14 DAY TRIAL // The first beta of Firefox 4 is around the corner and Mozilla is firing on all cylinders to make sure that everything goes smoothly. The Firefox team is obviously in overdrive, but they’re not alone. Mozilla Labs is doing pretty much the same as many of the experiments that have started life in Labs will end up in Firefox 4. One of the latest addition to the list is the Test Pilot add-on and platform which will be integrated into the beta builds of the upcoming Firefox to provide developers with useful feedback.
“With Firefox 4 on its way, the Test Pilot team will monitor, analyze and work to better understand the variety of user behaviors and needs resulting from the new user interface and features throughout the complete Firefox 4 beta development cycle,” Jinghua Zhang, the product manager for Test Pilot, wrote.
“Firefox 4 Beta will include an Add-On called ‘Feedback,’ which is a channel that allows users to input free-form comments and join the structured user studies as part of the Test Pilot program. This Feedback Add-On is being customized for use in Firefox 4 Beta – and future betas,” she announced.
The Feedback add-on in Firefox 4 beta, based on Test Pilot, will help the developers determine what works and what doesn’t with the overhauled interface and also get direct feedback from the users. The add-on will send data through two avenues. The first one will be through automated studies, similar to Test Pilot ones, which users will have to opt-in for.
The user will be in complete control of the studies from start to finish. They will be able to refuse to participate or just don’t send in the data once they’re finished.
The second avenue for feedback will be through direct messages which users will be able to send with the same add-on. They will be able to report all annoyances but also everything they like about Firefox 4, which should help the developers get a much better sense of what they need to focus on.
Test Pilot 1.0 for Firefox is available for download here.
Firefox for Windows is available for download here. Firefox for Linux is available for download here. Firefox for Mac is available for download here.