Firefox 4 beta 4 due Monday with GPU acceleration, tab sets
updated 02:05 pm EDT, Thu August 19, 2010
Firefox 4 B4 gets Direct2D graphics kick
Mozilla in its latest company notes has penned in the launch of Firefox 4 beta 4 for this coming Monday, August 23. The release will be the first to have built-in graphics acceleration for the regular web and, in Windows, will invoke Direct2D to use the video chipset to speed up rendering web code. The feature isn't enabled by default due to its current state but is said to be good enough to work reliably when turned on.
Linux Mac users don't yet have a promise of using OpenGL for a similar speed increase. Acceleration is already present in Safari 5 and will come to Internet Explorer 9 when it's available in a widespread release on September 15.
All users should get tab sets, the tab management feature previously known as App Candy. The feature borrows the concept of a virtual desktop to create groups of tabs for certain tasks. It likewise takes a cue from Apple by using an Expose-style page to view and manage sets.
Beta 5 will be the last release with new features added before Mozilla freezes code and eventually moves to the release candidate stage. It's not certain when a final build of Firefox 4 will be available, but one should be ready before the end of the year. [via CNET]
