Getting value of select (dropdown) before change

Answer 1

I am using event "live", my solution is basically similiar with Dimitiar, but instead of using "focus", my previous value is stored when "click" is triggered.

var previous = "initial prev value";
$("select").live('click', function () {
        //update previous value
        previous = $(this).val();
    }).change(function() {
        alert(previous); //I have previous value 
    });