Hands-on with Firefox’s new “Australis” interface

I like what they've done to the tabs, it looks much nicer in my opinion. I don't believe they've quite nailed whatever issue there may have been with clutter though. To me personally, having all of the icons pushed over to the right side looks more cluttered than the current version of Firefox. I don't have a lot to say about the implementation of the tracking option since I've always contended that DNT as a whole is flawed and not of much use. I can almost bet that many complaints will come yet again from users about Mozilla continuing to make changes in the browser.

 

looks nicer and feels more comfy to my eyes

 

Australis is not the ugliest thing I've ever seen, but close. Fortunately there's Holly:

http://www.ghacks.net/2013/11/19/firefoxs-holly-branch-temporary-escape-australis/

-http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/tinderbox-builds/holly-win32/?C=M;O=D-

 

You are right about that, Chrome is. My browser (Firefox) looks now pretty much like Holly in the picture. If Australis becomes Firefox, I am going to miss being able to open bookmarks in the left side panel with one click, the addon bar and having tabs on the bottom. I am old fashioned and like my browser to have those function like they used to. I still can do it with Firefox 25.01.

Bo

 

The way that I see it, is that I'll either adapt to the changes or leave the browser behind. I don't believe Australis is such a major change that it will require that kind of a decision.

 

Yeah, I think it is best to wait & see. There are other browsers out there anyway. Australis may not be so bad.

 

While I like the appearance of the curvy tabs, my problem with them is that in order to show that "curviness" they aren't as compact as the square tabs. For instance, look at the Windows 7 image and how the leftmost tab has a gap between the edge of the screen and the first favicon. If you only have 6-8 tabs open it's fine, but if you have 15-20 you can't read nearly as much of the text.

I also still don't like this trend of monochrome icons. It almost looks like they're greyed out and unavailable.

 

I would imagine the interface isn't quite polished up yet, so I'll withhold too much judgement. Text readability on tabs is something I care about as well.

 

they all want to look like Chrome now.

anyway, as long as i can run NoScript i'm good to go.

 

I hear that complaint a lot. It doesn't bother me all that much as looks don't really make the browser in my opinion. Actually, I'd say that Australis looks less like Chrome than the current stock version of Firefox.

 

I have installed Australis sandboxed twice (including today), NoScript works as good as always. The browser works well, my only problem is that the functions that I mentioned earlier are being done away with. But Firefox will remain my browser as long as NoScript is around, that really is whats most important to me.

Bo

 

been using this for a while and i actually like it.

 

I'm not very fond of Australis, but that might be because it reminds me too much of Chrome (which I really dislike), and also because I believe that "if it ain't broken, you shouldn't fix it". And IMO, the current interface is not broken.

 

Dislike the chrome-style look. If I wanted to use chrome, I would just switch browsers. I'd much rather see mozilla differentiate itself from other browsers maybe with something like the webian shell. Give users an all in one search bar for applications, bookmarks, files, urls. A minimalist approach that would need the addition of a addon/setting menu toggle and a way to customize with backgrounds and themes. It would remove all of the clutter: bookmarks and bookmark folders, tool bars, split url/search bars, etc. Perfection. Users can toggle the desktop with the windows or home key. Making it simple but less intrusive on screen real-estate.

 

Too right mate!

 

You can also install this:
http://www.ghacks.net/2013/11/19/restore-firefoxs-classic-theme-australis-update/

 

Mozilla keeps trying to force change and end users keep designing add-ons to prevent it. I sure miss the old days when Mozilla had some sense.

 

I like the new interface, it's just better in my opinion.

 

If you want the look of Chrome in Firefox, as I do, there's the FXChrome theme. You can even get the Australis look in Firefox 25 with FXChromeMods, among other options.

I feel like the Australis tabs are too rounded; I could get used to it, but Chrome has just the right amount of curving/sloping for me.

 

Thanks Ivo, I seen this link before. The addon that might be useful for me is Classic Bookmarks Button, its mentioned in the link. I avoid as much as possible installing addons but I ll probably use this addons if using them allows me to open bookmarks in the left panel with one click and place tabs under the address bar.

Bo

 

Yeah, I'm guessing it's something in the water at Mountain View.

 

Keep in mind that the screenshot in that article is obviously MacOS, so even though you can get a basic idea of what it will look like, it won't be exactly the same on Windows.

 

That's an interesting point, I always thought that Australis lacked the auxiliary search box. Yet it appears to exist in the screenshot. Maybe it's different on Macs in this respect?

 

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109...-is-doing-with-its-big-pile-of-new-money-q-a/