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28 Sep 2011
Mozilla has updated Firefox to speed up browsing for desktop users and improve API support for its Android mobile product to help developers build more compelling apps.
Firefox 7 for Windows, Mac and Linux has been designed to use up to 50 per cent less memory than previous versions, meaning that the browser is faster and less likely to crash or abort owing to running out of memory.
"Users will notice Firefox is faster at opening new tabs, clicking on menu items and buttons on web sites," said Mozilla in a blog update.
"Heavy internet users will enjoy enhanced performance when lots of tabs are open and during long web browsing sessions that last hours or even days."
Also included are tools to help developers make "snappy web experiences", including a new version of hardware-accelerated Canvas that speeds up HTML5 animations and games in Firefox, according to Mozilla.
"This allows developers to build more compelling and interactive web experiences like Angry Birds or Runfield," the firm said.
There is also support for the Worldwide Web Consortium's navigation timing spec API, enabling developers to monitor page load times against factors such as available bandwidth, allowing them to optimise web sites and apps for different types of user.
Mozilla has updated the Android version of Firefox to include support for various APIs which should help developers build more compelling sites and apps.
"The WebSockets API creates faster communication between Firefox and web servers, making it easier for developers to build more responsive web applications like instant messaging and interactive HTML5 games," said Mozilla in a blog post.
WebSockets and other tools are now supported across Android and desktop versions of the browser, meaning that developers can create faster and more seamless web apps, claimed Mozilla.
The latest Firefox for Android also allows users to copy text from any web site and paste it into emails, web forms or device applications to save time.
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Do you agree?
Improvements?
Whilst they may have improved the browser to cope with HTML5 and android, what fails to get mentioned is the broken addons each release. from Version 6.x to 7.x Adobe collaboration addon was broken along with a host of really good addons. I am personally thinking of going back a version or two just to be able to use the great productivity tools and addons that i have installed. Im sure i am not alone in this. Please Mozilla, fix the issues with addon compatibility.
Posted by: Carl Dean 29 Sep 2011