gHacks technology news » firefox 4 http://www.ghacks.net A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:31:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Firefox 4 Mockup Theme For Firefox 3 http://www.ghacks.net/2009/09/13/firefox-4-mockup-theme-for-firefox-3/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/09/13/firefox-4-mockup-theme-for-firefox-3/#comments Sun, 13 Sep 2009 09:29:56 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=16293 firefoxThe designers and developers of the Firefox web browser have shown several design mockups of future Firefox versions in July. These mockups have since then been the source of inspiration for Firefox theme developers who tried to create a theme that would look like one of the possible future designs of the web browser.

The Strata 40 theme for Firefox is probably the most complete theme yet as it combines not only a Firefox theme but also add-ons and userscripts that need to be installed to look like the Firefox 4 design mockup. Several versions of the theme are possible depending on the add-ons and scripts that are installed next to it. This somewhat reflects the various designs that have been posted by the Firefox designers (e.g. tabs on top or normal position for tabs).

firefox4 theme

Links to all add-ons and userscripts that are needed to make the theme look similar to Firefox 4 designs are posted on the theme’s page at the Mozilla website. Here is the list for your convenience:

  • Download and install the Strata 40 theme.
  • Install Strata Glass add-on for glass effects in Windows Vista and Windows 7. [optional]
  • Install Personal Menu add-on for Bookmarks and Tools buttons in the toolbar. [optional]
  • Install Fisson add-on for progress line features. [optional]
  • Install the Stylish add-on and the Tabs on Top userstyle to move the tabs to the top of the web browser. [optional]
  • Install the Omnibar add-on to add search functionality to the address bar. [optional]

firefox4 theme tabs on top

The result is a elegant theme for the Firefox 3 web browser.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/09/13/firefox-4-mockup-theme-for-firefox-3/feed/ 11 Firefox 3.7 and 4.0 Design Mockups http://www.ghacks.net/2009/07/29/firefox-3-7-and-4-0-design-mockups/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/07/29/firefox-3-7-and-4-0-design-mockups/#comments Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:52:48 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=14871 firefoxHow could version 3.7 and version 4.0 of the Firefox web browser look like? That’s something that the Mozilla development team tried to answer by posting design mockups of Firefox 4 and Firefox 3.7 at the Mozilla Wiki website. Firefox 3.7 is obviously the next major release in the Firefox 3 branch while Firefox 4 will be the next big release at the end of the lifecycle of version 3. A new design can be source of all sorts of problems including usability issues which is probably one of the biggest concerns of Firefox users at this point in time.

Firefox 3.7 Design Mockups:

firefox 3.7

The design mockups of Firefox 3.7 look like they are making use of Aero Glass in Windows Vista and Windows 7. The RSS and bookmark icons have been moved out of the Firefox address bar and the two new entries Page and Tools have been added to the header. Page apparently contains functions and options that are directly related to the active page while Tools will be used for changing the UI of the web browser. Tabs are now rounded as well.

firefox 3.7

The design for Windows XP is basically the same as for Windows Vista sans the Aero Glass effects.


firefox 3.7

Firefox 4.0 Design Mockups:

Two different design mockups have been posted for Firefox 4. The main difference lies in the location of the tabbar. Firefox 4 version a comes with the tabbar in the usual place while version b moves the tabs to the top of the web browser similar to the tabs in Google Chrome.

firefox 4

firefox 4

Some of the most obvious changes include the absence of the status bar, the unifcation of the address bar with the search bar and a big new bookmarks button. Version b seems to have drawn several design inspirations from the Google browser. It does not come with a title bar anymore which could be a problem for long page titles. The bookmarks button is gone in this release and the page and tools buttons are placed in the tabbar next to each other.

The Mozilla team added a pro and con list to the second design mockup which is addressing all these concerns.

Verdict: Many of the changes proposed can already be done with add-ons which is probably a better way of handling changes. Add-ons allow users to remove the status or title bar, move the tabs on top or combine the address field with the search field. The biggest risk will be design changes that most Firefox users do not like or do not want to cope with. It is possible that the Firefox community will create add-ons that address these problems. It could also be that Firefox users decided to look at alternative browsers instead.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/07/29/firefox-3-7-and-4-0-design-mockups/feed/ 9 Firefox 4 Alpha http://www.ghacks.net/2008/03/11/firefox-4-alpha/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/03/11/firefox-4-alpha/#comments Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:08:41 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2008/03/11/firefox-4-alpha/ Don’t jump to conclusions just yet. Some blogs (Tech Today started it I guess) are reporting that a first pre release alpha of Firefox 4 has been added to the official Mozilla ftp website and I would like to use this article to clarify a few points made. Tech Today claims that this is actually an official Firefox 4 alpha release while it is actually a pre-alpha build, also known as a trunk build.

There is no decision on the codename for Firefox 4 yet, it is definitely not Minefield which refers to the 1.9 trunk that Firefox 3 is being developed on. Remember that the codename for Firefox 3 is Gran Paradiso. Neither the trunk for Firefox 4 nor the browser itself have been codenamed yet.

Which leads to the conclusion that the Tech Today blog excited about the discovery published inaccurate news which is probably leading to some confusion in the community.

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