Mozilla Firefox Browser

Firefox 10.0 was released by Mozilla on January 31, 2012 for Windows, Mac, and Linux users. I upgraded my Firefox browser with the latest version on my Windows 7 laptop and was able to do some testing, the results of which I will share below.

The new Firefox 10 update doesn't have much in terms of new features or cosmetic changes. Most of the changes are in the form of bug fixes, over 1,400 of them were implemented with this new Firefox release. Most add-ons will now be compatible with the upgrade, and Firefox will check for updates on add-ons daily. In my case, I only had two add-ons that were not compatible.

The bulk of the Firefox 10 enhancements are focused towards developers. Some of these enhancements include anti-aliasing for WebGL, support for CSS 3D-Transforms, new CSS Style Inspector for the Inspect tool, and full screen API support. Check the video below to find out more about the Web Developer Tools in Firefox.

Firefox has been releasing these Rapid Release upgrades, approximately every six weeks, since March 2011. One of the major issues that users faced, especially enterprise users, was the incompatibility of add-ons that worked in the previous version of Firefox. Mozilla is now offering the Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) for organizations which are expected to be maintained for approximately a year.

From the results of the Peacekeeper™ browser benchmark test I conducted, Firefox 10 produced better results compared to Firefox 9, however, Google Chrome still outperformed Firefox 10. Refer to the browser benchmark test results below.

You can find the detailed listing of changes that were implemented including bug fixes, in Firefox 10.0, at Firefox Release Notes.

Firefox 8.0 was officially released on November 8, 2011 which was also the seventh anniversary of Firefox. Since March 2011, Firefox has been releasing Rapid Releases. The previous version (Firefox 7.0) was released on September 27, 2011.

In Firefox 8.0, over 1,200 bug fixes were implemented some of which included security and stability issues. From a visual perspective, it looks similar to the earlier version, however, there are a few other changes worth mentioning.

The default setting for Add-ons, installed by third-party programs, is now disabled which is a positive change from a security standpoint. Also depending on how many add-ons you have, it could slow down the performance of your browser. Therefore, once you upgrade to Firefox 8.0, you will be prompted to enable add-ons you wish to use, giving you more control.

Twitter has been added to the search bar for select locales which basically lets you do a Twitter search from within the Firefox search box. In the previous version, you could query on Google, Yahoo, Bing, Amazon, eBay and Wikipedia.

In terms of tab management, a preference to load tabs on demand has been added in order to improve start-up time when restoring windows. Also, Firefox has improved performance and memory management on audio and video elements usage.

And finally, there have been some changes which pertains to developers in areas like HTML, DOM, CSS, JavaScript, WebSockets, WebGL and more.

Based on the results of my Peacekeeper™ browser benchmark test, I didn't see very much overall improvement in terms of performance. Also, when I ran the browser benchmark test on Google Chrome and compared to the rests of Firefox 8.0, Google Chrome continues to outperform.

Most of my websites are running fast on Firefox 8.0, however, my Hotmail email seems sluggish as compared to Firefox 7.0. When I accessed my Hotmail email on Google Chrome it was much faster and smoother.

As always, when upgrading to the latest version of Firefox, you need to be aware that all of your current add-ons may not be compatible.

The video below provides a quick overview of what's new in Firefox 8.0 from Newzy. You can access the full listing of bug fixes, in Firefox 8.0, at Firefox Release Notes.

Firefox 7.0 was officially released on September 27, 2011. There were over 1,200 bug fixes including several security and stability issues resolved from the earlier Firefox 6.0 version.

According to Mozilla, Firefox version 7.0 comes with drastic improvements in the way Firefox manages memory, thereby providing a speedy web browsing experience. Firefox users who work with many open tabs and browse the web for prolonged periods will find this new version performing more efficiently.

For web developers, the new version of Firefox now supports the Navigation Web Timing Spec and comes with a faster Canvas element. Also, they have introduced Telemetry, an opt-in tool to help measure Firefox performance more accurately and anonymously.

I'm currently using the new version Firefox 7.0 and ran a browser performance test through Peacekeeper™, the browser benchmark. The new Firefox version performs better than the earlier versions, however, still lagging behind Google Chrome.

The video below provides a quick overview of what's new in Firefox 7.0 as well as some speed and performance measurements. You can access the full listing of bug fixes, in Firefox 7.0, at Firefox Release Notes.

Firefox 6.0 was officially released on August 16, 2011. There were over 1,400 bug fixes including several security and stability issues resolved from the earlier Firefox 5.0 version. Overall, you won't notice any cosmetic changes, but will notice reduced browser start-up time when using Panorama (tab groups).

For web developers, the new version has improved usability of the Web Console, included a Scratchpad providing an interactive JavaScript prototyping environment, latest version of WebSockets, support for EventSource/server-sent events and a new Web Developer menu item, to name a few.

You can access the full listing of bug fixes, in Firefox 6.0, at Firefox Release Notes.

Firefox 5.0 was released on June 21, 2011 just few months after releasing Firefox 4.0, one of their best version so far, based on my experience. This newest version of Firefox comes with over a thousand bug fixes and several performance improvements providing more flexibility to users as well as web developers in creating Firefox add-ons, web applications and websites.

The majority of the improvements over Firefox 4.0 are focused on better performance, stability and security, so users won't see noticeable changes to the actual "look and feel" while using Firefox. Some improvements are CSS animation, improved canvas, JavaScript, memory and networking performance.

Also, the "Do Not Track" feature in Firefox which allows users to opt-out of tracking behavioural type advertising is more easily accessible. Currently, it's under Options and in the Privacy tab. For a detailed list of improvements and enhancements to Firefox 5.0, check the: Mozilla Firefox Release Notes.

In my opinion, from reviewing the changes made in Firefox 5.0, they seem more like tweaks rather than major enhancements. As with any new release, you be aware that not all your existing add-ons will be compatible with the new version of Firefox.

Firefox 4 Beta 12 was released on February 25, 2011 and the stable release was launched on March 23, 2011. I've done some testing on the beta 12 version and am currently using Firefox 4. I was impressed with Firefox 4 during my brief beta testing mainly because of the improvement in speed, however, there have been significant enhancements over the Firefox 3.6.16 version.

The beta testing for Firefox 4 was quite extensive and went on overdue to a total of 12 betas, frustrating some Firefox users. During this process, Firefox lost some of their users to competitors like Google Chrome. Personally, I've been impressed with Chrome, but with the release of Firefox 4, I believe Firefox is making its way back, though I think it will take a little while until they are up to par.

Listed below you will find some key features and improvements in Firefox 4:

    •   Over 7,000 bugs have been fixed since the initial beta release;
    •   Cleaner and uncluttered look like Google Chrome;
    •   Fastest speed compared to earlier Firefox versions;
    •   Tab Groups provide an overview of all open tabs;
    •   Crash protection due to certain plug-ins won't affect whole browser;
    •   Do Not Track (DNT) header to opt-out of behavioural ads;
    •   Lots of cool features for developers like HTML5, WebGL, Web Console.

Another notable feature is Firefox Sync which allows secure access of Firefox history, bookmarks, tabs and passwords across various devices. For a detailed list of improvements to Firefox 4, check the: Release Notes.