14 DAY TRIAL // Browser Tabs are among the elements of Firefox the most impacted by the evolution to version 4.0. There has to be little doubt about this, especially after the advent of Firefox 4.0 Beta 2. The previous Beta of the next iteration of the open source browser introduced a range of changes, which continued with additional modifications in Beta 2, essentially signaling the overhauling of Firefox Tabs. One of the new additions to Firefox 4.0 Beta 2 is App Tabs.
Via App Tabs, Firefox 4.0 allows users to pin some of the most visited websites, online services, Cloud applications, etc. to the browser’s user interface. Once on the browser’s Tab Bar, the App Tabs offer easy access to destinations visited frequently by users, while occupying the least amount of screen real estate space, as they are featured as small icons/favicons. Alex Faaborg, User Experience Design at Mozilla delivered an excellent explanation of what the new App Tabs feature is all about, in the first video embedded below.
One important thing to keep in mind is that App Tabs are far from final. The version of App Tabs in Firefox 4.0 Beta 2 is only the first implementation. According to Mozilla, work has been done to have the basic UI in place, but additional functionality will be added in the future in order to finalize the feature.
Since Beta 1, Mozilla also repositioned the Tab Bar, on top of the Address Bar, per the Google Chrome model. This was one of the main aspects of the major overhaul planned for Firefox 4.0 since 2009, and the redesign is slowly becoming a reality, first for Windows testers, now for Mac OS X customers, with Linux users next.
Additional work done for Firefox 4.0 involves a new feature previewed in the early nightly builds for Firefox 4.0 Beta 3, namely Tab Candy. The second and third videos below featuring Faaborg, offer presentations of both Tabs on Top and Tab Candy.
Firefox 4.0 Beta 2 for Windows is available for download here.
Firefox 4.0 Beta 2 for Mac OS X is available for download here.
Firefox 4.0 Beta 2 for Linux is available for download here.
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An Introduction to Firefox's Tab Candy from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.