Mozilla launched the new version of Firefox on 25th June, Firefox 22. The new version is available for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. It comes with many improvements including some back-end technical updates. This version provides default support for WebRTC(Web Real-Time Communications) that helps you to make video calls, audio calls and share files without plug-ins or third-party tools like Skype. Sharefest, a peer-to-peer Web client powered by WebRTC lets you drag and drop files into your Web browser to create links which can be shared with anybody.
It also includes a set of API components to allow the developers to create browser-to-browser applications without any plug-in. Firefox 22 adds asm.js which is a subset of JavaScript that allows the browser to dynamically compile JavaScript to assembly code and significantly improve the performance. Here is a list of new features included in Firebox 22. Let’s have a look.
New features in Firefox 22:
- Support for the all the major components of WebRTC by default.
- Asm.js optimizations are enabled.
- The new Object.is function is added.
- Pointer Lock API can be used outside of full screen
- Support for Web Notifications.
- Support for CSS Flexbox layout.
- Support for the HTML5 and elements.
- file download progress is displayed on the dock icon(Mac OSX)
- Supports smaller-screen tablets (Firefox mobile)
- By default CSS3 @supports is enabled
- plain text files are word-wrapped.
- Optimize WebGL performance
- Improved memory usage when rendering images.
Firefox 22 supports CSS Flexbox layout, that allows you to define how elements behave when the page adapts to different screen sizes. It also supports scaling options that lets you to adjust the text size on high-resolution displays, but for now it is only available on Windows. The built-in WebRTC supports video calls but currently it can support only 1-to-1 call.
The new version includes many options that will help the web developers to build new web applications and develop high quality games. It also features improved memory usage when rendering images, improved WebGL performance, Web Notifications, default support for CSS3, pointer lock API and lots more.
You can download Firefox 22 from the official site of Mozilla or from the google play store.