FireFox 4.0 Beta is released

Hands up if you like Firefox? Most KitGuru readers are well educated people if our statistics are anything to go by, as most of you are using Firefox right now.

Mozilla have just released the first beta of the 4.0 beta client which is built around the Gecko 2.0 Web Platform layout engine. Before you all rush to download however, just be aware that the plug ins you may currently be using will not work with the new client. Not until developers update their code anyway.

So whats new? Here are some of the main changes:

• Add-ons Manager: More space to efficiently manage your favorite add-ons, plugins and themes.
• HD Video: The future WebM format is supported and promises HD-quality hardware accelerated HTML5 video on the web.
• HTML5 Support: Better HTML parsing, support for HTML5 form controls and also runs the latest web apps based on HTML5 such as Google's Gmail and Yahoo's Mail interface for the mobile phones.
• Full WebGL support for in-browser 3D rendering.

As well as the main changes Mozilla are keen to promote faster performance all round as well as security enhancements to protect the educated user base.

You can get it now for Windows, Linux and Macintosh OSX – over here.

KitGuru says: Hit or miss? discuss your views on the beta client in our forums.

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