Firefox 8 beta brings Twitter search, tab controls.

As part of its rolling wave of updates, Mozilla today released a new beta version of Firefox that gives some new options for searching, controlling tabs, and managing add-ons.

The Firefox 8 beta (download for Windows | Mac | Linux | Android) is the newest to be released with Mozilla's six-week development cycle, in which the organization's programmers update the browser with fewer but more frequent changes. That's caused indigestion for some slower-moving Firefox users, but Mozilla believes it's necessary to remain competitive and to bring new features to users in weeks, not months. Mozilla also has proposed a slower-moving Firefox.

Mozilla wants to make Firefox on Android load faster, a key problem with the current version especially when compared to the built-in browser from Google. To that end, Mozilla is investigating mobile Firefox with a native Android interface rather than the one built using Mozilla's XUL technology. Such an approach speeds browser loading but sacrifices compatibility with add-ons built with XUL.

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