Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Firefox 4 Will Push Edges of Browser Definition

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the all-kinds-of-fun-new-toys dept.

Chris Blanc writes "Mozilla Lab's push is to blur the edges of the browser, to make it both more tightly integrated with the computer it's running on, and also more hooked into Web services. So extended, the browser becomes an even more powerful and pervasive platform for all kinds of applications. 'Beard wants the new online/offline, browser/service to be more intelligent on behalf of its users. Early examples of this intelligence include the "awesome bar," which is what Mozilla calls the new smart address bar in Firefox 3. It offers users smart URL suggestions as they type based on Web searches and their prior Web browsing history. He's looking to extend on this with a "linguistic user interface" that lets users type plain English commands into the browser bar. Beard pointed me towards Quicksilver and Enso as products he's cribbing from.'"

21 of 501 comments (clear)

  1. "Blur the edges of the browser" by Raineer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Cleartype fonts will clear that right up.

  2. Some recommended commands by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Look

    Look at rock

    Pick up rock

    Eat rock

    1. Re:Some recommended commands by Yvan256 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Score: 5, Confused

    2. Re:Some recommended commands by FredFredrickson · · Score: 4, Funny

      There are no nutrients in [rock]. Dragon kills you. You are dead. [Restart?]

      --
      Belief? Hope? Preference?The Existential Vortex
  3. This is all wrong!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Surely Firefox is going in the wrong direction! IMHO, blurring the edges of the browser should be the job of the Window Manager.

    I'll get my coat..

  4. Beard... by Naughty+Bob · · Score: 4, Funny

    From his picture in TFA, Chris Beard, VP of Labs for Mozilla, has no beard, despite his high-up position within the open source movement.

    Does open source play by ZZ-top rules now?

    --
    "Be light, stinging, insolent and melancholy"
  5. Seriously by joppinkaru · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't WANT the edges pushed. I just want a browser, really. I just want to look at web pages, maybe even post to the occasional online forum (like Slashdot). I don't want a huge bloated thing that will suck up all my system resources and take two minutes to fire up. I just want a simple, standard-compliant, browser. Please, just let Firefox be that and make a new program to do all that other crap. What other Windows Vista features can I expect in Firefox 4?
  6. Sounds like an OS by tknn · · Score: 2, Funny

    So why don't they just break down and admit they are developing an OS that runs on top of other OSes?

  7. Re:I hope they implement this as plugins by iONiUM · · Score: 5, Funny

    You're not the "average" user. You know how I know?
    a) you're on slashdot
    b) you used && in your comment, perhaps by mistake
    c) "I am not at all into social networking."

    On the plus side you definitely belong here!

  8. Re:AwesomeBar by CaptainPatent · · Score: 4, Funny

    I vote we tag this awesome article "AWESOMEBAR" Until now, I just thought the AwesomeBar was what Chuck Norris ate for breakfast!
    --
    Well, back to rejecting software patent applications.
  9. It's EMACS all over again. by serviscope_minor · · Score: 5, Funny

    Firefox will be a great OS. The only thing it lacks is a decent browser.

    What we need is the browser equivalent of vi. And it actually exists. How wierd is that?

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
  10. Re:Sounds Scarry. by jbeaupre · · Score: 2, Funny

    Funny but if "scarry" means causes scars or covered in scars, it's more scary than "scary".

    --
    The world is made by those who show up for the job.
  11. The Awesome Bar by Scrameustache · · Score: 3, Funny

    Where the women are easy and the booze is cheap!

    --

    You can't take the sky from me...

  12. Didn't Microsoft already try this? by Itchyeyes · · Score: 4, Funny

    integrated with the computer it's running on, and also more hooked into Web services So Firefox 4 is going to have Active X?
  13. Summary of all comments by radl33t · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Get off my lawn"

  14. Re:Uncessary Complexity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm sure you can turn it off with a plugin that will break with every single release.

  15. Re:AwesomeBar by geekoid · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nope
    the Awesome Bar is what Chuck Norris shits out every morning.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  16. Re:AwesomeBar by sm62704 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Until now, I just thought the AwesomeBar was what Chuck Norris ate for breakfast!

    No, it's where I go to drink.

    --
    mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
  17. Re:I hope they implement this as plugins by Tumbleweed · · Score: 4, Funny

    && and I am not at all into social networking.

    And if you keep using programming terminology like '&&' instead of 'and', YOU NEVER WILL BE.

  18. Web -2.0 by fph+il+quozientatore · · Score: 2, Funny

    Cool. This way on, Firefox 7.0 will be looking much like Emacs.

    --
    My first program:

    Hell Segmentation fault

  19. Awesomebar? by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

    --
    You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!