Facebook has just started rolling out a new photo uploader, one that the company promises will be faster, easier and more stable than the current one.

In an announcement on Facebook’s blog, the company revealed that the new Facebook uploader is actually a browser plug-in. In order to upload photos, you have to install it.

Once that’s done, though, you will be greeted by a new interface for uploading photos that connects to your computer’s file directory. From Facebook, you can navigate your hard drive and pick out the photos you want. A preview function on the bottom of the uploader makes it simple to pick the right pics out.

Oh, and it has another nifty feature: background uploads. You can navigate away from not only the upload page, but from Facebook itself while uploading photos. A notification will tell you that the uploads are done.

We don’t like installing plug-ins unless we have to, but we can see why Facebook took this approach. Still, this will limit some people from being able to upload, especially those at work with locked-down browsers.

What do you think: Is this a smart move by Facebook or are plug-ins a bad idea? Is it active for you? Let us know in the comments.