Firefox new tab page to change

Future versions of Firefox, including further betas of Firefox 3.1, could include several improvements to the new tab page, Mozilla said today.

At the moment, when you open a new tab in Firefox, the page is completely blank, something Mozilla is seeking to change.

Aza Raskin, head of user experience for Mozilla Labs said: "The problem with the new tab page is that it is blank, therefore it is always not the thing you want."

However, soon the new tab screen will have thumbnails of sites you most commonly use, such as the last couple of emails you viewed in your webmail service, for example.

Other additions include entries from your RSS feeds and you will also, when you select text from one tab and open another, be presented with options for your selected text.

If you highlight a postcode and open a new tab, for instance, you will be asked if you want to go to a mapping service, reminiscent of the Accelerators function in Internet Explorer 8.

According to Mozilla's Dan Mills, the options on the new tab page won't "overwhelm" you, as they will be faded out. However, if you move your mouse over them, they will be shown in full colour.

www.mozilla.org