Mozilla Launches Firefox 4 Beta

Mozilla Launches Firefox 4 Beta Mozilla launched Firefox 4 Beta, which introduces a new look and a sizable pile of new features. Based on Gecko 2.0 Web platform layout engine, Firefox 4 Beta 1 is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

With Firefox 4 Beta, Mozilla introduces a brand new interface. It takes cues from Google Chrome and other browsers by placing the tabs on top by default in Windows only; it'll come to Mac OS and Linux later on, and hiding the menubar.

Like other new browsers, Firefox 4 Beta provides some crash protection features: If a browser plugin crashes, it'll just bring down the plugin instead of causing the entire browser to crash. Firefox 4 Beta also features bolstered HTML5 support, adds full WebGL support for 3D rendering within the browser (though it's disabled by default at this time), and adds support for Google's new WebM video format.

Feeling daring? Visit the Firefox 4 Beta 1 download page and check it out. And if you've already taken Firefox 4 Beta for a spin, share your thoughts and post a comment.

Other new significant features in the Firefox 4.0 beta are:

Add-Ons Manager: Gives users more space to manage their Add-Ons, Themes and Plugins.

Enhanced support for emerging Web standards like CSS 3, Canvas and Web Sockets

HD Video: Watch hardware-accelerated, super-smooth, HD-quality HTML5 video on YouTube using the new WebM format.

Privacy improvements: The beta fixes flaws in some Web standards that could expose user's browser history.

Crash Protection: When a plugin crashes or freezes, users will be able to resume browsing by simply refreshing the page.

Jetpack SDK for new-style lightweight add-ons

The new Firefox 4.0 beta also promises performance improvement, including new HTML5 parser.

Mozilla Launches Firefox 4 Beta

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