Firefox 4 beta 1 is here

[dsavi]

I just saw this article on Firefox 4 beta 1:

http://hacks.mozilla.org/2010/07/firefox-4-beta-1-is-here-whats-in-it-for-web-developers/

 

Highlights:

 

SMIL Weve added support for SVG Animation (SMIL.) If youre running a 4.0 beta there are a huge number of beautiful examples on this page by David Dailey worth looking through.

 

SVG Everywhere Later in the Firefox beta release cycle well also be adding support for SVG-as-img and SVG-as-CSS-background. Most of that work is done, but it hasnt landed yet.

 

CSS Transitions This beta release contains a nearly complete implementation of CSS Transitions, privately namespaced with a -moz prefix. The only big things left here are the animation of transforms and gradients. (Gradients is still waiting on working group feedback, code for transitions is under review.)

 

JavaScript The JavaScript engine is much faster as well, although beta 1 does not include the new JägerMonkey work. That work is well underway and will be landing through the beta process, and is already showing positive results.

 

Hardware Acceleration via Layers Weve also got excellent support in this beta for Hardware Acceleration. If youre using HTML5 video and you go full screen, well use OpenGL on Macs or Linux and DirectX 9 on Windows to accelerate video rendering. (As we expand our Gecko Layers work well also be extending this acceleration to in-page content where it makes sense.)

 

Hardware Acceleration via D2D If youre on Windows 7 or an updated Windows Vista we also have full support for D2D-enabled rendering. This can be a substantial performance improvement for many types of rendering and is also something the IE team is also doing for IE9. Its not on by default in this beta but you can easily turn it on and try it out. The best demos that weve seen for D2D support are actually the IE Flying Images and the IE Flickr Explorer demo. Firefox actually performs wonderfully on these demos, better than the IE9 builds in most cases.

 

IndexedDB Firefox 4 beta 1 also includes a super-early snapshot of the new IndexedDB standard for storage. Due to the fast pace in changes in the standard, the object is available on the privately-namespaced window.moz_indexedDB object. This is a pretty complex item, and well have more posts on it soon.

 

And best of all...

New CSS3 calc() support This beta includes support for the new CSS3 calc() value. This lets you specify sizes that include a combination of percentages and absolute values and is hugely popular with developers. Please see the post on CSS3 calc for examples.

I don't think I'm the only one who has been waiting for this!

[obfuscator]

Chrome's javascript engine is still better.

 

[/troll]

 

I'll probably download it :)

[D. V. Devnull]

Looks like FireFox may be an auto-writeoff for me, at least based on the screenshots alone. One of the major reasons I liked FireFox was that it didn't look like IE7/IE8/IE9/Chrome, which was the kind of "Fancified Interface" Junk that I was trying to escape. Now that FireFox 4 does look like those, it means I'm gonna be searching for a long time for another good internet browser. Engine features ultimately will mean nothing if the user interface itself is overly troubling to use. <_<

 

Sure, I'll put FireFox back on my list of worthwhile browsers IF someone can show me where in the FF4 options to restore the FF2/FF3-style menu bar and other interface features. (Heck, FF3 was darned hard to customize to restore a number of FF2-style things I really liked!) I simply can't handle/stand/utilize an over-simplified interface, as it becomes insanely cumbersome for me when I'm aiming for speed. :(

 

~D. V. "This is NOT what I changed to FireFox for!" Devnull

 

 

(p.s.: Obviously, I haven't downloaded the program and checked it out myself because I can't, so I'm making a few potentially bad assumptions... Question is, can any of you find anything that Mozilla hid from view, or are those who like menus and tons of buttons totally [bleep]ed?)

[obfuscator]

Chrome has a "fancified"? interface?

 

The basic setup has 8 controls total.....any other browser has 3x that amount. :?

[D. V. Devnull]

Chrome has a "fancified"? interface?

 

The basic setup has 8 controls total.....any other browser has 3x that amount. :?

Again... too few, and too cumbersome due to being fancifully simplified IMHO... :(

 

Here's what I prefer:

[spoiler=My FF2 layout... click to view... too large to let load normally.]

 

(If you want, I can provide a screenshot of my semi-high number of running add-ons.)

 

Plenty of buttons and menus to enjoy and speed along with. Might be overload for you, but it's heaven for me. B)

 

~D. V. "Yes, I like my interface decked out..." Devnull

[Hobgoblinpie]

Is it me or does the Firefox 4 interface look pretty much the same as the Opera 10.5&10.6 interface?

 

(not saying that either one copied the other)

[dsavi]

Looks like FireFox may be an auto-writeoff for me, at least based on the screenshots alone. One of the major reasons I liked FireFox was that it didn't look like IE7/IE8/IE9/Chrome, which was the kind of "Fancified Interface" Junk that I was trying to escape. Now that FireFox 4 does look like those, it means I'm gonna be searching for a long time for another good internet browser. Engine features ultimately will mean nothing if the user interface itself is overly troubling to use. <_<

 

Sure, I'll put FireFox back on my list of worthwhile browsers IF someone can show me where in the FF4 options to restore the FF2/FF3-style menu bar and other interface features. (Heck, FF3 was darned hard to customize to restore a number of FF2-style things I really liked!) I simply can't handle/stand/utilize an over-simplified interface, as it becomes insanely cumbersome for me when I'm aiming for speed. :(

 

~D. V. "This is NOT what I changed to FireFox for!" Devnull

 

 

(p.s.: Obviously, I haven't downloaded the program and checked it out myself because I can't, so I'm making a few potentially bad assumptions... Question is, can any of you find anything that Mozilla hid from view, or are those who like menus and tons of buttons totally [bleep]ed?)

