Firefox fans have reason to celebrate, the first beta of the upcoming Firefox 4 is here and there’s plenty to like. Firefox 4 Beta 1 is just the first step, of many, towards the final release, but things are shaping up already. The biggest changes will be to the UI, though Linux users won’t notice too many differences in the first beta. Firefox 4 Beta 1 comes with a brand-new, in-browser Add-ons Manager, support for the emerging WebM open-source video format and many other goodies.
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Firefox 4 Beta 1 is now ready to download and test! This first version gives an early look at what’s planned for Firefox 4. Stay tuned, because there is more to come and we plan to release new beta versions every two to three weeks,” Mike Beltzner, Mozilla’s Director of Firefox,
announced in a blog post.
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Firefox 4 Beta 1 includes dozens of major features and improvements – by testing them early we’ll be able to respond to your feedback for future versions of Firefox. Once you download Firefox 4 Beta 1, you’re part of our beta program and will receive regular updates as more features launch,” he added.
There are plenty of new features, changes and improvements in this release, but a few stand out. The user interface will go through a major revamp in Firefox 4, probably the biggest one since the open-source web browser was launched. Many of the planned changes haven’t landed for Linux yet, so Firefox 4 Beta 1 will look rather familiar.
In the final release though, the menu bar will be gone, replaced by the Firefox menu button, and the tabs will be on top. Both changes have been heavily debated, especially the latter, and Mozilla has provided a detailed
explanation for the choice.
One new feature that is very close to its final form is the Add-ons Manager. Most browsers are moving away from modal dialog windows to tab-based configuration. The
new add-ons manager resides in a dedicated tab, but is otherwise pretty much on par with the one in Firefox 3.6. Its UI however will change before Firefox 4 final.
Firefox 4 Beta 1 also introduces support for the recently launched WebM video format which incorporates Google’s open-sourced VP8 codec. Mozilla has been a strong backer of open video codecs and
refuses to bundle support for the popular H.264 codec for HTML5 videos.
The first beta implements what Mozilla now calls “
Crash Protection,” a technology for separating the processing threads of several plugins from the main Firefox process. This should lead to greater stability, if the plugin crashes it won’t take down the browser, and eventually to greater security as well once the feature is fully fleshed out.
Highlights of Firefox 4 Beta 1:· You can search for and switch to already open tabs in the Smart Location Bar;
· New Addons Manager and extension management API;
· Significant API improvements are available for JS-ctypes, a foreign function interface for extensions;
· The stop and reload buttons have been merged into a single button;
· The Bookmarks Toolbar has been replaced with a Bookmarks Button by default;
· Crash protection for Windows, Linux, and Mac when there is a crash in the Adobe Flash, Apple Quicktime or Microsoft Silverlight plugins;
· CSS Transitions are partially supported;
· Full WebGL support is included but disabled by default at this time;
· New HTML5 parser.
Firefox 4 Beta 1 is available for
download here on Softpedia.
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