Firefox 5 to Receive Huge Performance Improvements
Thanks to various tweaks and improvements, the upcoming Firefox 5 release, which is scheduled for the July 2011 release, will see a big jump in performance.
The first in the list are: a new JavaScript compiler codenamed IonMonkey and rendering engine improvements, which should offer a significant performance boost in hardware acceleration and web pages rendering.
According to Mozilla, a new JavaScript interface algorithm that they’ve been working on is already 40% faster than its own TranceMonkey or Google’s Crankshaft.
Furthermore, due to the recent Firefox criticism on heavy memory usage, the new version will have key improvements in this area as well.
Firefox 5 does indeed look promising and we can’t wait to give the Beta version a test drive.
Download Google Chrome 11 Final
Good news,
Google Chrome 11.0.696.57 has been just pushed to the stable channel and can be downloaded here.
The latest release patches various bugs and brings a handful amount of security fixes, rewarding bug hunters with a total of $16,500 in cash.
In addition to that, Google Chrome 11 now includes the speech input through HTML feature, allowing you to translate what you say (via microphone) with Google Translate.
Firefox Aurora Lacks Users
With the recent introduction of the new channel structure, it looks like Mozilla is not receiving the users it originally anticipated.
How so? Matt Brubeck, the software engineer for the Firefox Mobile has tweeted the following:
We need more Firefox users to join the Aurora channel, and start testing Firefox 5 features like CSS3 Animation: http://firefox.com/channel
As of today, the Beta release of Firefox 5 web browser is scheduled for the May 17 with the final release target set to June 21st.
Weekly Browsers Recap + Bonus Links, April 25th
FavBrowser.com
- Microsoft Starts Bug Warnings For Third Parties
- Mozilla Introduces New Channel Structure for Firefox
- Google Chrome Theme for Firefox 4
- Google Chrome Has 120 Million Users
- Chrome Called Out By FTC Over Do Not Track
- Opera: Disable Auto Image Fit to Screen / Pictures Resizing
- Safari to Receive Do Not Track Feature
- Maxthon Theme for Firefox 4
- Block Visitors That Block Ads?
Firefox 4 Tops 100 Million Downloads
It has been a month since the launch of Firefox 4 and Mozilla has decided to disclose that the browser has already managed 100 million downloads. Nevertheless, according to StatCounter, a web analytics company, the introduction of Firefox 4 has not managed to boost Firefox’s overall share in the browser market.
Firefox 4’s average share up until the 24th of April accumulated to 7.3% which is more than double the average Firefox 4 had achieved in March. The Mozilla browser has since exceeded 8%.
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Mozilla Introduces New Channel Structure for Firefox
With the upcoming Firefox 5 release, Mozilla has introduced a new release structure for its web browser, designed to speed up the software development cycle.
As you might remember, Firefox used to have the following release channels:
Nightly Test Builds
Firefox Beta
Firefox Final Release
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Chrome Called Out By FTC Over Do Not Track
Google was singled out by Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Liebowitz this week due to not yet having detailed any plans for integrating the Do Not Track feature. What this particular privacy feature does is let consumers opt out of online tracking by Web sites and advertisers, Google belonging to both of these categories.
Apple just announced they’re going to put it in their Safari browser. So that gives you Apple, Microsoft and Mozilla. Really the only holdout — the only company that hasn’t evolved as much as we would like on this — is Google.
Microsoft Starts Bug Warnings For Third Parties
Three security advisories were released for rival browsers by Microsoft today, two of which for Chrome and one for Opera. Said bugs were spotted by researchers at Microsoft and brought to the attention of the security teams in charge of Opera and Chrome. Opera patched the bug in October of 2010 while Google fixed the vulnerabilities last September and December.
According to Mike Reavey, the director of the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC), the change is part of an expansion of the vulnerability disclosure policy launched by Microsoft the previous summer. These advisories were the first to be issued by Microsoft for vulnerabilities found in third party software. Other advisories will follow as necessary.
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Opera: Disable Auto Image Fit to Screen / Pictures Resizing
If you are not a fan of an automatic image fit to the window that was introduced in Opera 11.10, then don’t worry, there is a way to turn it off.
Unfortunately, you can’t do that via Opera Preferences or opera:config. However, there is an extension to solve your problem.
– Install Image Autosizer extension.
– Menu (Alt) > Extensions > Manage Extensions.
– Find Image Autosizer and click on the gear icon > Preferences.
– Seek for the gray bar that is titled “Advanced” and click on it.
– View modes > When image is larger than window: Enable default and Original (see picture below).
– Save changes.
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