Firefox 29 (beta) brings major design changes!

[Timmyfox]

Overview

So Project Australis has finally hit the beta release channel of Firefox and brings a fresh new design that reminds even more about Google Chrome!

From initial testing I must say that if you get past the very Chrome-like elements it's really not bad, it's more fluid and doesn't feel as sterile due to some new animations here and there.

 

 

Customization

It's obvious that Mozilla wanted to keep one of the key selling points of Firefox which is the customization options and has introduced a new and fairly sleek customization page that opens up in the very same way you've always opened the customization options - right click any toolbar and click "Customize". It can also be opened from a new menu on the right of the address bar. I can add that this new Chrome-styled menu button replaces the "Firefox Button" that's been in use since version 4 of the browser.

 

Once in the customization menu you will notice that there isn't as many available options as before in terms of adding spacers and all those things. However all the common menu buttons and really everything but the tabs and the address bar can be moved around pretty much anywhere on the UI using simple dragging and dropping. This includes all items in the new menu I mentioned, save for the bar-styled ones in the very bottom, which means you can rearrange the order of nearly all buttons in both the main browser window as well as the new menu. By dragging any it item the center container-like thing labeled "Additional Tools and Features" you can remove that item from view, just the way you've been able to do in previous versions.

 

 

Performance and Sync

Obviously I haven't had much time yet to see how it performs, but I haven't noticed anything bad thus far so I'd assume it should be as good or better than the previous version.

 

Another design change is that of Firefox Sync, the feature that syncs your browser data between devices. The change is nothing major although it will require you to create a new account and sign in again on all your devices as they've done away with the whole "Recovery Key" thing and instead simply let you sign in using an account that's linked to your email address. This change applies as well to the latest version of the mobile app and is nothing that needs to be done immediately as the old system will continue to function for as long as you remain signed in and Mozilla's legacy servers are up and running.

 

Summary

This new version of Firefox seems to focus mainly on the new interface, codenamed "Australis", which albeit being very Chrome inspired does manage to retain most of what Firefox is known for which is the add-ons and customization options. As an avid Firefox user I can't really say I don't like it; I don't agree with all the design choices they've made but my first impressions are generally positive.

[Shd0w2]

As someone coming from google chome, I'm interested, but maybe not enough

[TheNinjaNextDor]

I really wish it didn't have that border around it. It makes me think of IE.

[GoodBytes]

What I like about the new menu, is that it's great when you use a touch screen tablet. It;s on the right side, so you can use your thumb, and have large buttons. Same for the bookmark panel. tab it, tap a link form the menu that will appear, and it disappears.

It's a shame that the close tab button are too small. If the hit region was larger (not the icon), then it would be great for touch screens. So far, you need too much precision for a smooth finger navigation.

I have Firefox Aurora (version 29). So I have been using the new GUI for a while now.

[Snickerzz]

LOLOLOLOLOL it chrome

[Sors]

I hope you can change that look, I use firefox because I can make it not look like chrome.    I hate tabs sooo much...

[flibberdipper]

But... I finally updated from 23 to 27...

[MatheusSanzo]

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/78430-thoughts-on-firefox-nightly-new-look/

[geogga]

Memory usage?

[mc141]

I hope they learned from microsux and the metro force on us. I hope fire fox lets u choose which style u want as i like as is dont like chrome look. I guess theres alway opera which is my primary on my phone.

[GoodBytes]

I hope they learned from microsux and the metro force on us.

I am lost.

 

I hope fire fox lets u choose which style u want as i like as is dont like chrome look. I guess theres alway opera which is my primary on my phone.

You have no option to change the look by default. But Firefox supports themes.

[TacticlTwinkie]

It looks an aweful lot like google chrome. And that kind of kills it for me. I really like my firefox looks right now.

[Slater]

The first i'll do when this update becomes part of the official release is change the look. I personally don't like the chrome look, now its just going to look more like a chrome-clone rather than a browser of its own. I thought different "products" were meant to differentiate themselves from their competition and create an identity for themselves, not the other way around and literally mimic the look of a direct competitor...

[SangeetKhatri]

Very chrome-ish. But I like it since I love the slick interface of Google Chrome, so no problem. This looks nice. I got no problems with it.

