Mozilla is giving a sneak peek at the Firefox 4.0 Web browser through a series of early screenshots released just a week after the Mozilla unveiled teaser shots of
Mozilla Firefox 3.7.
While Mozilla is quick to caution that the mockups of its open-source Firefox 4.0 Web browser are just big maybes at this point, the browser bears striking resemblance to Google Chrome, and it appears Mozilla wants it that way.
Firefox 3.7 had some Google Chrome elements to it, like the elimination of the browser's title bar, which was replaced with two drop-down menu buttons on the right, just like Google Chrome. But Mozilla Firefox 4.0 takes the Cromeyness to a new level with its glassy Chrome design.
From the images, it appears Firefox 4.0 lets users chose between two designs: tabs-on-bottom or tabs-on-top, or below the address bar or above the address bar, respectively.
The tabs-on-top version is where the Google Chrome likenesses come full force. The tabs-on-top option in the Firefox 4.0 browser, which Mozilla called "contentious," saves vertical space, removes visual complexity and creates shorter mouse distances to page controls. The negatives of the tabs-on-top model of Firefox 4.0, however, are that it breaks consistency and familiarity, which could confuse existing users. In addition, the title bar is missing, so users only get the truncated title in the tab; and some space is lost between the application icon and the window widgets, Mozilla said.
Firefox 4.0 also adds a combo button with Stop, Refresh and Go commands to the right of the address bar, which in version 4.0 changes color and behavior depending on what the browser and user are doing. That combo button can be used to load a page after the address has been typed, stop loading the page or reload/refresh it.
Mozilla posted the Firefox 4.0 mockups to solicit comment on the designs. Mozilla warned that the screenshots displayed "are NOT FINAL! THEY ARE ONLY FOR BRAINSTORMING/EXPLORATION!"
