Mozilla seems to have taken a leaf out of Google's book. It had recently launched its Firefox 4 version and now, we are already getting
to preview the 5th iteration of the web browser. This dovetails well with the company's plans of launching 4 versions of the browser in year 2011. If the rumors are to be believed then you should expect to see at least nine major changes in the browser's fifth version.
The biggest change will be related to social networking features. The new additions to the browser will make it easier for users to share their content online. Firefox 5 will come with an Aeroplane icon on its browser bar, which can be clicked to share your content on various social networking sites ranging from Facebook to Twitter and Digg.
If you are a power user and open multiple tabs at a time, then you sure are going to love FF 5's new multi-select feature. Using this feature, you can arrange or close several tabs in a single click. Tabs are also expected to be more user friendly as you will get to exercise more control in personalizing them. The new browser will let you set up shortcuts with in the websites you visit most. It is also rumored that Mozilla is looking to vanish Home button altogether.
Firefox 5 is also expected to come with 'desktop app' feature, which closely mimics Internet Explorer's pinned site function. FF 5 will also come with enhanced identity management and is likely to support multiple account sign-ins simultaneously.
Mozilla is planning to integrate a PDF reader into its browser as well. However, we hope that instead of merely copying Google, Mozilla will go a step further and would venture to provide preview support for other file formats as well.
Although, none of the prospective features are groundbreaking in any way, but Mozilla seems to be moving in the right direction. The shorter version upgrade cycle will certainly help the company in keeping its browser relevant and cutting edge. Mozilla had released FF 3 in 2008 and then took a long hiatus and released the fourth version in 2011. However, now Mozilla is looking t follow 16 weeks update cycle. Going by this, we expect to lay our hands on FF 5 by mid-2011. So, just a short wait to see how many of the above features make it to the final version.