[kuddlesworth9419]

I really don't like how all the browsers are becoming really bloated. They should be focusing on making the best performing browser they can and make it so it's really easy to install extensions onto the browser. That is all they really need to do. Also make it easy to customize because none of the browsers so far are particularaly good at customization. I want to me able to move any button anywhere and put anything anywhere.

[Timmyfox]

I really don't like how all the browsers are becoming really bloated. They should be focusing on making the best performing browser they can and make it so it's really easy to install extensions onto the browser. That is all they really need to do. Also make it easy to customize because none of the browsers so far are particularaly good at customization. I want to me able to move any button anywhere and put anything anywhere.

Not really sure what you mean by that to be honest. Add-ons/Extensions and customization has always been one of the key traits of Firefox and even if it's a little more limited today than it once was, it's still leaps ahead of other browsers I've used. Themes and addons to tweak the interface are still very alive and usable, as is about:config and the "customization" menu which I've already mentioned has gotten an overhaul to be its own tab, about:customizing, rather than a fairly dated-looking popup window.

 

If you think it looks messy you can remove nearly every single button and element to leave just the address bar and tab bar. Please to tell what you mean by 'bloated' as I honestly just see interfaces getting more clean and sterile rather than bloated and full of options and buttons.

 

[Wauthar]

I've been using Aurora (Firefox' beta) for some months and it has version 29 for quite some time now. I like it, it looks much more smooth than Firefox did.

[kuddlesworth9419]

Not really sure what you mean by that to be honest. Add-ons/Extensions and customization has always been one of the key traits of Firefox and even if it's a little more limited today than it once was, it's still leaps ahead of other browsers I've used. Themes and addons to tweak the interface are still very alive and usable, as is about:config and the "customization" menu which I've already mentioned has gotten an overhaul to be its own tab, about:customizing, rather than a fairly dated-looking popup window.

 

If you think it looks messy you can remove nearly every single button and element to leave just the address bar and tab bar. Please to tell what you mean by 'bloated' as I honestly just see interfaces getting more clean and sterile rather than bloated and full of options and buttons.

 

fx3interface.png

The interface is getting cleaner and less usable in my opinion. But what I meant was that the code is getting bloated with every update. All of the browsers are doing this, they are adding lots of little things that cause problems with other stuff. But I run the beta browsers so that is probably why. I would like a browser that had a similar interface to an OS like W7. SO there would be something similar to a start button that had a search functionality in it to search for settings. Also more settings, I really don't want to have to go into different sections of a web browser to enable HTML5/ Hardware acceleration and a whole bunch of other stuff. Disabling things like Flash and Java are a pain in the ass with Chrome and probably FireFox. I guess what I am saying is that I want a place on the browser where everything can be turned on or off of altered in some way. A proper settings menu would be nice.

[Timmyfox]

The interface is getting cleaner and less usable in my opinion. But what I meant was that the code is getting bloated with every update. All of the browsers are doing this, they are adding lots of little things that cause problems with other stuff. But I run the beta browsers so that is probably why. I would like a browser that had a similar interface to an OS like W7. SO there would be something similar to a start button that had a search functionality in it to search for settings. Also more settings, I really don't want to have to go into different sections of a web browser to enable HTML5/ Hardware acceleration and a whole bunch of other stuff. Disabling things like Flash and Java are a pain in the ass with Chrome and probably FireFox. I guess what I am saying is that I want a place on the browser where everything can be turned on or off of altered in some way. A proper settings menu would be nice.

Well, isn't that something that comes naturally with just about any piece of software?

I know you can clean up the browser data and 'reset' it to behave like out the box which can improve some stability and performance as a lot of user data and cache generated by previous versions are flushed out. I know it's not the same thing as you're talking about, but it's something to mention.

 

I see what you mean about the settings, but imho it's not worse than any other browser I've used. Chrome barely has any settings to begin with whereas Firefox has a fairly complete options menu for general stuff and the add-ons page for extentions, themes and plugins. Advanced things that might impact the browser performance break certain things are available in the about:config page which has nearly anything you might want.

 

"And probably FireFox"? You're implying that you're just making an assumption? Don't make false claims without actually having tried it.

 

To enable/disable any plugin or extension you simply follow these easy steps:

1. Click the menu button and then Add-ons (or do the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+A)
2.  
   • If it's an extension you just locate the extension in the list and simply click the Enable / Disable button.
   • If it's a plugin rather (like flash of java) you click the "plugins" tab in the sidebar and select "Always activate", "Ask to activate" or "Never activate" in the corresponding drop-down menu for the plugin.
3. Done.

