Faster, cleaner, whiter, brighter browser updates old favourite

Firefox 4.0 beta

Firefox released the beta of its new 4.0 internet browser and it’s pretty cool. I’ve been using it almost exclusively since Thursday and it has worked without a hiccup.

The existing plug-ins are working, except one Firebug and Google Page Speed. I use them to check performance of websites against Google’s Caffeine engine.

They say 4.0 is faster but 3.6 was fast enough. 3.6 had a nasty habit of gently crashing when you loaded too many tabs. So far the beta 4.0 has stayed live during everything thrown at it.

Tabs are arranged across the top of the screen. There is one drop-down in the top left that has all the “plumbing” which neatly hides it away.

Firefox 4.0 beta supports HTML5 video without an add-on plug-in putting it on par with Safari and Chrome. Firefox 4 supports the new Google standard high definition video with WebM, an open source standard that bypasses all the conflicts of H.264 and Flash. That helps with the sites that have migrated to H.264 but there are so many still on Flash.  If WebM takes hold, H.264 with it’s costly licensing and problems may become an Apple orphan.

To try out the Firefox 4.0 beta, download from their site.  For a detailed analysis of the new features, try ComputerWorld. Firefox 4 beta 1 is a smart-looking, snappy performer