Firefox 10 Is Here, New Features Rundown

Firefox 10 is now available for download and should be pushed via the update channel to all Firefox users over the next few days. The latest release brings a number of features, though regular users will only notice some small tweaks and changes, like the removal of the forward button, unless it's needed.

Developers though have it better, Firefox 10 brings a number of changes that should improve the existing dev tools but also comes with a few new tools as well.

Add-ons compatible by default

The big new feature in Firefox 10, at least in terms of impact, is default add-on compatibility. All add-ons that are listed as supporting Firefox 4 or greater will be allowed to work and be installed in Firefox 10.

Some of them may need to be updated and may still be incompatible, but this is judged on a case-by-case basis, unless they are proven not to work, add-ons will be marked as compatible.

This should mean that people will find it easier to update to a new Firefox version and won't be stuck with old, unsafe and unsupported versions simply because their favorite add-ons don't work.

Fullscreen API

"Firefox introduces the Mozilla Full-Screen API for websites and Web applications, allowing developers to build Web experiences that leverage the entire screen," Mozilla explained.

"Full-Screen API enables developers to create full screen games, immersive video experiences and rich presentation sharing," it said.

The Fullscreen API is part of the proposed HTML5 standard and it enables websites to request that the page take up the entire screen. Video players and 3D games are the two most obvious uses for the feature, but there are others. Chrome and Safari also support the API.

WebGL Anti-Aliasing and CSS 3D Transforms

"Firefox now supports Anti-Aliasing for WebGL, allowing developers to create objects that blend together and move smoothly," it added.

"Firefox also supports CSS 3D Transforms, which lets developers animate and transform two dimensional elements into 3D using HTML5 without the need for third-party plugins," it said.

All in all, the new stuff in Firefox 10 should be of bigger interest to developers than to regular users. Still, the simple fact that most add-ons will now work with any Firefox makes this release worthwhile.