Firefox 4.0 to Be Released Soon – Screenshots, Features

After Firefox 3.5, Looks like Mozilla Firefox 3.7 is on its way out as Mozilla announce work on Firefox 4.0 and they have already gone public with images and details of the new GUI for the Mozilla Firefox 4 facelift.

The word is the Firefox 4 overhaul is much larger than Firefox 3.7 and it looks like they have taken a little inspiration from the Google Chrome browser, although still keeping the interface a familiar one.Tip Best Themes for Firefox 3.5

Firefox 4.0 Screenshots

Firefox 4.0 Features

Apparently there are 2 main changes which may be introduced in Firefox 4, a bookmarks widget and a bookmarks tool bar along with a combined go/stop/refresh button and there is intention to make the latest firefox the most user customizable to date.

In addition, Mozilla summarizes the pros and cons of the two designs.

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 title bar 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.

To see the GUI mockups for Firefox 4.0 go HERE

Present & Future of Firefox