GNOME 3.3.4 includes reworked browser

The GNOME Project has released version 3.3.4 of its desktop environment, intended for use by developers and testers. This "unstable" interim version of Gnome 3.4, which should be released in late March, takes another step in the transformation of the Epiphany browser to a "Gnome Web application" announced in December.

The browser now identifies itself to the shell as an application called Web. It uses the shell's Application entry to provide a menu which has entries similar to those usually found under "File" in the window menu of classical applications. According to screenshots, the only thing below the window bar is a toolbar with forward and back buttons, a URL field, and an icon that opens a "super menu"; developers chose this layout to maximise available vertical space. Xan Lopez, one of the leading developers, discusses this and some of the other changes to the browser in a blog post.

The release candidate of GNOME 3.4, released a week later than planned, also includes a reworked version of GNOME Disk Utility, which is now simply called "Disks". A list of all the changes in Gnome 3.3.4 can be found in the News files for Gnome's core and applications. Source code is available to download for both core and apps, under a combination of licences.

See also:

• Tuning GNOME 3, a feature from The H.
• GNOME Shell Extensions site launches, a report from The H.
  

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