Firefox 4 Beta 1 download up

[Bateluer]

http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/06/firefox-4-beta-1-now-available-for-download/

Whoa, Nelly! Is that a Firefox 4 download button we're looking at? Why yes... yes it is! We can't think of a much better way to wrap up one's workday than by finding out that Mozilla's own Firefox browser has finally made the official leap to 4.0, with Beta 1 going live for the adoring public today. It's ready to be sucked down and installed for those with Windows, Linux and OS X-based machines, and the changelog itself is far too lengthy for this space (though it's linked below for your perusal). You'll obviously notice an overhauled look hitting you front and center, with a new add-on manager, support for the new WebM format, improved privacy settings and crash protection headlining the "big chart o' features." Give 'er a download and toss your thoughts on the new build down in comments below, cool?

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/beta/technology/
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/beta/

 

[lxskllr]

Yay! Looks like Mozilla Chrome... :^/

 

[Chiefcrowe]

thanks! looking forward to checking it out!

 

[busydude]

My initial observations:

1) Minimize, maximize and close buttons are no where to be seen. One way is to use ALT+Space+' ' shortcut.

2) Each tab is seen as a separate window in windows 7.

Screenshot to confirm:

 

[Crusty]

My initial observations:

1) Minimize, maximize and close buttons are no where to be seen. Only way is to use ALT+Space+' ' shortcut.

2) Each tab is seen as a separate window in windows 7.

Screenshot to confirm:

You can double click on the top bar, but it's only a few pixels tall and you most certainly can not click on the top half of the bar and expect anything to happen. Other then that, no issues so far.

edit: Just discovered that you can double click on the freespace after the tabs on the right and get the same behavior. That makes it a bit more tolerable I guess, we'll see.

 

[benzylic]

My initial observations:

1) Minimize, maximize and close buttons are no where to be seen. Only way is to use ALT+Space+' ' shortcut.

they are there for me

 

[busydude]

You can double click on the top bar, but it's only a few pixels tall and you most certainly can not click on the top half of the bar and expect anything to happen. Other then that, no issues so far.

Thanks, editied. I personally prefer keyboard shortcuts to mouse clicks. Oh and double clicking just restores windows, doesn't actually minimize it right?

 

[busydude]

they are there for me

Dang, I just checked again. It looks fine when using basic and classic themes, there is some issue with aero themes.

 

[gbeirn]

Anyone know if there is a configuration setting that can be changed to allow it to use extensions not specifically designed for FF4?

 

[lxskllr]

Can the tabs be moved below the address bar? I'm assuming they can, but I wouldn't mind confirmation.

 

[benzylic]

Can the tabs be moved below the address bar? I'm assuming they can, but I wouldn't mind confirmation.

Yes

 

[lxskllr]

Yes

Thanks. I don't like the tabs up top. It requires more movement than necessary. I constantly switch between tabs, and that's always bothered me in Opera and Chrome; to the point it's almost a deal breaker.

 

[Modelworks]

If you have win7 you can enable direct write which uses the gpu. Really changes the font rendering and speed.

Enter ‘about:config’
Click through the warning, if necessary
Enter gfx.font in the ‘Filter’ box
Double-click on ‘gfx.font_rendering.directwrite.enabled’ to set it to true
Below this, right click and select New > Integer to add a pref setting
Enter ‘mozilla.widget.render-mode’ for the preference name, 6 for the value
Restart

While you are in about:config you can also enable WebGL.
change the webgl.enabled_for_all_sites to true.
Then give the webgl pool page a try:
http://playwebgl.com/games/o3d-webgl-pool/

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Thanks. I don't like the tabs up top. It requires more movement than necessary. I constantly switch between tabs, and that's always bothered me in Opera and Chrome; to the point it's almost a deal breaker.

There's an extremely good reason it is that way. Fitt's Law. It's the only sensible way of displaying tabs.

 

[Maximilian]

There's an extremely good reason it is that way. Fitt's Law. It's the only sensible way of displaying tabs.

Well fitt can shove it. I prefer tabs at the bottom as well

 

[busydude]

Thanks. I don't like the tabs up top. It requires more movement than necessary. I constantly switch between tabs, and that's always bothered me in Opera and Chrome; to the point it's almost a deal breaker.

Well fitt can shove it. I prefer tabs at the bottom as well

There is a video presentation on advantages and disadvantages( well mostly advantages). Beginning at 1:00, he explicitly states that this interface is going to be optional and user can change the position of tabs based on their on preferences.

 

[lxskllr]

Thanks for the video link. Interesting, but I don't buy it, at least not for me. It seems like they're assuming this is the first time someone's used a web browser. The tabs on top may or may not be more intuitive for a first time user. I've used Firefox since version 0.7, and I don't remember having any confusion on the way things work, or what field affected which window. I think a lot of the pluses they listed are nitpicky, and normal people wouldn't necessarily follow that logic.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

Very good to know, thank you.
Do you guys think this will be a regular option in the final version?

If you have win7 you can enable direct write which uses the gpu. Really changes the font rendering and speed.

While you are in about:config you can also enable WebGL.
change the webgl.enabled_for_all_sites to true.
Then give the webgl pool page a try:
http://playwebgl.com/games/o3d-webgl-pool/

 

[lxskllr]

Tabs on top? I'm sure it'll be a feature, and I'm also sure it'll be the default behavior. As long as I can put them where they belong, I don't care. That's a big reason I stick with Firefox, it gives you choices.

 

[lxskllr]

Do any of you know how to disable compatibility checking of addons? I entered this string in about:config but it isn't working

extensions.checkCompatibility.4.0b1;false

 

[gevorg]

So does each tab is "sandboxed" like in Chrome?

 

[Fayd]

Dang, I just checked again. It looks fine when using basic and classic themes, there is some issue with aero themes.

customize > enable menu bar.

 

[lxskllr]

For those interested, you can use this addon to enable overriding compatibility. Lots of broken/misbehaving extensions here...

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/15003/?src=external-fxbetarelnote

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

It's nice that users get the option of having the tab bar above or below the URL bar. It's a nice touch. Threading would have been nice, though (just not the insane 10+ threads that get created every time I open a 1-tab Chrome window), and having the addon compatibility addon enabled by default would have been useful too.

Do any of you know how to disable compatibility checking of addons? I entered this string in about:config but it isn't working

extensions.checkCompatibility.4.0b1;false

about:addons --> Get Add-ons --> Add-on Compatibility Reporter

That re-enables all your addons by default (you'll have to restart the browser again for it to take effect, though).
https://addons.mozilla.org/addon/15003?src=external-discovery-pane

 

[Fayd]

hmm...2 days after i start using minefield, they release the firefox 4 beta...