Firefox 4 Beta 1 Now Available for Download
Mozilla has announced that Firefox 4 Beta 1 is now ready for download and at the same time revealed some details about the newest iteration of the popular browser.
Windows users will notice a big change in interface design, which, among other things, has tabs located along the top by default. There's also a new Add-Ons Manager, which affords more space to managing add-ons, themes and plugins. Firefox 4 Beta 1 brings support for HTML5 and WebM, improvements to privacy, crash protection, and a boost in performance when it comes to start-up and page-load times.
Features expected in the future include the ability to sync your settings, passwords, bookmarks, history, open tabs and other customizations across multiple devices; better privacy controls; yet more improvements to performance; and the same themes for OS X and Linux.
Mozilla's Mike Beltzner warns that not everything in this release will make the final cut but, as always, the best way to ensure your favorite features are included is to get in on the Beta and provide feedback to that effect. FF4B1 even includes a Feedback add-on to make it easier to send in your likes and dislikes.
Download Firefox 4 Beta 1 for Linux, Windows or OSX here and let us know what you think are the biggest and most important improvements.
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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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Pyroflea I like that they're adding new features, while still allowing you to use the previous features, ex.) the location of the tabs. They've got the right idea.Reply -
footsoldier phoenix777Chrome all the way. Firefox doesn't work well on my 64 bit Win7Reply
Yeah i agree. 3.6 crashes often and memory leak. But they siad 4.0 will officially support 64bit, so im so looking forward to this one. But...disappointed -
joex444 Lame lame lame! I downloaded the beta on 7/2/10. Way to go guys, nothing like timely news. Maybe it wasn't posted on their website, but it sure as shit was on their FTP.Reply -
flightmare footsoldierI hope they will change the interface. I totally dislike itA dev said it will be possible to use the old fashioned interface.Reply