 "Firefox 4 Releasing in February")
It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about the Firefox browser. Google Chrome and Opera have been releasing build after build over the months, but Firefox hasn’t really let out a stable release in a long time, except for a few bug fixes.
Will it be able to regain its loyal users?
Alpha builds of the browser were released close to a year back, and beta builds have been out since July of last year. Over the past year, popularity has steadily been dropping as users have found Firefox to get bloated and slow. Even the beta builds haven’t showed much promise. Start up times and simplicity have been some of the reasons users have chosen to move to Google Chrome’s browser and a smaller share with Opera. Firefox still holds as a substantial share of the market. Google Chrome’s strong support for extensions has only made things worse for Firefox. Extensions used to be one of Firefox’s strong points.
The new version of the browser will allow easy syncing of data across browsers and machines. A feature called Panorama will make working with multiple tabs simpler. There have also been interface changes to maximize workspace. These are just a few of the many new features added to the browser. This year, Firefox is bound to face stiff competition from Google Chrome. The new browser needs get back its users which it has been steadily losing, if it wants to be number one.
Our resident Hardware Ninja, Rossi, lives for speed - by uhh riding his bicycle. He's Tech2's utility man, dividing his time between cameras, software and intense bouts of Quake III. He's also a fan of all things obscure, case in point, Live for Speed (sic). Never heard of it? We rest our case. In his spare time he tries to teach our new joinees the tricks of the trade even though the blood sweat and tears, but give him a camera and all things forgotten.