14 DAY TRIAL // Mozilla has just released a brand new version of its Firefox browser that comes with a long list of improvements available on all supported platforms, including Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
While no release notes are available for the time being, Firefox 28 stable is most likely capable of providing enhanced performance and stability, while also fixing the majority of the bugs found in the beta builds rolled out in the last few months.
Firefox 28 stable also improves the features originally implemented in the first beta build of version released as part of branch 28, which means that many of the bugs you’ve seen before should no longer be part of this new build.
Firefox 28 was also expected to come with a Metro port of the browser, but unfortunately for those who have already made the move to Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, Mozilla has recently decided to discontinue plans for such a project, citing lack of excitement for the Modern environment as the main reason.
The company said that its testing builds for Windows 8 have only been downloaded by a small number of users, which makes the project a more or less waste of time and resources, as developers would better concentrate on the desktop version of the browser.
“In the months since, as the team built and tested and refined the product, we’ve been watching Metro’s adoption. From what we can see, it’s pretty flat. On any given day we have, for instance, millions of people testing pre-release versions of Firefox desktop, but we’ve never seen more than 1000 active daily users in the Metro environment,” Johnathan Nightingale, VP Firefox, said in a post last week.
Mozilla, on the other hand, will continue investments in the desktop version of Firefox, so expect more improvements to be announced in the coming months. Firefox Australis is also a big project in the works at Mozilla, so dumping Firefox for Windows 8 pretty much makes sense.
“The code will live on – many of us feel a great attachment to the product regardless of its market – but we’ll focus our efforts in places where we can reach more people. There’s a lot more of that work still to do,” Nightingale also added.
Firefox 28, on the other hand, is available right now on all supported platform, so in case you’re already running this browser, make sure you update as soon as possible.
Download Mozilla Firefox 28 for Windows