Latest Firefox 3.1 Beta Adds Multi-Touch Support
On Monday, Mozilla released the latest beta version of Firefox 3.1. This "Beta 2" version of the popular web browser adds a number of new features across all supported platforms including:
- Private Browsing Mode
- Faster JavaScript engine
- Improved rendering
- Support for new web technologies.
But one feature unique to the Mac build is support for Apple's multi-touch trackpad which has been shipping in notebooks since January of this year. While Apple's Safari supports multi-touch gestures for common web browsing tasks (back, forward, resize text), support had been absent from Firefox. Experimental Firefox support for the multi-touch trackpad was first introduced in a pre-Beta build back in October by Mozilla's Edward Lee. The changes have since made it into the official Beta 2 released on Monday and is expected to be released with the final 3.1 version of Firefox.
Supported gestures are even more robust than Safari's support and include ("Swipe" refers to 3-finger Swipe):
- Swipe Left: Go back in history (hold Cmd to open it in a tab)
- Swipe Right: Go forward in history
- Swipe Up: Go to the top of the page
- Swipe Down: Go to the end of the page
- Pinch Together: Zoom out
- Pinch Apart: Zoom in
- Twist Right: Next tab
- Twist Left: Previous tab
Mozilla warns that the beta version of Firefox is intended for testing use only. There's no known release date for the final release of Firefox 3.1.
- Private Browsing Mode
- Faster JavaScript engine
- Improved rendering
- Support for new web technologies.
But one feature unique to the Mac build is support for Apple's multi-touch trackpad which has been shipping in notebooks since January of this year. While Apple's Safari supports multi-touch gestures for common web browsing tasks (back, forward, resize text), support had been absent from Firefox. Experimental Firefox support for the multi-touch trackpad was first introduced in a pre-Beta build back in October by Mozilla's Edward Lee. The changes have since made it into the official Beta 2 released on Monday and is expected to be released with the final 3.1 version of Firefox.
Supported gestures are even more robust than Safari's support and include ("Swipe" refers to 3-finger Swipe):
- Swipe Left: Go back in history (hold Cmd to open it in a tab)
- Swipe Right: Go forward in history
- Swipe Up: Go to the top of the page
- Swipe Down: Go to the end of the page
- Pinch Together: Zoom out
- Pinch Apart: Zoom in
- Twist Right: Next tab
- Twist Left: Previous tab
Mozilla warns that the beta version of Firefox is intended for testing use only. There's no known release date for the final release of Firefox 3.1.
Top Rated Comments
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41 months ago
it's nice. Once you get used to the multi-touch gestures, it's hard to go back.
arn
arn
41 months ago
How comfortable is the "twisting" motion? Out of all of those things, the main ones I'd do are jump around tabs and go back, and if twisting is going to be a common task now, how annoying is it going to be if you're doing it constantly for long periods of time?
(note: obviously, I do not have an apple laptop :p)
(note: obviously, I do not have an apple laptop :p)
41 months ago
What really sucks is going from a computer with gestures to one without it. Then it's like 'how do I scroll if I can't swipe with two fingers?'
41 months ago
- Twist Right: Next tab
- Twist Left: Previous tab
this needs to be included with the next safari update No questions asked!
- Twist Left: Previous tab
this needs to be included with the next safari update No questions asked!
41 months ago
Already using all these gestures in Safari via Multiclutch.
Although CMD+swipe left to go back in a new tab was a new one on me. Just tried it in Safari, and it works.
Although CMD+swipe left to go back in a new tab was a new one on me. Just tried it in Safari, and it works.
41 months ago
Are there any other new web technologies than multi-touch that firefox doesn't already support? Since my Mac doesn't support multi-touch, should I even bother to download this update?
41 months ago
What really sucks is going from a computer with gestures to one without it. Then it's like 'how do I scroll if I can't swipe with two fingers?'
Scroll with two fingers has been available for years... it's not just part of the latest macs. It's basically the mouse scroll wheel (on non-macs this is done with a special area on the trackpad using one finger normally).
I'd played with the wife's new macbook and I think multitouch has gone too far with these.. 3 fingers? twisting? That's not remotely intuitive or easy to perform (twisting your hand to do stuff is very uncomfortable in fact if you need to twist more than a few degrees).
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