Enable visual tab switcher in Firefox 3.6a1

Aug 12, '09 07:30:02AM

Contributed by: robg

As a (primarily) Firefox user, I read of the recent release of Firefox 3.6a1 (known as Namoroka), and downloaded the alpha for testing. Note that this release isn't targeted for typical users, as it's far from feature complete and may crash. For instance, the Advanced and Privacy prefs don't seem to work at all on my Mac Pro.

One feature in 3.6a1 (which was originally slated for 3.5, I believe) is a visual tab switcher. Much as you can use Command-Tab to switch applications via an onscreen palette in OS X, you can use Control-Tab to switch tabs visually in Firefox 3.6a1. (This same shortcut works in Firefox 3.5, but without any visual aids.)

As shipped, Firefox 3.6a1 ships with the tab preview feature disabled. To enable it, type about:config and agree to be careful to get past the warning screen. In the search box on the config page, type tab.previ; this should then display only one matching preference, browser.ctrlTab.previews. Double-click that preference entry to change its value from false to true, then close the config page.

From now on, Namoroka will show you the tab preview panel when you press Control-Tab. I'd guess this will be enabled by default in the final version of Firefox 3.6, but for now, you'll have to manually activate the feature to get it to work. I've been using the previews for a couple days now, and haven't had any issues with them (though I think the default sizing is too large, but the design isn't yet finalized). Please keep in mind that Namoroka is only an alpha at this stage, so you may run into other bugs, glitches, and crashes. If you do see such things, make sure you send feedback to the Mozilla team, so they're aware of the issue(s) you had.

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