The first beta for the newest Firefox version - Firefox 4 – was launched by Mozilla on Tuesday; thereby giving the world the first official peek into the future edition of the popular browser.

Boasting a new look and some notable new features, the Firefox 4 Beta is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.

The Beta not only introduces the browser’s new interface design to a wider Windows audience, but also unveils support for numerous technologies that would basically be essential for a much enriched Web browsing experience in the future, as well as a plan for a lot more ambitious upgrades as compared to the updates of the past.

Quite like the Google Chrome and other browsers, in the Firefox 4 Beta too the tabs are placed on the top by default – though initially only in the Windows. In addition, the menubar is also hidden – with the access to the commonly-used commands provided via a new Firefox button -; and some crash protection features have been added.

Among the other notable features of the Firefox 4 Beta include – enhanced HTML5 support; full WebGL support for 3D rendering within the browser; partial support for CSS transitions; as well as support for the new WebM video format from Google. However, some of these features have currently been turned off by default.