Happy Birthday Firefox
Mozilla is celebrating Firefox's golden ninth birthday on November 9.
Mozilla created Firefox nine years ago as an open, fun, safe
and fast Web browser. Over the past year, it expanded to
support not just Windows, Mac and Linux, but also Android
phones and tablets. The Firefox for Android receives 4.5 stars
in the Google Play Store and has been downloaded millions of
times.
Mozilla also expanded the Firefox family this year with the birth and launch of the first ever Firefox OS smartphones - devices based entirely on open Web technologies. To date, Mozilla has launched Firefox OS in nine countries and has thousands of apps in its Firefox Marketplace.
In terms of speed, Firefox is now faster than ever before. The browser beat last year's Kraken scores by 74%, and is 88% faster on Octane. Web Apps and games are 25 percent faster due to JavaScript improvements and a new technology called asm.js.
Engineers have been working on ways to integrate social sites and services directly into Firefox. Last year, Mozilla launched with Facebook as the first Firefox social integration partner. Soon after that Cliqzm and Mixi were added.
Firefox also shipped Mixed Content Blocker in Firefox to keep users secure, wherever they surf the Web. Firefox includes Click to Play plugins. By allowing users to decide which sites need to use plugins, Firefox will help protect them and keep their browser running smoothly.
Firefox also boasts a set of tools for Web developers for editing and debugging HTML, CSS and JavaScript on the desktop and on mobile. Recent highlights include: the App Manager; Responsive Design View, Network Monitor; Page Inspector; and the JavaScript Debugger.
Firefox also enables video calls and file-sharing directly in the browser, all without the need for plugins or third-party software with Web Real Time Communications.
Over the last year, Firefox developers and engineers have been at work to make the Web the platform for high end game development. They developed a subset of JavaScript called asm.js that enables developers to create high-intensity applications, like games, directly on the Web. The Web Audio API was added to Firefox and completed the Web as a new platform for gaming.
Mozilla will also release an updated browser interface and Firefox optimized for Windows 8 tablets soon.
Mozilla also expanded the Firefox family this year with the birth and launch of the first ever Firefox OS smartphones - devices based entirely on open Web technologies. To date, Mozilla has launched Firefox OS in nine countries and has thousands of apps in its Firefox Marketplace.
In terms of speed, Firefox is now faster than ever before. The browser beat last year's Kraken scores by 74%, and is 88% faster on Octane. Web Apps and games are 25 percent faster due to JavaScript improvements and a new technology called asm.js.
Engineers have been working on ways to integrate social sites and services directly into Firefox. Last year, Mozilla launched with Facebook as the first Firefox social integration partner. Soon after that Cliqzm and Mixi were added.
Firefox also shipped Mixed Content Blocker in Firefox to keep users secure, wherever they surf the Web. Firefox includes Click to Play plugins. By allowing users to decide which sites need to use plugins, Firefox will help protect them and keep their browser running smoothly.
Firefox also boasts a set of tools for Web developers for editing and debugging HTML, CSS and JavaScript on the desktop and on mobile. Recent highlights include: the App Manager; Responsive Design View, Network Monitor; Page Inspector; and the JavaScript Debugger.
Firefox also enables video calls and file-sharing directly in the browser, all without the need for plugins or third-party software with Web Real Time Communications.
Over the last year, Firefox developers and engineers have been at work to make the Web the platform for high end game development. They developed a subset of JavaScript called asm.js that enables developers to create high-intensity applications, like games, directly on the Web. The Web Audio API was added to Firefox and completed the Web as a new platform for gaming.
Mozilla will also release an updated browser interface and Firefox optimized for Windows 8 tablets soon.