I get what you mean by the "a single place for all settings" thing and I'd say the closest to that is about:config. That said I honestly like the separation as it makes for better organization and less clutter. I think though there was some talk about baking in the options menu into a dedicated tab in the same way as the add-on manager is implemented to make for better uniformity, but I'm not completely sure what happened to that.

 

EDIT: found it https://wiki.mozilla.org/In-content_preferences

It seems to have been put aside for the time being but we'll see what will happen to this concept later. The function is there if you want to try it, but is disabled by default.

To enable it you simply change the boolean named "browser.preferences.inContent" on the about:config page to "True".

 

Either way Firefox is all open-source so you're free to do whatever changes you want to make it more to your liking. Then perhaps you can share your modifications with the community and maybe Mozilla will consider including them in any upcoming releases?

[A/C]

Looks and smells like ZorinOS, don't you think?

 

Nice. Good for Mozilla. I always liked them and the way they make their business.

[FlakeyBanana]

i swear nightly looked like this for aslong as i can remember

[thexzenon]

i swear nightly looked like this for aslong as i can remember

That's cause they slowly moved the UI change to other update channels iirc I personally like the design, but I still think that the Firefox 4 or 5 UI concept was the most beautiful thing ever.

 

Here's the pic: http://www.stephenhorlander.com/images/blog-posts/windows-theme-i03-app-button/Fx-4.0-Mockup-Win7-i03-AppButton-ToT.png :lol:

[Timmyfox]

i swear nightly looked like this for aslong as i can remember

I'd assume around 2-3 months since this project has been going on for quite long now. Longer in the UX-branch.

[Linus_torvalds]

opera became chrome now mozilla wants to become chrome. do not you see guys that chrome is the best internet browser!

 

P.S.   IE wants to become internet browser LOL

[kuddlesworth9419]

Well, isn't that something that comes naturally with just about any piece of software?

I know you can clean up the browser data and 'reset' it to behave like out the box which can improve some stability and performance as a lot of user data and cache generated by previous versions are flushed out. I know it's not the same thing as you're talking about, but it's something to mention.

 

I see what you mean about the settings, but imho it's not worse than any other browser I've used. Chrome barely has any settings to begin with whereas Firefox has a fairly complete options menu for general stuff and the add-ons page for extentions, themes and plugins. Advanced things that might impact the browser performance break certain things are available in the about:config page which has nearly anything you might want.

 

"And probably FireFox"? You're implying that you're just making an assumption? Don't make false claims without actually having tried it.

 

To enable/disable any plugin or extension you simply follow these easy steps:

1. Click the menu button and then Add-ons (or do the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+A)
2.  
   • If it's an extension you just locate the extension in the list and simply click the Enable / Disable button.
   • If it's a plugin rather (like flash of java) you click the "plugins" tab in the sidebar and select "Always activate", "Ask to activate" or "Never activate" in the corresponding drop-down menu for the plugin.
3. Done.

I get what you mean by the "a single place for all settings" thing and I'd say the closest to that is about:config. That said I honestly like the separation as it makes for better organization and less clutter. I think though there was some talk about baking in the options menu into a dedicated tab in the same way as the add-on manager is implemented to make for better uniformity, but I'm not completely sure what happened to that.

 

EDIT: found it https://wiki.mozilla.org/In-content_preferences

It seems to have been put aside for the time being but we'll see what will happen to this concept later. The function is there if you want to try it, but is disabled by default.

To enable it you simply change the boolean named "browser.preferences.inContent" on the about:config page to "True".

 

Either way Firefox is all open-source so you're free to do whatever changes you want to make it more to your liking. Then perhaps you can share your modifications with the community and maybe Mozilla will consider including them in any upcoming releases?

I did use FireFox for about 10 min. So I don't know everything about it but I went back to Chrome and Opera because I didn't like the layout. Opera has a similar layout to Firefox though but I don't use that very often. And yes I do know all about the config areas of chrome and firefox I just wish that it was in one place rather then having to search how to get there all the time. It's just a pain in the ass. It should all be in the settings area. And the settings area needs to have a better layout. At the moment the Chrome settings are all spread out all over the place. It should really be pushed together into a single page with smaller font.