Firefox 18 delivers a jolt of speed to Web apps and games

[nsane.forums]

We've known for some time now that Firefox 18 would bring some significant speed improvements to Mozilla's popular browser, and the final version—released today—made good on that promise officially.

In fact, a new JavaScript compiler in the software is delivering performance improvements of up to 25 percent on Web apps and games, Mozilla says.

To get a taste of those improvements for yourself, you can check out BananaBread, a 3D Web game created by the Mozilla Developer Network and powered exclusively by HTML5, WebGL, and JavaScript, Mozilla noted in a Tuesday post on the Mozilla Blog.

On the desktop

What else is new in this latest Firefox update? Besides IonMonkey, the open source browser's new just-in-time (JIT) compiler, there are also a few other interesting additions.

First, Mac users will surely appreciate the fact that Firefox 18 now supports high-resolution Retina Display, for instance. The result is a sharper Web experience when watching movies, playing games, and browsing on OS X 10.7 and higher, Mozilla says.

Also included in Firefox 18 is preliminary support for WebRTC, an open framework for the Web that enables real time communications in the browser.

On Android

On the mobile side, meanwhile, Firefox 18 for Android now offers search suggestions as you type so as to make it easier to find what you're looking for on the Web.

“When you start typing into the Awesome Bar, Firefox will ask you if you’d like to opt-in to search suggestions,” Mozilla explains.

Search suggestions are conducted over a secure connection to protect your user data, it notes.

Finally, Firefox 18 for Android also adds new security features. Specifically, the mobile browser now protects users from malicious websites by warning them whenever they encounter one that may be used for malware or phishing.

Ready to give this latest Firefox a try? It's now available as a free download for both Android and the desktop, including Windows, Mac, and Linux.

View: Original Article

[calguyhunk]

I dunno if it's that much faster than version 17, but in general, it has got significantly faster and less RAM consuming over the past year or so :yes:

[anuseems]

Firefox 18 brings TURKTRUST update, Retina support, faster JavaScript - oh, and 20 other security fixes

Firefox 18 has been released.

This month, there were 2917 bugs patched, with 21 security fixes.

Twelve of the security fixes were deemed critical.

There's also a brand-new JavaScript compiler (though it augments, rather than replaces, the old one), and full-on support for Retina displays on the groovier sorts of Mac.

New JavaScript compiler

The big-feature news, according to the Mozilla Foundation, is the official introduction of a new JavaScript engine, known as IonMonkey.

There have been lots of Monkeys in Mozilla's JavaScript stable, most recently TraceMonkey and JaegerMonkey. These have both offered what's known as Just In Time compilation, or JIT.

This is a feature that converts JavaScript code, which has traditionally been compiled to some kind of machine-independent internal representation and then interpreted, directly into machine code.

This can improve runtime performance greatly, albeit with potential security costs. (There's obviously a lot more to go wrong when you generate machine code and feed it directly into the CPU.)

But instead of converting an entire JavaScript module into machine code up front, as you might do with a standalone C/C++ program, a JIT compiler produces machine code chunks only when they're about to be executed for the first time.

This avoids lengthy startup delays, which can be annoying in an interactive environment like a browser, especially if you load a large JavaScript program but only end up using a tiny fraction of its features.

IonMonkey is supposed to improve the code optimisation habits of the JaegerMonkey JIT compiler, allowing it to generate code that's 25% faster, at least in carefully-chosen benchmarks showcased by Mozilla.

This new feature comes at a cost: complexity.

IonMonkey does more work preparing your code to run, so it only boosts overall speed for JavaScript that runs for a while, such as a game or a content viewer. JaegerMonkey has therefore been retained as well, and is still used for simpler-looking JavaScript programs.

TURKTRUST certificates distrusted

The security fix that will probably ring the most bells with Naked Security readers is the one that officially deals with the TURKTRUST SSL certificate blunder.

The code diff (the details of what was added to and removed from the source code itself, denoted by lines starting with plus and minus signs respectively) can be viewed online.

You will notice that it removes TURKTRUST's most recently issued root certificate (issued in 2007 and valid until 2017) altogether.

Presuambly, when the dust has settled on this incident, TURKTRUST will mint a new root certificate and persuade the Mozilla team to re-adopt it as a bestower of trust.

Additionally, the two known wrongly-issued intermediate certificates that were generated by TURKTRUST back in 2011 are now recognised by Firefox and treated as explicitly distrusted. That means that any SSL certificates signed by those intermediate certificates simply won't work.

MacBook Pro Retina support

The really groovy thing, at least for readers who are as fortunate as I am, and who own a MacBook Pro with Retina display, is that Firefox 18 now directly supports the enhanced-resolution Retina modes.

The text in your Firefox browser window now really does look like a printed page.

(I told Chester. His response? "Meh." Ignore him. If you are a Retina-owning Firefox user, upgrade to Firefox 18 now for the HiDPI text rendering alone. It really is groovy.)

Built-in PDF viewer still turned off

Sadly, by default, you'll still officially need a plugin (or an external program) to read PDF files. Firefox's long-awaited built-in PDF viewer, known as pdf.js, hasn't yet gone live.

Of course, you can turn it on if you like, simply by visiting the URI about:config and changing the setting pdfjs.disabled from true to false.

I only had one disappointment in doing so, namely that when you're in the PDF viewer, the Retina display isn't properly supported.

In a HiDPI Retina mode, PDF text is blurrier than in the corresponding non-Retina mode, presumably because the display is trying to improve things with anti-aliasing but merely exaggerating the lower resolution of the content.

Still, you can't have everything.

I'll take print-quality sharpness on regular web pages, faster JavaScript and the numerous security fixes, and hope that Mozilla ramps up the built-in PDF viewer by the time it goes live by default.

Enjoy.

@ http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2013/01/09/firefox-18-brings-turktrust-update-retina-support-faster-javascript-oh-and-20-other-security-fixes/

[ande]

Oh man, I needed to go to the source to read it properly.

Thanks for info!

[DKT27]

1. Fixed the layout of the article.

2. Threads merged.

[Marik]

I dunno if it's that much faster than version 17, but in general, it has got significantly faster and less RAM consuming over the past year or so :yes:

don't forget it can also read pdf files, no more need for shitty adobe reader for me :dance:

[demoneye]

what ever anyone says on firefox speed and stuff it never run Youtube or same like video smooth as GOOGLE CHROME , and u fox can check it around , my eyes never lie to me :)

[mara-]

Video smooth on Google Chrome? :lmao: I checked the Chrome on no so powerful machine and it was lagging like hell, where Firefox could handle it without any issue.

Cheers ;)

[TheAslan]

Agreed, Chromium + Tampermonkey extension + Youtube Center script = Perfect!

[calguyhunk]

don't forget it can also read pdf files, no more need for shitty adobe reader for me :dance:

Actually, pdf.js was implemented and incorporated into the nightly and beta builds a long time back. It however wasn't working as well as they had expected it to, so they kept the pdfjs.disabled to true as default thus far, but it was implemented none the less :)

Have not even installed Reader on my Win8 installation LOL. FF is set as the default pdf reader even for local pdf files, not just for the ones from the net :yes:

[demoneye]

Video smooth on Google Chrome? :lmao: I checked the Chrome on no so powerful machine and it was lagging like hell, where Firefox could handle it without any issue.

Cheers ;)

weird , from my side ff always was lagging and bad when playing any flash or Html or what ever is out there. but chrome always play it smooth.