The Firefox 2 Beta 1 release candidate I mentioned last night includes a new feature that I just noticed (after using it practically all day), and it's simply terrific. It may seem small, but often it's the little things that make a real difference.

As-you-type spell checking is built right in. Just right-click on anything Firefox doesn't recognize and you'll get just what you'd expect. Looks like it's a basic English dictionary that's used, so you'll have to add some commonly typed terms - even Firefox isn't in the dictionary.

In Internet Explorer I have used IESpell for a couple years and it's always been very useful. But it doesn't do the red-underline thing to show me what's out of whack as I type, though, so this is another case where the Firefox team is again raising the bar.

Nice stuff.

NOTE: The Beta 1 release is set to hit the streets this week. Also, I confirmed that this weekend's binary release is definitely a pre-beta-1 release candidate (one of the nightly builds) and so it's likely (even probable) that it's not the same code that will ship as the actual Beta 1 this week. So, as mentioned last night, downloader beware. You'll probably want to wait. Sorry to anyone reading for gun-jumping, but hey we're all geeks around here, and it's in my nature to test early and test often.