14 DAY TRIAL // Mozilla finally got around to launching the release candidate version of the latest Firefox 3.6. The first big update after 3.5 was scheduled to be released in Q4 2009 but, as usually the case at Mozilla, it got pushed back and looks set to be coming sometime this month. In theory, the RC1 version could be identical to the final build, though, usually, some bugs do creep up. The list of new features and updates coming to 3.6 has been known for quite a while and Mozilla has managed to get them all sorted out, albeit a bit later than the developers hoped.
These are the most important updates, coming straight from the Mozilla developers: - Users can change the browser’s appearance with a single click using Personas. - Firefox 3.6 alerts users about out of date plugins to keep them safe. - Changes to how third-party software integrates with Firefox to increase stability. - Improved automatic form fill provides better options from your form history. - Open, native video can now be displayed full screen, and supports poster frames. - Support for the WOFF font format. - Improved JavaScript performance, overall browser responsiveness and startup time. - The ability to run scripts asynchronously to speed up page load times. - Support for the HTML5 File API. - Support for new CSS, DOM and HTML5 web technologies.
The Mozilla Labs project Personas has now been integrated with Firefox and all users will be able to customize their browsers with one of the tens of thousands of designs available in the Personas online gallery all with a couple of clicks. The Personas project is still available as a separate add-on for Firefox 3.5 users and to new features coming at a steady pace.
The new WOFF font format comes with several advantages over other open font formats and it looks like web typography may finally be catching up in 2010 with the rest of the developments in web design. Support for the <video> tag in the proposed HTML 5 standard has also been extended with a couple of new capabilities like full-screen playback.
Another big feature in 3.6 is support for the HTML5 File API which opens up a lot of possibilities for web developers. It allows their apps to directly manipulate local files, which translates in any number of practical uses. In the short term future, this should greatly improve file uploads as it enables asynchronous reads and handling multiple files. Developers that have had to rely on Flash or Java to provide advanced upload features can now implement them using standard HTML technologies.
Firefox 3.6 should be coming soon now, but if you've been holding back during the beta stage, you can try out the latest feature for yourself with the release candidate feature which should be free of any major bugs or vulnerabilities.
Firefox 3.6 RC1 (Release Candidate) for Windows is available for download here. Firefox 3.6 RC1 (Release Candidate) for Mac OS X is available for download here. Firefox 3.6 RC1 (Release Candidate) for Linux is available for download here.