TabCandy Comes to Firefox 4 Final

By | August 16, 2010 | 28 Comments

TabCandy Comes to Firefox 4 FinalIt looks like the final version of Firefox 4 will have TabCandy (now called Tab Sets) already installed into the browser itself.

Starting from Firefox 4 Beta 4, that is set for August 20th release, users will be able to enjoy enhanced tabs functionality.

If you haven’t heard about TabCandy yet, check the following post.

[digg-reddit-me]


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Vygantas is a former web designer whose projects are used by companies such as AMD, NVIDIA and departed Westood Studios. Being passionate about software, Vygantas began his journalism carrier back in 2007 when he founded FavBrowser.com. Having said that, he is also an adrenaline junkie who enjoys good books, fitness activities and Forex trading.

  • netthunder

    Firefox is the best !!!!!!
    Another awsum feature + loads of others which have been taken from the competitirs..
    (thats why open source is the best) & Firefox is The PHEONIX(remember firebird?? )

    :)

    • http://my.opera.com/rafaelluik Rafael

      LOL, poor fanboy.
      Open-source has nothing to do with Tab Candy Sets implementation, it aways was an inside Mozilla’s project.

  • Armin

    Will this help push Firefox past Internet Explorer in Europe? I doubt it, but one can dream! They are so close in terms of market share that it has to happen sometime, right?

  • Tiago Sá

    Oh, guys, this is just one of the features for Firefox 4. Firefox 4 will have 3 or 4 awesome new innovations like this one.

    • nvm

      New innovation? Opera has been grouping tabs for years.

      • nobody

        nope. opera was using ‘windows’ to group tabs and that is sub-par solution, if one can even call it solution.
         
        opera way could be called solution IF and only IF opera could handle sessions with many windows out of the box and without manual intervention. but it cant. so it is a bullcrap that opera’s havard is spewing, nothing more. here is his post – http://my.opera.com/haavard/blog/2010/08/05/tab-grouping
         
        if you want to settle for less go ahead, but do not mislead others. opera DOES NOT HAVE anything similar

    • Foo

      Firefox Sync landed around the same time as Tab Sets on the nightlies.

       
      mozRequestAnimationFrame will also be in the next beta and the Audio Data API [bug] is hopefully coming with beta 5.
       
      Getting the any() CSS function standardized would be awesome. Other than that I don’t remember that many big things.

  • Armin

    That is great news and all, but I would prefer it if Tab Mix Plus came installed with Firefox. Now that is what I call enhanced tabs functionality.

  • Ichan

    Good for people who like to spend time organizing things.
     
    As for me. I cannot see myself using it…. yet

  • kkg_

    TabCandy is extremely not useful, it breaks your workflow, and breaking the workflow is the main reason people rarely use multiple windows anymore, everything is done in a window with a bunch of tabs. Evolution goes like this: one window, multiple windows, one window with tabs; tab candy is a step back.

    • http://www.sumake.eu narzędzia pneumatyczne

      Well I cannot agree.
      What if you have one window with 40-50 tabs? Its hard to manage all of them especially that they are usually related to different categories.
      So, IMHO Evolution goes like this:
      One Window, Multiple Windows, One Window with Tabs, Multiple Windows with Tabs (as I work in Opera), or Tab Candy (which is generally the same as multiple windows with tabs).
      Heh, wonder what would be the next step?
      One Context/Profile With Multiple Windows with Tabs :P
      Context/Profile could be assigned to device/location you access the network from – different for mobile/desktop at work/laptop at home
      And then next step would be
      Multiple Contexts/Profiles with Multiple Windows with Tabs
      And then (finally?) when human beings will start to merge with cyberspace :P
      One Avatar With Multiple Context/Profiles with Multiple Windows with Tabs
      ….
      Multiple Avatars With Multiple Contexts/Profiles with Multiple Windows with Tabs
      ….
      One Singularity with Multiple Avatars with Multiple Contexts/Profiles with Multiple Windows with Tabs
      LOL
      I have to stop smoking pot

      • http://www.browser-fuchs.de Spaceball

        Why do you need 40-50 tabs?????? I rarely use more than 10 tabs at a time. From my point of view, TabCandy is absolutely pointless. If Opera would implement such a thing I would not use it at all.

        • Armin
          • http://www.sumake.eu narzędzia pneumatyczne

            Yep, this is what I use

          • nobody

            this ‘solution’ is pathetic. it is nowhere near tabCandy functionality. it is settling for less and claiming to use the best solution.
             
            it is only possible if one do not know what are the other options. it is just like IE. most opera fanatics do not know what other browsers offer and claim that opera is enough for them. this is the same rhetorics IE users used, and it is in the same way flawed – by the lack of knowledge.
             
            opera ‘windows panel’ is a bullsheet solution compared to properly executed modern UX solution like tabCandy.
             
            and im more than sure, that opera will not include anything like it, because few opera fanatics claim that ‘it isnt necessary’… sadly, some opera employees (haaavard) belive in self-supremacy and also spread such bull.. it is oh so very funny to read when company tries to convince ferrari that steam engine is so much better

          • http://www.sumake.eu narzędzia pneumatyczne

            dear nobody
            I realize that this solution is not as brilliant as TabCandy. As I said above TabCandy is really awesome.
             
