*Firefox 17 Aurora* is a sneak peak at the next version of the Firefox web
browser. As of this writing, Firefox is currently on version 15, which didn't
bring many dramatic changes to the browser. Firefox 17 Aurora follows Firefox
15 with *minor updates to its interface and lots of back end enhancements for
developers*. The biggest though, though, is that Firefox 16 Aurora prepares
the browser for its web apps store that will compete with the Chrome web
store. Notable changes that users will see in Firefox 17 Aurora are a tweaked
'*new tab*' page. Thumbnails of the most visited sites will still be there.
Mozilla added *easier access to bookmarks*, *history*, *settings*, *add-ons*,
*downloads*, and *sync preferences* to the new home page. The Awesomebar also
receives a much needed update which brings *instant URL completion* and
selects the first result automatically instead of forcing the user to press
the down arrow, then enter. Previous versions of Firefox required an add-on
to do this so it's nice to see Firefox 17 Aurora have it built in. All of
this is preparation for a more stable beta release of Firefox 17 Aurora,
which will be released on *October 9th, 2012*. *Overall, Firefox 17 Aurora is
a stable test release for the upcoming version of Firefox which features
preparations for its upcoming web apps store.*Download *Firefox 17 Aurora
17.0 a2* in Softonic
