Firefox 4 is the next major update of the browser from Mozilla. Probably it can be expected by the end of the year. Until that shall Mozilla with two to three weeks release beta versions to get feedback from users and developers.
Yesterday Firefox 4 Beta 1 available. It includes a variety of news, not least that it is based on a completely new version of the presentation engine, Gecko 2.0. This should now be made in accordance with the HTML5 specification and access including the use of SVG and MathML in HTML5 pages, without the use of XML namespaces. Parsing of the pages should be separate thread, which should improve the response capability of the user interface. Moreover, the speed of innerHTML calls be improved by 20 percent.In the first beta of Firefox 4 has Mozilla focused on improving the response capability of browsers on startup and during loading of pages. But it promised that this is just the beginning.
Another big news, which is currently only available in the Windows version is that the user interface has been redesigned so that the tabs are now located at the very top of your browser window. This is an approach that also can be find in Chrome and Opera. Part of the purpose of the position is to move more of the user's focus from the general user interface and over the content displayed in each tab. The design also means that the address field to a greater extent linked visually to the individual tab.
It should however be possible to select the current location of the tabs if you wish.
In Windows 7 and Windows Vista will also menu bar be replaced by a single Firefox button where the most popular choices will be available with one mouse click. But it is still possible to display the menu bar if you wish.
These changes will also be available in Mac and Linux versions in an upcoming beta.
More information about the user interface changes in Firefox 4 on this page.
Firefox Beta 4 includes a new Add-Ons Manager, which will be more transparent and easier to use than before. From here the user can manage the use of extensions, themes and plugins.
Beta version includes support for hardware accelerated HD video WebM format which is used on YouTube.
Performance is among the areas focused on Mozilla in connection with Firefox 4 Most competing browsers are now faster than Firefox in many areas, and this is one factor that has great significance for many. Nobody wants to wait longer than necessary that the web pages to be loaded or that the Web applications to perform time-consuming tasks.
Under the shell has Firefox 4 also received support WebSockets for easy and fast two-way communication with web servers.
Also new is support for IndexedDB as Mozilla have chosen instead WebDatabase as structured storage for both online and offline web applications. Mozilla explains the choice of the local database solution on this page.
Web Console is a new analysis to see what's going on behind dynamic Web sites.
Among the most popular features of Firefox is the extensions, but now also some competing browsers to provide this, often with a more user-friendly solution.
Firefox 4 will include support for the jetpack, a new platform for extensions to Firefox. This will make it easier to develop extensions based on standard Web technologies like HTML, CSS and JavaScript. These should be added and activated without the browser having to be restarted.
An overview of all web technologies that are supported by Firefox 4 Beta 1 is on this page. There is also provided a number of technologies that will be supported in later betas.
Some of the technologies implemented in the first beta version is not stable enough that they are activated during the installation. This includes support for WebGL which allows for hardware accelerated 3D graphics and 2D graphics Hardware accelerated through Direct2D. The latter is only supported by Windows edition.
WegGL support can be activated by typing "about: config" in address bar and then set it to "webgl.enabled_for_all_sites" to "true". Direct2D support is enabled by following recipe given on this page.
Download links and more information about Firefox 4 Beta 1 is available here.
