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Archive | January, 2008

Featuring Firefox 3 on Mozilla.com…Does This Look Right?

By on January 14, 2008 in firefox, Mozilla.com, PlanetMozilla

Alix and I are working on the Firefox 3 features content for the redesigned Mozilla.com and would like your input. Our goal is to increase the amount of description and detail (compared to the current site) to give interested parties a better picture of everything that Firefox offers. We plan on listing each feature along with a short description…see below for our list so far.

My question to you is, how does the list look to you? Did we overlook anything? Miscategorize your favorite new feature? Or maybe it’s all exactly perfect already? (wishful thinking, I know)

Take a look and add a comment with your thoughts if you have anything to add. As you read, please keep in mind that 1) this list (and the site in general) is geared more towards the mass audience rather than developers and 2) the wording isn’t final, so don’t worry if you see acronyms or phrases that won’t make sense outside the Mozilla community. Thanks in advance for your help!

Here’s our proposed features list as it currently stands:

Top New Features:
• Awesomebar
• Site identity tool (i.e., Larry)
• Improved performance
• One-click bookmarking
• Full zoom
• Password manager

Security & Privacy
• Anti-malware
• Anti-phishing
• Site identity tool
• Parental controls integration (Vista only)
• Anti-virus integration (Windows only)
• Plug-in version check and disabling
• Secure add-on updating
• Password manager
• Clear private data
• Site-specific security permissions
• Automated update
• Pop-up blocker

Personal
• Awesomebar
• One-click bookmarking
• Library
• Tags
• Smart folders

Productivity
• Pause/resume downloads
• Smart keywords
• Spellcheck
• Session restore
• Live bookmarks
• RSS feed reader RSS preview
• Choice if you want to load images or not
• Platform native look & feel
• Full zoom

Tabs
• Save on exit
• Reopen closed tab
• Drag & reorganize tabs
• Smooth scrolling

Performance
• Improved memory management
• Smaller memory footprint
• Faster page load
• Graphics engine improvements
• Faster Javascript?
• Better DHTML?

Customization
• Thousands of options at AMO
• Fully integrated add-ons manager
• Themes & personas
• Customize: toolbars, search, web protocol handlers, site-specific preferences

Universal Access
• 40+ languages
• Customized per locale (dictionary, search providers, live bookmarks & web feeds)
• Text rendering
• Accessibility

Search
• Integrated web search (including adjustable search window)
• Choose from hundreds of search engines
• “Find in” page
• Search suggestions

Help
• In product help
• SUMO
• Live chat

Standards
• Online application support [email, calendar, etc]…i.e. web-based protocol handlers
• Offline browsing
• Advanced graphic stuff – SVG, Canvas
• Color profile support
• Support for CSS, Acid 2, MathML, EcmaScript 4, APNG, Cross-Site XMLHttpRequest, Microformats

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And the Winners Are…

By on January 11, 2008 in Contests, Design, firefox, PlanetMozilla, Robots

Last month I announced an impromptu contest to see who could come up with the best interpretation of the Firefox 3 Beta 2 ‘robot’ artwork. I have to say, I was both surprised by and impressed with the volume and creativity of your comments. There were certainly a lot of great ones.

It took me a little longer than planned to determine the winners, but I’m pleased to report that after much careful deliberation, I have the results. Before I go any further, though, let me make it clear that these are not the “right” answers. There is no single “right” answer…it’s all just a matter of highly subjective interpretation, and these were the three that struck me the most (and won the t-shirts).

The “Extremely Thorough Analysis” award goes to Lim Chee Aun:
“The robot doesn’t seem like a bad guy. It’s actually a good guy! It’s beaming up the Firefox logo in the sky, just like in the Batman movies! It’ll fight off all the bad guys with its powerful boxing gloves and could run super fast like Flash (notice the Flash superhero symbol on the ears?). It’s built to be tough against any attacks, bugs and even evil UFO’s that shoot down buildings. ‘The world needs Firefox 3!’ The robot’s antenna (on the head) shall spread the news through all forms of telecommunication. Though it’s getting dark (notice the dark background and the sun sets), the robot shall not rest and will always fight till the end! Firefox rules!”

The “Should Have Been the Sequel to ‘the Matrix’” award goes to Lachlan:
“This is of course a picture taken at the mighty Firefox take over in 2011, Giant Robots will be built from rival software developers to destroy the Mozilla headquarters, but of course, the robots discover the power of their programs and preach holograms of Firefox and Thunderbird logos! Reminding the world to switch.”

The “Abstract Art Interpretation” award goes to Veekay:
“Well, here goes my thoughts… The robot is FF3 ! And the buildings are actually IE – look at the three buildings that look prominently – thats the ‘E’ lying down and the ‘I’ had already fled the place fearing the UFO’s that are the bugs that hit you hard due to non-standard HTML done by ‘IE’ gurus”

Thanks to everybody who participated…this was a lot of fun. And will we see the robot again in the future? Stay tuned!

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