A new Firefox Beta for Windows, Mac and Linux is now available for download and testing. This beta adds new in-product developer tools that make it easier to visualize page elements and updates Firefox Sync capabilities to let users sync add-ons across computers.
What’s New in Firefox Beta for Web Developers:
- Page Inspector 3D View: Tilt is a new WebGL-based website visualization tool that illustrates the relationship between various parts of a websites and their ancestors in 3D. The Tilt 3D view is integrated with the Page Inspector tool and is particularly useful when searching through problems in the HTML structure. Read more about Tilt in the Hacks blog post.
- Style Editor: Firefox Beta includes the new Style Editor tool, which gives developers complete freedom to edit CSS files for a page with live updates in the browser. Developers can then save the CSS files to desk when they are done.
- SPDY Support: Firefox Beta now supports SDPY. SPDY is a transport protocol designed as a successor to HTTP that reduces the amount of time it takes for websites to load. This improves page load times and reduces server load because headers are compressed and fewer connections are used. All pages are loaded on SSL with SPDY, making browsing more secure. To enable SPDY, go to about:config. Search for network.http.spdy.enabled and set it to “true.”
What’s New in Firefox Beta for Users:
- Add-on Sync: Users have the option to sync add-ons across platforms so they can pick up where they left off on different computers. Users can enable this feature in the Preferences window on the Sync tab.
- Migration Tool Update: New Firefox users can utilize the migration tool to bring data from Internet Explorer, Safari and now Chrome. This Firefox Beta update adds the ability to import data and preferences from Google Chrome so users can easily get started on Firefox with all of their favorite bookmarks, history, cookies and profiles. More features will be coming in later releases.
For more information:
- Get Firefox Beta for Windows, Mac and Linux
- Long, technical release notes for Firefox Beta on Windows, Mac and Linux