Mozilla, the creator of the world"s second most popular web browser, Firefox, has revealed some of the latest user interface designs through its nightly builds program. From the version numbers that Mozilla have published on their website, the refreshed design of the internet browser will be seen in Firefox 8, which, based on the current release cycle, will be released in the early stages of 2012.
Amongst several of the smaller interface changes, Mozilla have appeared to keep to their word in removing the standard "https://www." from URL addresses in the navigation toolbar. The company recently talked about the idea of reducing the amount of space that tabs and the address bar take up, and this is reflected in the latest nightly builds which show an integrated URL/search bar and the movement of the tabs into the top window area. You can download the latest available versions here. Mozilla have also been trialing several other alterations that can be viewed on one of their presentation mockup pages.
Whether these designs will make it into the final version of Firefox 8 is yet to be seen, Mozilla has been known in the past to change its plans last minute and particularly in the fast release cycle that the company has put Firefox through, it will be no surprise if we see further changes closer to release date. In a recent speed test, Firefox 8 displayed results that put it 20% ahead in terms of speed when compared to the current Firefox 5.
The developers of the internet browser have been criticised lately, even by Microsoft, when it comes to supporting businesses that deploy Firefox through their networks. When Mozilla decided to take a different approach in the software release cycle that put it on par with Google Chrome, there was frustration from the industry that the steady stream of regular updates would make it more difficult for web administrators to keep their servers up-to-date and secure. Only time will tell as to how this will affect the internet browser"s market share worldwide.
Thanks to Ben Dyson for the news tip!
Image Source: Mozilla