Firefox 3.1 gets tab tearing

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The latest Firefox 3.1 development release features the announced option for tab tearing: drag a tab out of its current window, and it is removed and opened on a new one, providing a more intuitive way to organize your web browsing. Alternatively, you can right-click on a tab and select Open in New Window. The feature, that mimics Google Chrome's behavior, had been requested and planned several times in the past.

Tab tearing is the latest in a long list of tabbed browsing improvements that already included a new tab button, a tab preview panel, tab reparenting for true tab moving across windows, tab cloning, and visual tab switching. Some of the changes follow a design shift to make the tab bar visible at all times, which has also got the throbber out of the menu bar, as it is now redundant with each tab's activity indicator.

Animations for moving, opening and closing tabs was also mentioned for Firefox 3.1 but it's still unclear if will make it.

As usual with new features, tab tearing has introduced a few new bugs, but, hopefully, they will all be ironed for Firefox 3.1's next development release, Beta 2, due within the next couple of weeks.

News source: Mozilla Links

(1 reply) #1 nonick on 19 Nov 2008 - 08:48

good stuff!

#1.1 AUSSIE_FLOYD_FAN on 23 Nov 2008 - 22:02

yes i used tab tearing last night on accident i dragged a tab on to my other monitor where i had a ffox window open and that tab morphed into that windows of ffox

(5 replies) #2 nuo on 19 Nov 2008 - 09:07

"The feature, that mimics Google Chrome's behavior" should be:
"The feature, that mimics Google Chrome's behavior that mimics Opera's behavior"...

#2.1 The_Decryptor on 19 Nov 2008 - 09:24

"The feature, that mimics Google Chrome's behaviour that mimics Safari's behaviour that mimics Opera's behavious"

#2.2 The Tjalian on 19 Nov 2008 - 09:44

The_Decryptor said,

Y'all copied Netscape, so hush

#2.3 Commodore Max on 20 Nov 2008 - 06:33

Everyone copies each other. And since Chrome is open-source, that's kind of the point.

#2.4 The_Decryptor on 23 Nov 2008 - 04:39

Yeah, I was kinda mocking the whole "X copied Y" thing.

It's a good idea, and lots of different browsers do it. Good ideas should be spread around so people can add their own ideas and improve upon them by trying new things.

#2.5 Sacha on 23 Nov 2008 - 17:35

Konqueror had this before Firefox, before Chrome, before Safari.
Not sure if they had it before Opera though. Anyone know?

(1 reply) #3 suicide_pact on 19 Nov 2008 - 09:54

Can't you right click a tab now and select Move To A New Window? I know it's done with TabMix Plus Etx., but it doesn't seem that new to me. What am I missin here?

#3.1 +Kirkburn on 19 Nov 2008 - 10:04

suicide_pact said,

Well there you go ... it's done with TabMixPlus, which is an addon. This is native (and not done via a menu).

#4 +Kirkburn on 19 Nov 2008 - 10:06

I'm not sure all these tab features will be in Beta 2 btw, the code freeze for B2 was a little while ago.

(1 reply) #5 Sirius on 19 Nov 2008 - 11:27

What's Firefox ?

#5.1 lomas on 20 Nov 2008 - 14:52

Firefox is the best browser on earth!!

#6 Shadrack on 19 Nov 2008 - 15:43

I always liked that feature from Google Chrome and Opera. Glad to see it will make it to my favorite web browser.

#7 CGar on 19 Nov 2008 - 16:36

Tab Mix Plus is godly, it should be permanently incorporated into Firefox

#8 Tin Man on 19 Nov 2008 - 17:06

Hate to say it but I think KDE's Konquerer has had this feature for awhile....

#9 thealexweb on 19 Nov 2008 - 17:13

I'd rather they cut this feature and just launch Beta 2, there already a month or two behind schedule.

(3 replies) #10 acido00 on 19 Nov 2008 - 20:04

Internet Explorer is the best

#10.1 FrozenEclipse on 20 Nov 2008 - 01:09

acido00 said,

what

#10.2 Intelman on 20 Nov 2008 - 04:08

I dunno, I think I might be on of the few who use IE and Chrome. I'm weird.

#10.3 highonsnow on 21 Nov 2008 - 23:07

Intelman said,

Omg.. I'll pretend I didn't see your typo there.. for a second I thought you said "IE"

(1 reply) #11 quick on 20 Nov 2008 - 19:49

I don't like this new feature, I would much rather right click and pick open in new window. Reason is.... just clicking on a tab I've opened a dozen or more windows by accident, the slightest hold of the left mouse button opens the new window and then you close that new window cause it was opened by accident and now you lose that open tab lol.

At minimum they need to change it to only open in a new window if you have dragged it for a certain amount of time like a few ms, or dragged it a certain distance, because right now it opens instantly without even moving the mouse more that 1 pixel....

#11.1 Sacha on 23 Nov 2008 - 17:34

I'm guessing you haven't used this feature. It works exactly how you describe it should in Google Chrome.

(1 reply) #12 DOGglee on 21 Nov 2008 - 01:41

hmm.. i dun think i'll be needing this feature

#12.1 Stormeh on 24 Nov 2008 - 06:00

Same here, but I'll wait and see since I've never used such a feature before (Chrome without ABP/NS annoys me a little, and never really used Tab Addons in FF)

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