Firefox 5: Social Sharing, Home Tab, PDF Viewer, Tab Apps

Details about the next version of Firefox are slowly emerging. The browser will receive significant UI revisions and feature updates that will make Firefox more social and adopt several features that are already working well in Google’s Chrome browser.

Firefox 5

The browser is currently scheduled to go into its second of four development stages on April 13, while the anticipated release date of the final is around June 29. The Firefox UX planning pages are revealing nine different feature that are planned for Firefox 5.

The New Features

1. Users can simply select more than one tab and close or move them – or convert them in app tabs.
2. There will be a new tab page (no public mockups yet)
3. Add-ons will get standardized toolbar support
4. There will be a file upload indicator
5. The Home button will completely disappear. Instead, Mozilla will be adding a permanent Home app tab. This appears to be an evolving feature and Mozilla is exploring ways how to get rid of the home button, while not damaging the usability of the browser.
6. In-browser preview: Firefox will also get an integrated PDF viewer (like Chrome) and will extend this capability to more popular file formats, including MP3.
7. Taskbar web apps: Tabs will get their own context menus that can be configured by website owners. Websites will act much more like traditional apps and core features as well as navigation items will be accessible via the site tab.
8. Identity management: Firefox 5 will be able to keep you signed in to websites via an integrated identity manager and even support multiple sign-ons at the same time.
9. The sharing features appears to be the big deal in Firefox 5 –  there will be a new paper plane logo in the URL bar that provides access to your social media accounts, such as Facebook and Twitter. You can add social accounts and “share” websites directly from your URL bar. there is no need for clicking a “Like” button.