know that there are a multitude of tools available out there that you can take advantage of in your endeavors. The catch, because situations when there isn’t a catch are quite rare, is that talking about these tools is easy, but finding them all is not. The good people at Mozilla Labs decided that this situation needs to come to a stop and consequently launched a central repository of all the open web development sources you can find out there. And they put their findings in one location: the Open Web Tools Directory.

Coming one year after the launch of the critically acclaimed Firefox 3, Firefox 3.5 introduces new features, as well as new support for a wide variety of Web standards, said a press release. Firefox 3.5 was built through Mozilla’s global, open source development process.

"So much is happening on the Web right now, it’s a great time for browsers. Firefox 3.5 brings together the most innovative Web technologies and delivers them in the most complete and powerful modern browser," said John Lilly, CEO, Mozilla.

Firefox 3.5 makes surfing the Web easier with new features and platform updates that allow Web developers to create the next generation of Web content. Native support for open video and audio, private browsing, and support for the newest Web technologies would enable richer, more interactive online experiences, said the release.

New features include:

• Firefox 3.5 includes a new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine, which delivers unprecedented performance with today’s complex Web applications.
• Video and audio content from within your browser, without the need for plugins. Firefox 3.5 delivers the first native integration of audio and video directly into the browser. Now everyone can easily watch open format Ogg Theora videos.
  
• Web developers can use these technologies to design pages that interact with video content in new and exciting ways, offering richer interactive experiences beyond controlling playback and volume.
  
• Firefox 3.5 includes Private Browsing Mode feature, designed to protect privacy online and provide greater control of personal data.
  
• Forget this Site feature, which can remove every trace of a site from your browser.

Location Aware Browsing saves you time by allowing websites to ask you where you are located. If you choose to share your location with a website, it can use that information to find nearby points of interest and return additional, useful data like maps of your area. It’s all optional – Firefox doesn’t share your location without your permission.

Mozilla Firefox 3.5 is available now for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X operating systems as a free download from http://www.getfirefox.com. It is also available in more than 70 languages at: http://www.mozilla.com/en

Tags: developer, Firefox 3, Firefox 3.5, JavaScript, Linux, Mac OS X, Mozilla Labs, TraceMonkey, websites, windows