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New Firefox Versions In The Works
Firefox 3 has only been out the door for a couple of weeks, but Mozilla.org, which develops the browser, is already looking ahead to the next versions. I talked with Mozilla.org about what users can expect in future 'foxes, and when we can expect them. Bad news for you haters of the smart location bar: It's not going away, Mozilla is committed to it, although they're thinking of ways to modify it to make it more palatable. We also discussed plans for upgrading the bookmarks management user interface in Firefox, reports from some users that Firefox 3 is still experiencing bloat as a result of memory usage problems, and problems with Firefox 3's security filters.
Firefox 3.1 is due in alpha in "a few months," Dotzler said, and the final version will be available around the New Year. Developers haven't yet set a timetable for Firefox 4, but they're starting to discuss features.
The top feature that Mozilla.org is looking at is the AwesomeBar. The AwesomeBar is a little personalized search engine that lives in the location bar of the browser -- the space at the top of most browsers where the URL of the current page is displayed, and where you can type in the URL for your next page you want to go to. In Firefox 3, when you start typing in the location bar, the software suggests a dropdown list of pages that match what you're typing. The list is extremely accurate, drawn from your history and bookmarks and calculated using the URL of the page, words in the title, in tags, and other page metadata.
For example, to find my Firefox 3 review, I simply type "Firefox" and "burns" into the AwesomeBar, and the review pops right up, first in Firefox 3's list of suggestions.
The AwesomeBar is controversial. I love it, but many people don't. Blogger Zac Garrett says it's "just plain annoying." A reader identifying himself as "user1001" said on our forums that he "hated that feature" and called it a "big mistake" that will drive Firefox users to Internet Explorer. Reader "Norm" says:
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