Firefox 4.0

Even though Firefox 3.5 was released since not-so-long ago(about one month), the cool people at Mozilla are already thinking about Version 4.0, scheduled for release in 2010. On the Mozilla wiki, they have released theme mockups of the Windows version of Firefox 4.0. I think they really look great!

It has a very ‘Google Chrome’-y look that I love. I also love the full Windows aero glass transparency.

You have to take into consideration that these are only mockups, the finished product could be exactly like this, but  could also be a far-cry from this. Personally, I’d love to see FF 4.0 to be like the mockups.

Tabs

There are two possibilities: Tabs-on-top or Tabs-on-bottom:

Tabs-on-bottom

Tabs-on-top

Which looks better? Of course the one with tabs on top.

I prefer the tabs on top because they save a considerable amount of screen real estate. My point is that we are in 2009, when the attention is on the content, not the browser. We are not in 2002 when everybody added a gazillion toolbars to Internet Explorer 6 and pretended to use them. :P

Actually, I am currently using Firefox with tabs on top thanks to the Chromifox Extreme theme.

From the Mozilla Wiki:

Positives

• Save Vertical Space
• Efficiency/Remove Visual Complexity – Right now the tabs have to be connected to something. So we are adding an extra visual element for them to connect to.
• Shorter Mouse Distance to Page Controls

Negatives

• Breaks Consistency/Familiarity – Moving things confuses existing users.
• Title is MIA – With the space removed from the titlebar you only get the truncated version in the tab.
• Longer Mouse Distance to Tabs – Takes longer to mouse to a tab.
• Lost Space – Sandwiched in between the application icon and the window widgets you lose some space.

This about sums it up, what more can I add? :)

Address Bar Tweaks

I’m not sure I would like a combined Stop/Go/Refresh button. Stop and Refresh combined is good but I’ve grown used to the Go button being separate. However, the “Progress ‘Line’” is totally awesome. Similar (well, kind of similar) functionality can be obtained by installing the Fission add on.

That’s it for today. So, what do you people think about it?