Mozilla unveils Firefox 4 release candidate

Mozilla has finally taken Firefox 4 out of beta and into release candidate status.

Any users currently on the beta versions will be automatically updated to the new release and asked to assess its features, the firm said in a blog post.

Mozilla explained that new features include better support and stability for running HTML5, and the firm urged users to view a preview page with demos of the additional capabilities.

Old features are also important, particularly for browser users who have adopted add-ons for Firefox, and the firm added that 70 per cent of existing software is compatible with the release candidate.

"We build Firefox with help from our contributors and millions of beta testers. The team has fixed more than 8,000 bugs since the first beta release of Firefox 4," said Mozilla in the blog post.

"Please help test the release candidate and provide feedback to make sure Firefox 4 is the best it can be."

Firefox 4 includes the new tab location, which is above the browser address bar, a number of speed improvements and added support for HTML5, as well as changes to the C++ representation of JavaScript values, which should let the browser handle bigger data loads.

Other additions include the JetPack SDK, which is designed to speed up add-on installation by removing the need to restart the browser, WebGL for displaying 3D graphics and multi-touch support for Windows 7.

Security and crash protection have also been boosted, and Mozilla said that, should Adobe Flash, Apple QuickTime or Microsoft Silverlight plug-ins fail, it will not interrupt browsing. Mozilla has also made the use of https secure connections easier.