Mozilla might have something new on the cards for its users soon. According to sources, this new UI update to Firefox, might give a stiff competition to Chrome. ‘Australis’, as it is being called will debut in Firefox 28.
Some of the features that ‘Australis’, will boast of include, fading of inactive tabs into the background, rounded corners, and an upgraded ‘Menu’ button. The tab bar, with an improved look, will offer better themes. Australis aims at giving Firefox a more modern look and a more uniform appeal, be it in the case of Windows or smartphones.
Australis was first available in the nightly version of Firefox, late on Monday for browser testers. Insiders believe, that after Microsoft's experiments with Explorer and Google’s experiments with Chrome, Mozilla felt a little left behind, leading to the birth of Australis.
Mozilla is now working closely with developers to bring into place, add-ons as far as toolbars, buttons, status bars, and menus are concerned.
There are certain important elements to Australis, apart from the myriad features. Firstly, a forward button that appears when the mouse hovers near the back button, and secondly, a download indicator in the toolbar that shows download progress.
There is still much more ground work that is underway. Only time will tell, if Mozilla beats Google and Microsoft in the browser race.