Firefox 16: HTML5 Awesomeness And Love For Developers


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Mozilla Firefox 16 has just arrived at our doorsteps, and this time, it comes with plenty of love for web developers as well as HTML5.

Unlike the previous version, Firefox 16 does not come with a long list of revolutionary improvements. Instead, it brings to us certain vital additions. For a start, HTML5 is no longer a no-fly zone — CSS3 animations, transitions, IndexedDB, web APIs — you name it! Firefox 16 has finally got them all covered. Well, almost all.

If you are a developer, Mozilla has tried its best to win you over. The browser now runs faster with the addition of Incremental Garbage Collection.

Mozilla claims that Firefox 16 will now respond better to gestures and mouse movements, and animations as well as games will also run smoothly. There is web app support for all desktop operating systems, though it is obvious that Firefox will not be able to convert developers overnight and persuade them to migrate from Chrome. Of course, there will be improved add-ons to follow as well.

Another developer-friendly feature is the Developer Command Line. Simply put, it will provide you with no-nonsense keyboard controls for most of the developer tools. Beyond that, the browser has also seen some localization improvements.

There have also been platform-specific improvements. For example, Firefox for MAC OSX has VoiceOver Support turned on by default. Furthermore, the Android version now has a Reader Mode, to help you experience streamlined browsing — bigger fonts, improved picture layouts, and no ads.

As someone who uses Linux, I often find Firefox to be the default browser on most new operating systems I install. Naturally, I’m happy with the improvements, though personally, I don’t see Firefox 16 beating Chrome any time soon.

What do you think of the improvements in this version of Firefox?

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