Firefox Is 9 Years Old, Mozilla Highlights 9 Interesting Facts
The Firefox web browser celebrated its 9th birthday this weekend. To mark this joyous occasion, Mozilla highlighted 9 interesting facts about its web browser.
People who keep track of these things will remember that Firefox version 1.0 was rolled out on the 9th of November 2004. This means that over the weekend Mozilla’s web browser celebrated its 9th birthday. Congratulations are in order and, as an avid fan, I only hope that Firefox will keep going strong and will get better and better over the years.
Mozilla decided to celebrate Firefox’s 9th birthday by highlighting 9 interesting facts. Or as the developer put it, “we’d like to highlight nine of our favorite gifts we’ve given the Web over the past year.”
Here are the 9 facts Mozilla highlighted:
Firefox for Android
Firefox for Android-powered devices keeps getting better and offers an amazing browsing experience to more and more people. Millions of users around the world access the web from a mobile device and browse the web with Firefox.
New Firefox Products
Firefox OS, the Firefox-based mobile operating system, has been rolled out this year. Available in 9 countries, Firefox OS powers smartphone devices based entirely on open Web technologies. And via the Firefox Marketplace, Firefox OS users can access thousands of interesting apps.
Speed Improvements
Firefox is 88% faster on Octane, the Kraken scores are 74% better compared to last year’s results, apps and web games launch 25% faster. Startup times and page load times are now faster than ever before. Firefox is a speedy browser and keeps getting faster.
Social Enhancements
Thanks to the Social API, social services can be integrated into Firefox. Several have already been integrated: Facebook Messenger, msnNOW, Mixi, and Cliqz.
Privacy Is Important
A study performed by the Ponemom Institute named Mozilla the “Most Trusted Internet Company for Privacy.” This shows that Mozilla takes privacy seriously and users from all over the world trust the company with their information.
With privacy in mind, Mozilla recently released Lightbeam for Firefox, an add-on that “brings to light the array of first and third party companies people interact with everyday across the Web.”
Security Is Important Also
Mozilla also takes security seriously. With Firefox 23, Mozilla introduced mixed content blocking to protect from man-in-the-middle attacks and eavesdroppers on HTTPS pages.
Click to play plugins is another security-oriented feature Mozilla introduced this year. It puts the user in control, it lets the user choose when sites can run plugins.
Support for WebRTC
Since Firefox 22, WebRTC is enabled by default. WebRTC is the standard for real-time communication on the web. It enables video calls and file-sharing directly in the browser, all without the need for plug-ins or third-party software.
Web Gaming Innovations
Mozilla is determined to show that the web is a suitable platform for high end game development. With that aim in mind, a supercharged subset of JavaScript called asm.js has been developed. What it does is it enables developers to create high-intensity applications, such as games, directly on the Web.
Tools for Developers
Developers have access to a set of useful tools they can use to edit and debug HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
People who keep track of these things will remember that Firefox version 1.0 was rolled out on the 9th of November 2004. This means that over the weekend Mozilla’s web browser celebrated its 9th birthday. Congratulations are in order and, as an avid fan, I only hope that Firefox will keep going strong and will get better and better over the years.
Mozilla decided to celebrate Firefox’s 9th birthday by highlighting 9 interesting facts. Or as the developer put it, “we’d like to highlight nine of our favorite gifts we’ve given the Web over the past year.”
Here are the 9 facts Mozilla highlighted:
Firefox for Android
Firefox for Android-powered devices keeps getting better and offers an amazing browsing experience to more and more people. Millions of users around the world access the web from a mobile device and browse the web with Firefox.
New Firefox Products
Firefox OS, the Firefox-based mobile operating system, has been rolled out this year. Available in 9 countries, Firefox OS powers smartphone devices based entirely on open Web technologies. And via the Firefox Marketplace, Firefox OS users can access thousands of interesting apps.
Speed Improvements
Firefox is 88% faster on Octane, the Kraken scores are 74% better compared to last year’s results, apps and web games launch 25% faster. Startup times and page load times are now faster than ever before. Firefox is a speedy browser and keeps getting faster.
Social Enhancements
Thanks to the Social API, social services can be integrated into Firefox. Several have already been integrated: Facebook Messenger, msnNOW, Mixi, and Cliqz.
Privacy Is Important
A study performed by the Ponemom Institute named Mozilla the “Most Trusted Internet Company for Privacy.” This shows that Mozilla takes privacy seriously and users from all over the world trust the company with their information.
With privacy in mind, Mozilla recently released Lightbeam for Firefox, an add-on that “brings to light the array of first and third party companies people interact with everyday across the Web.”
Security Is Important Also
Mozilla also takes security seriously. With Firefox 23, Mozilla introduced mixed content blocking to protect from man-in-the-middle attacks and eavesdroppers on HTTPS pages.
Click to play plugins is another security-oriented feature Mozilla introduced this year. It puts the user in control, it lets the user choose when sites can run plugins.
Support for WebRTC
Since Firefox 22, WebRTC is enabled by default. WebRTC is the standard for real-time communication on the web. It enables video calls and file-sharing directly in the browser, all without the need for plug-ins or third-party software.
Web Gaming Innovations
Mozilla is determined to show that the web is a suitable platform for high end game development. With that aim in mind, a supercharged subset of JavaScript called asm.js has been developed. What it does is it enables developers to create high-intensity applications, such as games, directly on the Web.
Tools for Developers
Developers have access to a set of useful tools they can use to edit and debug HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
