Mozilla has finally released the final RTM/RTW build of Firefox 4.0 and it is now available for download on Windows, Mac and Linux. Firefox 4.0 sports a redesigned user interface (GUI) (most noticeably how tabs are handled), better performance and page rendering speed with Gecko 2.0 engine and new JägerMonkey JavaScript engine, topped off with GPU hardware acceleration support.
Firefox 4.0 also ships with Firefox Sync functionality, allowing you to synchronize settings, passwords, bookmarks, history, open tabs and other customizations across multiple devices. Yes, the Mozilla Team is been late on the game as similar services are already in place for Opera and even Chrome.
Additional features of Firefox 4 include:
- WebM and HD Video support.
- Enhanced privacy protection.
- New JS values for executing heavy, numeric code more efficiently for cleaner graphics and a better browsing experience.
- Multi-touch support for Windows 7.
- 3D the Web support with WebGL.
- Audio API through <video> and <audio> elements in HTML5.
- Retained layers for fast scrolling on complex web pages.
- XPCOM module improvements for better extensions framework and fast startup.
- Support for new CSS3 features like Transitions and Transformations.
- OpenType font.
- More Form features like list attributes and HTML5 validation.
- HTML5 parser with full support for web video, audio, drag & drop, and file handling.
- Web Console web pages analysis tool.
- JetPack SDK to develop add-ons which can be installed without restarting the browser.
- Full hardwareacceleration with Direct2D and Direct3D on Windows, XRender on Linux and OpenGL on Mac.
- Use SVG as images and backgrounds in Firefox.
- Better manage JavaScript objects with Compartments, offering improved cache utilization and garbage collection mechanisms for better security, memory management and overall performance.
- Crash protection from crash in the Adobe Flash, Apple Quicktime or Microsoft Silverlight plugins.
- HSTS for sites to request Firefox to automatically establish secure connections to their servers (https).
Download Firefox 4.0:
Firefox 4 for Windows: Firefox Setup 4.0.exe
Firefox 4 for Mac OS X: Firefox 4.0.dmg
Firefox 4 for Linux (x86-x64): firefox-4.0.tar.bz2