You make switching browsers sound like it's a big deal. And please, stop jumping to conclusions. You can switch the tabs to the bottom with two clicks.

Why do you like FF2 so much? It's an old browser. The UI of Netscape-derived browsers has not changed drastically in the last ten years. What's so different about the layout that you don't like?

 

Chrome has a "fancified"? interface?

 

The basic setup has 8 controls total.....any other browser has 3x that amount. :?

Again... too few, and too cumbersome due to being fancifully simplified IMHO... :(

"Facifully simplified" makes no sense, and if you don't like it you can customize it.

[D. V. Devnull]

Probably the one question in the wall of text with meaning to me:

What's so different about the layout that you don't like?

Well, let's start with these screenshots of FireFox 4's interface:

http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/mozilla-firefox-4-design-mockups-28-07-09/

 

Now, compared to the screenshot of my own interface, let alone a number of things I could trip over later, we're missing:

 

1. Menu Bar :blink:
   (Hey, like to show me how to restore this nicely-spread one? Other than also needing it for a tech-illiterate parent, I also prefer a severe split of commands into menu categories. It just so happens that I and my tech-literate parent use 99% of the available commands already, and don't need them suddenly collapsed/moved/changed in manners that we couldn't pull a needle from a haystack! Sure, they're showing Bookmarks and Tools split off to the right, and in their own separate menus. But they're not where I and my whole family tends to flash with the mouse pointer to look for them. And most of us also tend to like a long address bar, which means the bookmarks/tools menus are way in the wrong place.)
   
2. Separated Reload/Stop/Go Buttons :wacko:
   (I had another member of my family walk over and have a look at this one. They also didn't like all three of these buttons being squashed into one either. Let's say, for example, that a user changes their mind in mid-stride or has a page get stuck while loading. No one should have to add extra clicks to first stop, and then reload or change address. Seriously, that ends up being a waste of time, and with FireFox 2's interface style, I don't have to deal with that extra wait. Any way to split them back up?)
   
3. Status Bar :wall:
   (Hmm, gee, I'm using two different extensions that utilize this section of the browser. Further, I like to watch what specific servers that stuff is loading from. And, both I and my whole family like to know where a link is going first before clicking. I would hope that this is just hidden by default, but would anyone like to point me to where?)

Now, you may have noticed, I keep referencing my family as well. It is because we all happen to share these tastes in browser design, and don't want an IE7/IE8/IE9 (let alone Google's Chrome) interface clone for an internet browser. So, again, anyone here want to point out where we would restore an FF2/FF3-style interface to use with FireFox 4's engine and features? We simply don't like this kind of interface that Mozilla wants to push with FireFox 4's release. :notalk:

 

And one other thing... I'm not out to make those that like this other kind of interface angry. I am just simply stating my opinion that such a simplified interface design is "fancy junk" to me, as it basically tries to hide way too much from users. So when you reply back to my post, please avoid trying to shove your "like the new interface" view on me. :(

 

~D. V. "I'd really like to know, since I'm a bit of a 'propeller-head' about user interfaces..." Devnull

 

 

(p.s.: Please don't take this post, or my previous two on this thread, as anything meant to be inflammatory or out to make those that like this other kind of interface style angry. I'm personally 26 shades of mad at big businesses like Microsoft/Google, and now Mozilla with this change, and probably letting a bit of it show by accident in my posts.)

[Sbrideau]

I must agree with Devnull here. Based on the screenshots I have seen, I am not willing to upgrade to firefox 4 anytime soon. I find that interface to be ugly as hell and will probably stay on Firefox 3.6 until the next new interface.

[Ember]

.

[Mil]

There are about 500 themes for Firefox you can choose from. I'm sure there's something there to satisfy your taste, and err... your family needs.

https://addons.mozil...firefox/themes/

 

And please don't assume Mozilla have removed the Menu Bar, it can still exist. Please read about/test the new beta before making annoying assumptions.

[Skull]

I've been on Chrome for a while now, anything about Firefox 4 interesting enough to make it worth downloading and giving a test?

[Sam]

I'll wait for the full release.

 

Until then, it's Safari 5 for me.

[The Runar]

I don't know if it's different on Windows, but on Linux both FF3 and FF4 looks pretty much the same. The only difference I can see is that FF4 has no separate stop/reload buttons, and I never use stop button anyway, so doesn't really matter to me. (and of course the feedback button)

 

[spoiler=screenshots, first is FF3, second is FF4]

 

 

[Sam]

UI changes for OSX and Linux should be coming soon, apparently. I'd love a browser with tabs on top (damn you, Safari 4 beta! ): ).

[The Runar]

UI changes for OSX and Linux should be coming soon, apparently.

 

 

Firefox is just fine as it is, I don't like any other browser's interface <_<

[Dax]

Got it. Looks alright, but I'm going to stick with basic until actual release. I need mah add-ons!