When was the last time you actually had to type “http” into your browser?
The fact that it’s quite possible you answered “never” to that question is no doubt the reason why Mozilla is reportedly mulling the idea of getting rid of the prefix in a future version of its Web browser.
Tom’s Guide reports that Firefox 7 will no longer display “http” in website addresses, in the company’s continuing efforts to reduce browser clutter, however little it may be.
So if you go to TG Daily, the browser will only display “www.tgdaily.com” instead of “https://www.tgdaily.com,” which makes sense because the former is no doubt what you would have typed in to get there.
The only time most users would ever need to be cognisant of the characters before “www” is when they need to know if the site has a secure connection.
The “http” prefix is replaced by “https” for websites that collect personal information from users and have been confirmed as secured. Firefox 7 will apparently make an exception for those sites and display the https prefix in the URL bar.
This move follows similar decisions from rival browsers Opera and Chrome, both of which have eliminated the display of the six-character prefix in their URL bars as well.
