In just a matter of years, Firefox has risen to become the number 2 browser on the market, even in the context of Microsoft’s Windows monopoly. But while the focus on the Internet/Cloud continues to increase, the relevance and importance of browsers in end user scenarios becomes critical. Mozilla, just as other browser developers, is foraying into the future of browsing, and reveals that the browsers will need to evolve in order to become user-centric, you-centric, more specifically.
In the video embedded at the bottom of this article you will be able to see Aza Raskin, Head of User Experience for Mozilla Labs, speaking on Mozilla’s perspective of where browsers are heading. Already Mozilla Labs has a few research projects in development that offer a clue as to what the Firefox of the future might look like.
“We’ve been thinking at Mozilla Labs about what it means for the web to be more personal, more social, and more about you. It breaks down into four areas: Identity; Social; Deep Integration; and Task-Centric. What does that mean? The video of my keynote from FOWA London below presents a sketch of what this might look like, and what it means for the future of browsing. This is all still in embryonic form, so now is the time for feedback to provide the greatest change,” Raskin noted.
In this regard, Mozilla labs is already working on Ubiquity: “An experiment into connecting the Web with language in an attempt to find new user interfaces that could make it possible for everyone to do common Web tasks more quickly and easily.” Work is being done for Personas: “Dynamic lightweight theming for Firefox,” and on Bespin: “An open extensible web-based framework for code editing.”
In addition, Mozilla Labs is also hosting Concept Series. According to the description of the Concept Series, Mozilla is looking for innovative ideas, discussions, and inspirational future design concepts that will help shape the evolution of Firefox, Mozilla itself and the Cloud.
The latest releases of Firefox for Windows are available for download here.
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