            However choice of browser never depends on one feature alone. In my particular case I use Opera because of lots of other stuff – IRC, Mail, torrent, lots of features out-of-the-box (customization, custom search etc.). Therefore I have to accept  that some features are worse in comparison with other browsers.
             
            For now FF is no, no for me because of – overall interaction speed which is poor with many tabs, many useful features missing out-of-the-box (extensions required – I’m sometimes to lazy to search, compare and decide among many). Besides with features it works slower. I will wait for FF4. Is there plugin for IRC in FF? Must check it.

          • nobody

            yes, firefox has quite popular and successful (given how not-popular irc nowadays is) – it is called chatzilla and it has like 6 milion official downloads, quite a lot for a plugin
             
            and yes, i understand why people use opera (well, no i really dont, because you can get the same stuff with chrome/ff extensions and speed isnt a factor with ff 3.6) but what i was trying to point out is that providing a useless gimmick as a ‘similar’ solution to what tabCandy provides and calling it a day is simply hilarious. you know how pathethic this looks like from outside?
             
            just like that steam engine example – a bright, but way way out of touch with technology engineer claiming that his steam engine is best for new ferrari. it might be, compared to other steam engines.. times have changed, people moved on. it is the same with opera.
             
            how many opera built-in features are up-to-date?
             
            when was the last time any new functionality was added to IRC client, bitttorent client, mail client (html mail, but this was 10yrs overdue catch-up) etc. opera is not really adding new features, and not really providing any new ones. it is constant overhaul and maintenance. while it takes usually one or two days for extension developer to migrate his work to new version of chrome or firefox.
             
            most opera built in features are trash today, completely outdated and obsolete. in tab management its last change was ability to (FINALLY!!) close tabs in order most users wanted.
             
            and btw – opera customization is a closed box, with very very litle space inside. just tell me how exactly can you customize tab behavior?

        • http://www.sumake.eu narzędzia pneumatyczne

          Well I’m using tabs as some kind of to-do-remember-for-later-usage-list, besides I’m using Opera’s mail client and IRC client (which means – more tabs). I always have one window with reading list with articles and such, which I read every Saturday. While working, and investigating some subject I often open a lots of tabs, and before I finish with It I keep them opened for convenience.
          Well I hope Opera will implement it. People are different, and use their browsers in different ways. Its OK for you not to use it. Do you use every functionality that Opera offers? – M2, IRC, Notes, Widgets, Unite, Multiple Windows as Tabs :P, Panels, advanced layout modifications, user javascripts, user css, Dragonfly and lot of others?

          • nobody

            “”Do you use every functionality that Opera offers? – M2, IRC, Notes, Widgets, Unite, Multiple Windows as Tabs :P, Panels, advanced layout modifications, user javascripts, user css, Dragonfly and lot of others?”"
             
            M2 – nope, it is outdated client with constant stream of minor issues
            IRC – it is ancient protocol
            Notes – outdated implementation (no rich text), poor interface, oneNote or any of the ff extensions dwarf this
            Widgets – sucks
            Unite – useles technology with ZERO adoption rate, and noone cares about it, no new Unite services this month, again
            Multiple Windows as Tabs – ugly workaround showing limitations of opera ui
            Layout modifications – like ability to place toolbars wherever i want them? but what with customisation like ‘let me easily’ modify my menus, or make my tab-strip scroll if there are too many tabs (ff style)? not possible..
            UserJS – opera does not care about it, hard to handle, issues with respecting site preferences etc
            UserCSS – almost impossible to use, clunky, outdated
            Dragonfly – this is joke, right? this POS technology isnt worth the name ‘developer tools’..
             
            yeah, i like opera built in functionality, what a museum :/

          • mabdul

            @nobody
            20.06.2006 – Opera 9.0
            Added CTCP flood protection.
            DCC file transfers and chat room invites now displayed as links in a private chat window.

            was the last real improvements on the irc client.

  • http://www.sumake.eu narzędzia pneumatyczne

    Great. I wonder what about general speed and responsiveness. Its time for FF to stand up on its feet again.

  • http://my.opera.com/rafaelluik Rafael

    Let Internet Explorer 9 came, and bye bye Firefox…

    • http://my.opera.com/rafaelluik Rafael

      to come*

    • nvm

      LOL. Wishful thinking. Firefox is here to stay, but it will be left in the dust by both Chrome and IE.

      • Armin

        I don’t quite follow. How exactly will Firefox be left in the dust by Internet Explorer?

  • Foo

    TabCandy (now called Tab Sets)

    Seems like it “changed” to Firefox Überview and then again to Firefox Panorama. :-)
    Also, azaaza said:

    The problem with Tab Candy is that it is limited to Tabs only, which is only part of the vision of Panorama :)

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