Firefox 3.5 just went gold, but that hasn't stopped Mozilla from showing vehemently non-final mockup screenshots of Firefox 4.
Of the two design candidates, one bears a striking resemblance to new competitor Google's Chrome browser, with the tab controls way up above everything else. It's a design that Apple tried for Safari 4 beta and then ditched in that browser's final release.
Notably, both designs remove the standard menu bar from from the top, following Internet Explorer's lead in this by several years. Funny how everyone notices what's borrowed from Google Chrome, but not a possibly more drastic UI change pioneered by Microsoft back in IE7. The new proposed Firefox design instead places Page and Tools icons at the top right – not very far from IE's Page and Tools choices, also on the right.
One thing I noticed missing from the design, which has one of its stated goals as providing more space for Web pages, is the bookmark link bar, which I can't imagine living without and which would take back space from the Web page. Internet forum commenters have already decried the pared-down new look, claiming that the rich, customizable interface was why they chose Firefox in the first place. The new Bookmarks button is meant to take the place of the buttons, but that adds an extra click to get to your favorite sites.
Of the two design candidates, one bears a striking resemblance to new competitor Google's Chrome browser, with the tab controls way up above everything else. It's a design that Apple tried for Safari 4 beta and then ditched in that browser's final release.
Notably, both designs remove the standard menu bar from from the top, following Internet Explorer's lead in this by several years. Funny how everyone notices what's borrowed from Google Chrome, but not a possibly more drastic UI change pioneered by Microsoft back in IE7. The new proposed Firefox design instead places Page and Tools icons at the top right – not very far from IE's Page and Tools choices, also on the right.
One thing I noticed missing from the design, which has one of its stated goals as providing more space for Web pages, is the bookmark link bar, which I can't imagine living without and which would take back space from the Web page. Internet forum commenters have already decried the pared-down new look, claiming that the rich, customizable interface was why they chose Firefox in the first place. The new Bookmarks button is meant to take the place of the buttons, but that adds an extra click to get to your favorite sites.
