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Firefox 27.0 Beta 5 |
Mozilla Firefox is a fast, light and tidy open source web browser. At
its public launch in 2004 Mozilla Firefox was the first browser to
challenge Microsoft Internet Explorer’s dominance. Since then, Mozilla
Firefox has consistently featured in the top 3 most popular browsers
globally. The key features that have made Mozilla Firefox so popular are
the simple and effective UI, browser speed and strong security
capabilities. The browser is particularly popular with developers thanks
to its open source development and active community of advanced users.
Easier Browsing
Mozilla put of a lot of resources into creating a simple but
effective UI aimed at making browsing quicker and easier. They created
the tab structure that has been adopted by most other browsers. In
recent years Mozilla has also focused on maximizing browsing area by
simplifying toolbar controls to just a Firefox button (which contains
settings and options) and back/forward buttons. The URL box features
direct Google searching as well as an auto predict/history feature
called Awesome Bar. On the right side of the URL box there are
bookmarking, history and refresh buttons. To the right of the URL box is
a search box which allows you to customize your search engine options.
Outside of that a view button controls what you see below the URL. Next
to that you have the download history and home buttons.
Speed
Mozilla Firefox boasts impressive page load speeds thanks to the
excellent JagerMonkey JavaScript engine. Start up speed and graphics
rendering are also among the quickest in the market. Firefox manages
complex video and web content using layer-based Direct2D and Driect3D
graphics systems. Crash protection ensures only the plugin causing the
issue stops working, not the rest of the content being browsed.
Reloading the page restarts any affected plugins. The tab system and
Awesome Bar have been streamlined to launch/get results very quickly
too.
Security
Firefox was the first browser to introduce a private browsing feature
which allows you to use the internet more anonymously and securely.
History, searches, passwords, downloads, cookies and cached content are
all removed on shutdown. Minimizing the chances of another user stealing
your identity or finding confidential information. Content security,
anti-phishing technology and antivirus/antimalware integration ensures
your browsing experience is as safe as possible.
Personalisation & Development
One of the best features of the Firefox UI is customization. Simply
right click on the navigation toolbar to customize individual components
or just drag and drop items you want to move around. The inbuilt
Firefox Add-ons Manager allows you to discover and install add-ons
within the browser as well as view ratings, recommendations and
descriptions. Thousands of customizable themes allow you to customize
the look and feel of your browser. Site authors and developers can
create advanced content and applications using Mozilla’s open source
platform and enhanced API.
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