Mozilla Making Firefox 4 to be ''Super-Duper Fast''
Mozilla this week showed off its plans for Firefox 4, detailing some of the features we'll see in the next version of the open source Internet browser.
Erica Jostedt, PR at Mozilla, yesterday blogged about the company's plans for Firefox 4 and said the main priorities for the next version of Firefox are speed, power and empowerment.
Though Erica was quick to label the plans as fluid and subject to change, she said Mozilla wanted to make Firefox "super-duper fast," enable new open, standard Web technologies, and put users in full control of their data and browsing.
You can check out the 45-minute presentation here but if you're looking for the quick and dirty break down of what was announced, we've summarized what we think will be the biggest improvements and listed them below.
For Firefox 4, Mozilla has moved a lot of buttons around and in some cases, removed buttons altogether (the 'home' and 'stop' buttons have been done away with). While you can do without a 'stop' button but the 'home' button is slightly more important, so it's important to note that Firefox hasn't done away with the 'home' feature altogether; the company has opted instead for a home tab that cannot be closed. Switching tabs will also be easier. Firefox 4 will allow users to just start typing the URL of the tab you want in the address bar. The browser will then offer you the option (via a drop down menu) of switching to your already open tab or navigating to a new page. From the slides below it also looks like the company has plans for dedicated tabs for certain applications like Google's Gmail. No word on whether or not these are determined by which sites you visit most often or if you'll be allowed to select them yourself.
Though it's not solid, Mozilla hopes that the Firefox will soon be able to run updates in the background. No more restarting your browser or waiting while various different plug-ins update, so that should make switching on your computer and firing up Firefox little less awkward. The permissions dialogues may be changing slightly, too, from pop-ups to drop downs that appear from the URL. The company is also aiming for a faster start up speed.
None of these changes are set in stone yet, and Mozilla was really adamant that they not be over reported but it's exciting to know what's we can (tentatively) expect from Firefox 4. However, Mozilla is aiming for a November release so we still have a while to wait.
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Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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sliem STOP concentrating on SPEED. It'll go as fast as user internet allows, that's it. Instead, concentrate on BUGS and SECURITYReply -
NivenFres The home tab doesn't seem all that great to me. Especially since I make my home a blank page.Reply -
husker meh, I'm waiting for "super-super-duper fast", or "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious fast"Reply -
Why do they feel the need to restrict the interface? As it is now you can have a home button or not; its your choice. Customization is the main reason I use Firefox, and I'll be rather annoyed if removing options is going to be the new trend.Reply
As for doing a tab search in the address bar, that seems rather unnecessary to me. I don't even use the bookmark search. It's quicker to just click on the tab I want or make use of the bookmark toolbar.
I do like the idea of not having to restart after updating. -
Morgan3rd I'd like it if they could integrate the tabs into the top of the screen like Chrome/Opera.Reply
Using chrome now, but I'm not married to her. -
neodawg Looks like they just copied Chrome, too bad it probably will be slower than Chrome at opening.Reply -
mlopinto2k1 sliemSTOP concentrating on SPEED. It'll go as fast as user internet allows, that's it. Instead, concentrate on BUGS and SECURITYStole my words! I was gonna say, "Your browsing experience is only as fast as the connection will allow, minus a few things that could affect it"...Reply
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Kelavarus sliemSTOP concentrating on SPEED. It'll go as fast as user internet allows, that's it. Instead, concentrate on BUGS and SECURITYReply
I'm sure they'll do that, but for now, whenever an article on Chrome comes out, Google and their fans all go "CHROME IS FASTER THAN A POTATO CANNON!" so, obviously, to try and attract those users, Mozilla is going to talk about speed. Why is this surprising? Firefox has always also been about security.