UPDATED 07:55 EDT / JULY 07 2010

Firefox 4 Beta Unveiled, Focus on Security and Access

Firefox continues on its command, with the long-awaited release of Firefox 4 Beta. it’s been two years since Firefox 3 was released, giving Mozilla plenty of time to make an impression with its latest browser. And by the looks of the Firefox 4 Beta, that’s precisely what Mozilla is hoping to do.

Operating on Windows, OS X and Linux, Firefox 4 Beta is heavily focused on providing a productivity tool that’s accessible and customizable. As with every other web-based service, it’s all about personalization. Firefox is finding more ways to become central to your web activity, with app integration through the Websocket API. This is important because it reiterates Mozilla’s use of add-ons to enable cross compatibility amongst web apps, simplifying your browser experience overall. Macworld comments on Firefox’s browser security:

“On the safety and security fronts, Firefox 4 introduces support for out-of-process plugins (OOPP) on OS X for the first time. OOPP, a technique also implemented by Safari, isolates plugins from the main browser process so that they can crash without taking down Firefox with them. Mozilla has also added a new technology called Content Security Policy, which lets Web developers specify how their pages interacts with content from other domains in an effort to mitigate certain security vulnerabilities.”

Security has always been important for browsers, but the cooperative methods around content sharing and cloud computing have made security an area in need of constant improvement. It’s an area Google Chrome has honed in on with some of its latest browser updates as well. This harps on one area in particular; mobile.

Both Firefox and Chrome have released mobile sync options, giving you a unified browser experience on multiple computers and mobile devices. New sync options save settings on your browser, making security a priority, and access a necessity.

Despite all these improvements, Firefox still faces steep competition. As I mentioned, Google has allocated a number of resources to its Chrome browser, making it central to several of its other Apps and services. Microsoft has begun to take a similar approach to Internet Explorer, which is still dominate and growing in market share. The upcoming IE9 also looks promising, and could hinder Firefox’s recent foray into enterprise.

Some other important features for Firefox (click to enlarge, see here for more details):


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