Specifically, Firefox 3.5 now boasts the following improvements:
Performance. Firefox 3.5 includes the powerful new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine, which delivers unprecedented performance with today’s complex Web applications. Firefox 3.5 is more than two times faster than Firefox 3 and 10 times faster than Firefox 2.
Open Video and Audio. Play video and audio content from within your browser, without the need for plug-ins. Firefox 3.5 delivers the first native integration of audio and video directly into the browser. Now everyone can easily watch open format Ogg Theora videos. Web developers can use these technologies to design pages that interact with video content in new ways, offering richer interactive experiences beyond controlling playback and volume.
Privacy Controls. Firefox 3.5 includes features designed to protect your privacy online and provide greater control over your personal data. While using the new Private Browsing mode in Firefox 3.5, nothing you encounter on the Web will be stored from that moment on during your browsing session. Unique to Firefox 3.5, the new Forget this Site feature can remove every trace of a site from your browser. If you want to remove all private data or activity from the past few hours, Clear Recent History, another Firefox-only feature, gives you full control over what stays and what goes.
Location Aware Browsing. Location Aware Browsing saves you time by allowing Web sites to ask you where you are located. If you choose to share your location with a Web site, it can use that information to find nearby points of interest and return additional, useful data like maps of your area. It’s all optional — Firefox doesn’t share your location without your permission.
I’ve just loaded The release version of Firefox 3.5 onto my browser test bed in order to do some benchmarking. How does Mozilla’s latest browser compare to the rest?.
As usual I’m running two two tests:
* SunSpider JavaScript benchmark
* V8 Benchmark Suite
I expected Firefox 3.5 to be fast, but I didn’t expect it to beat Google Chrome, and I was right. It’s odd to think that it’s been nearly a year since the last major Firefox upgrade, but in that time the browser faces stiff competition from both Google Chrome and Apple’s Safari.
As usual I’m running two two tests:
* SunSpider JavaScript benchmark
* V8 Benchmark Suite
I expected Firefox 3.5 to be fast, but I didn’t expect it to beat Google Chrome, and I was right. It’s odd to think that it’s been nearly a year since the last major Firefox upgrade, but in that time the browser faces stiff competition from both Google Chrome and Apple’s Safari.