Firefox 3.7 swivels glassy eye
Half full or half empty? You decide
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Mozilla developers have revealed mockups of Firefox 3.7 to give users a taster of what that version of the popular open source browser might eventually look like.
The org spun out screenshots of the browser earlier this week, even though it hasn’t yet released the next iteration — Firefox 3.6.
Mozilla main man Mike Beltzner confirmed on Monday that the next version of the browser would land around the same time as the “estimated street date of Windows 7”, which is expected in October.
So what can users expect to see potentially added to Firefox 3.7?
The browser nods happily in the direction of Windows Vista/7 Aero Glass design by taking on the same translucent appearance as the OS itself.
“Toolbar and Tabs using Glass. Buttons translucent and slightly glossy to meld with the toolbar. Raised 3D look achieve tactile ‘feel’,” noted Mozilla in a draft wiki post.
Elsewhere, the outfit’s developers have been playing around with the Page Button function so it will connect to the left side of the tab area. The Tools/Bookmark Bar has also been given a nudge over to the side of the window “to emphasise the fact that it is used for customising and changing the UI”.
Of course whether those designs will be locked into Firefox 3.7 remains to be seen. After all, Mozilla has only provided mockups of how that version of the browser, which isn’t expected to land until next spring, could actually look. The big tease. ®
COMMENTS
Well...
Am I the only one that ran Vista and is currently on Windows 7 RC and hates the transparency?
Anyone?
Hello!?
Just me then....
Boring!
I can't believe they've just copied Google. I always thought Mozilla were the innovators, but I'm finding Firefox to be bigger, bulkier and more useless with each release. I use Safari everywhere now, not becuase IE's not any good (it really is, now) but because many of my machines are Macs.
Back to the point. Mozilla seem to ignore their users' messages all the time. The "make exception" feature is one that comes to mind, something I have to do for every secure website on every visit because the proxy rotates. It's a UI workflow disaster. And it can't be turned off.
What will be turned off is people. I can quickly see Firefox being hated by all but those that love toys, hundreds of plug-ins and clichés.
@Doug Glass
For a product to win the hearts of the consumers, not the technically minded ones, it has to be perceived as "better" in all dimensions they care about. So they have to work on the aesthetics and usability as well as the underlying rendering engine, Javascript performance, etc.
My perception is that FF is already over IE in the technical areas. Yes, it's not perfect. Yes, it could be better. But is already perceived as better by consumers. It is logical then to focus on appearance and usability. I agree that if you keep doing that only you'll stagnate and die, but it's not bad to have some time devoted to eye candy.
For a proof of the argument, look at Ubuntu. Already superior to anything MS has behind the desktop, yet people keep saying that they don't switch because of usability problems. Would not then make sense for Ubuntu to focus on usability?
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