I am nearly clueless about the new XNET feature of FB 1.5. I
understand XNET is a local loopback protocol which better performance
than a local TCP/IP loopback connection.

1. How does one use it with Firebird 1.5?
2. Is it automatic if I setting up a local connection without
specifying server name? Will it work if I do "localhost:<path to my
db>"? Is there a new syntax for the connection string?

3. What are the security implications of using XNET? For instance,
local TCP/IP connections were necessary for DB apps running as a
service or a web server application for security reasons. You would
receive a permissions error otherwise. Does XNET give performance
while not having to work about the OS permissions of the database file
in the same manner local TCP/IP connections didn't?

I read the updated release document, but it had only one reference to
XNET.