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THE OPEN SOURCE Mozilla Foundation has unwrapped the second beta for version 4.0 of its Firefox web browser.

Firefox 4 will be the next major release of Mozzarella’s web browser and will include a number of improvements, updates and new features for both end users and developers.

Firefox 4 beta 2 includes the new ‘tabs on top’ layout that puts the tabs in the same place as the Chrome and Opera web browsers. It is now available in 23 languages.

Actually Windows users saw the tabs thing in the first Firefox 4 beta earlier this month, but this is the first time the feature has made it to the Mac version.

The developers moved the tabs to “make it easier to focus on the Web content” and note that Linux systems will receive the new tabs on top layout in a future update “when the theme has been modified to support the change”.

Changes affecting developers include support for Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) transitions, a feature that lets websites animate changes rather than having the changes take effect instantly.

Other changes include the idea of retained layers, allowing for “super-fast scrolling” on complex websites and changes to the XPCOM framework that improve start-up time.

The plan is for developers to release another beta version “every two to three weeks”. A first release candidate (RC) for Firefox 4 is due to to arrive in October. µ

CREATOR OF FASHIONABLE GADGETS Apple has graced its fanbois with an update to its range of desktop computers and the release of a pointing device.

Earlier today the firm shuttered its online store to prepare for the update, which had been rumoured for some time. Many of the rumours dreamt up by over-eager fanbois were incorrect, however Apple did announce that its Imac range will feature Intel’s Core i3 processors. There is also a quad-core Core i5 model for those not happy about spending a grand on a desktop machine that has a chip intended for bargain basement tin boxes.

The overpriced Mac Pro, often the butt of Apple jokes, received major surgery with hexa-core Intel Xeon chips mated with an AMD Radeon HD 5770 graphics card as standard. Take a moment to realise that a £2,000 machine that is pitched as a workstation doesn’t even have a workstation graphics card, nor is the ‘consumer grade’ Radeon HD 5770 graphics card the top of AMD’s graphics card range.

Apple has saved that as an optional extra, with the Radeon HD 5870 available at added cost. Still, at least it’s an option. Nvidia Fermi based GTX 4XX graphics cards are nowhere to be found on the Mac Pros.

For those feeling particularly flush, Apple announced the availability of a 512GB solid state drive (SSD) with the option of specifying up to four in a single Mac Pro. The firm claims that the SSDs provide up to “Two times faster than the average performance of a standard disk drive.” That’s absolutely great, if you happen to have your own gold mine.

Finally, Apple released the Magic Trackpad, a stand-alone trackpad control device. Akin to a laptop’s trackpad, the device will bring multi-touch interaction to desktop users. Clearly the firm realised it could not milk any more money out of redesigning its minimalist single button mouse over and over again. The slab of metal allows the firm to peddle it’s own battery charger, which no doubt will be snapped up by eager fanbois who want the toymaker’s label on every single object they own.

Those thinking of buying Apple’s latest products might want to hold off for a little while, as its online store hasn’t been updated yet to reflect all of the changes in its product line. µ

GRAPHICS CHIP DESIGNER AMD has released a beta driver that offers support for the OpenGL ES standard used in HTML5 for in-browser graphics rendering.

The Catalyst 10.7 beta driver supports AMD’s Radeon 2xxx/3xxx/4xxx/5xxx desktop graphics boards along with its Firepro workstation boards on Microsoft’s Windows XP, Vista and 7 operating systems. However the company is crystal clear that it is not supporting the release as it has yet to “complete full AMD testing”. As for WHQL certification, forget it.

Nevertheless, frivolities such as support and WHQL compliance have never stopped anyone from installing a set of video card drivers, but given that OpenGL ES 2 support is the only feature that AMD is trumpeting with this release it might not be worth the effort. We were unable to find an Nvidia driver that supports the OpenGL ES 2 specification but at present it’s a bit of a moot point.

Though OpenGL ES 2 has been around for a few years now, HTML5 has yet to be ratified. With Apple in particular using the software to fight its war against Adobe, one can expect HTML5 to be ready for action soon.

With AMD offering up OpenGL ES 2 drivers in the near future and Nvidia likely to follow suit, web developers can start to grow in confidence that when HTML5 finally does arrive, users will be able to consume rich content without having to download plugins or bog down their CPUs. µ

STORAGE HARDWARE FIRM Seagate has added a piece to its Blackarmor NAS server range. The 400 server is pitched at small businesses and households that want data storage protection, performance and flexibility.

The Blackarmor server has a four-bay storage enclosure, costs 0 and will let home users that went to a PC hardware store for a spindle of blank CDs use whatever disk drive they want with it, so long, that is, as it is certified by Seagate.

Seagate, predictably, likes the idea of people stuffing its own drives into the box, and explained that its Barracuda or XT drives would fit just fine. Scalable as it is, Seagate said that small businesses and home users could add extra drives as and when they need them.

As well as these drive spaces, the Blackarmor NAS server also provides backup and protection tools that extend to full-system remote backups, and data protection features in the form of ‘user-configurable’ RAID and JBOD capabilities.

In the event of failure, it offers full system recovery, which should only come into its own should the problem alert system not do its job.

Blackarmor is certified for use with Windows 7, but you really shouldn’t hold that against it. µ