Firefox 4 is still a long time away but some dedicated developers and designers are already at work to take the web browser to the next level. One of the improvements that the developers seem to concentrate on is the look and feel of the web browser. Some say this moves Firefox 4 nearer to Google Chrome and Opera which share some design elements like a compressed menu button that contains most tools and options or the removed title bar.

Firefox 4 developer Stephen Horlander published some new design mockups of Firefox 4 on his personal blog. The major element in this mockup series of Firefox 4 seems to be the App button as he calls it. This is the same one-button approach that the other web browsers have already implemented or started to implement.

The Firefox button in the mockup above is the App button that leads to all the menus that are usually found in the menu bar of Firefox 3. Some users might argue that it is a waste of space to put the app button in single toolbar

instead of placing it into an existing toolbar. The removal of the title bar would have barely any effect on the available screen estate otherwise.

Stephen posted some app button variations that place the app button next to the tabs instead or next to the title bar; Something that would free up screen estate.

What are your thoughts on the new mockups of Firefox 4? Long needed changes or something that better remains untouched?

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