Mozilla’s second beta for Firefox 4 has arrived now including the long-awaited and much hyped Chrome-like tabs-on-top feature as default for Mac enthusiasts.Linux junkies will however still have to wait, predicted to be rectified in a following beta release next month. Windows veterans already had the pleasure of testing out the new-look tabs in the first beta of Firefox 4 released earlier this mont, leaving less for them to get all too excited about in the second beta release.As with the first release, the design has been kept nice and minimalistic, providing users with more browsing space and a clearer overview of available functions.
Windows 7 and Vista users also have something to look forward to in the second beta release, being provided with a single Microsoft-esque Firefox button that replaces the Menu bar, offering one central one-click source for most used options.Another change to the latest Firefox 4 beta is the demotion of the bookmarks toolbar to a drop down menu, accessed via a button on the right-hand side of the browser, making room for App Tabs to comfortably dominate the upper part of the browser without any intrusion.Should this however provenot to be your design variant of choice, the beta 2 also enables users to switch the toolbar back on in their own personalised settings.

On a more back-end side of things, as well as the 670 issues found and repaired from the the first beta, support for CSS3 features such as “Transitions” and “Transformations” has been included in the latest Firefox 4 beta, allowing coders to easily add animations to web pages.The added retained layers allow faster scrolling on more complex websites. Those of you eagerly awaiting the next beta release should keep an eye out on the download site around the 6th August. Download the beta 2 here