14 DAY TRIAL // Mozilla Firefox 29 brought one of the biggest redesigns ever introduced by this popular browser and although it was supposed to make the application easier to use, lots of people actually criticized the parent company for making Firefox look too much like Google Chrome.
The new user interface was baptized Australis and brought a completely new customization screen, as well as other changes that were aimed to simplify the entire experience with the app and provide easy access to the main features.
But even though it was such a controversial change, Australis is here to stay and a new beta version of Firefox rolled out today comes with the same user interface, but adds a handful of improvements.
Firefox 30 beta 3 is actually a version supposed to allow users to try out the next stable build of the browser before it hits the market in stable form, so it could give you an idea of what's to come in the application.
Unfortunately for those who can't get over the similarities with Google Chrome, Australis continues to be one of the key features in Firefox 30, but Mozilla has promised to improve it here and there.
At the same time, Firefox 30 beta 3 also brings plenty of bug fixes and performance improvements, some of which are aimed at the Windows platform, so in case you've been experiencing some issues with the previous betas, this is the right time to update.
As far as Australis is concerned, Mozilla explains that before making such a significant change in its browser, the developing team actually looked into the ways consumers use the application to device which are the features that need to be improved.
“The user experience team has a guiding principle called ‘The eighty-twenty-two (80/20/2) rule’ that guides the new Australis redesign, which is: foregrounding functions that most people use most often (the 80% use case) in the main user-facing interface; supporting functions that most people use somewhat often (the 20% use case) with a secondary menu; and allowing functions that only some people use (the 2% use case) to be added to the default interface through further customization,” Mozilla said.
As you can see, Australis will remain available in Firefox 30, so if you'd like to try out the new version of the browser, use the download links below to get the build that matches your platform.
Download Mozilla Firefox 30 Beta 3 for Windows Download Mozilla Firefox 30 Beta 3 for Linux Download Mozilla Firefox 30 Beta 3 for Mac OS X