Firefox 4 is the latest version of one of the most popular web browsers. Most people have chosen Firefox as a replacement for Internet Explorer in the early days of web browsing. I remember that's what it was like for me. After getting tired of crashes and hanging, I switched to Firefox. When I switched to the Mac, I found Chrome to be a better and faster browser. But now, Firefox 4 is making me want to switch again. Here are some of the improvements over past versions of Firefox.
Perhaps the most important improvement is speed. The developers say that Firefox 4 is up to 4 times faster than 3.6 overall. It can load pages faster, it uses less memory when active and with tabs loaded and it processes Javascript better. That is all fact. It also enables hardware acceleration when available. Some speed tests I found on the web are still saying that Chrome is a tad faster, especially at a cold start and in tab loading, but not much so.
Graphically, Firefox 4 boasts a redesigned interface with lots of tweaks. The most notable one is the Tab Panorama, which is a sort of Exposé for tabs. It allows you to group and easily access open tabs with a hotkey. The tabs have been relocated to the top of the screen to save space.
Those are some of the new features in Firefox 4. I recommend you give it a try. I will test it more thoroughly and it looks like I might be making the switch back soon.
Comments (2)