Mozilla, the maker of Firefox, released the latest version of its free and open source Web browser to the public on Tuesday.
The browser boasts a number of improvements over past iterations, including a new look and feel, and increased privacy and security features. One security upgrade, “Do Not Track,” will allow “users to set a browser preference that will broadcast their desire to opt-out of third party, advertising-based tracking,” Mozilla said.
The new Firefox also promotes interactive capabilities with HTML5, a Web programming language that provides full interaction without the need of external plug-ins like Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight.
Gary Kovacs, chief executive of Mozilla, said in a recent interview that the new capabilities added to the browser will enable developers to build applications using HTML5 that are similar to downloadable applications currently used on a number of mobile devices. These so-called Web Apps include fully interactive graphics and games. Mozilla also set up a Web site, The Web O’(pen) Wonders, to showcase some advanced examples of the new browser’s rendering engine.
Mr. Kovacs said that the “millions of developers who currently build Web sites” would be given opportunities to showcase rich interactivity with the new browser, and that these features could help add some balance to the current battle between the open Web and downloadable apps that only operate on specific platforms.
Mozilla also began offering a new feature, Mozilla Sync, which allows people with the Microsoft browser to automatically sync their bookmarks, open browser tabs and settings between multiple computers, mobile phones and Android-based tablet computers. The Mozilla Sync feature will not work with Apple’s iOS devices, which include the iPhone and iPad, because the browser is not available on Apple’s mobile platform.
The new browser had been downloaded nearly three million times hours after it was made available online. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 was downloaded2.35 million times within the first 24 hours of its availability last week.
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