Mozilla releases Firefox 10, adds developer tools - Register

Mozilla releases Firefox 10, adds developer tools

Better add-on support, Mac Java crash fixed

By Iain Thomson in San Francisco • Get more from this author

Posted in Applications, 1st February 2012 01:31 GMT

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Mozilla has released version 10 of its Firefox browser as part of its accelerated six-week build cycle, and has also included a pack of developer tools aimed at simplifying life for website operators.

Firefox 10, available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android, includes eight security fixes, but the most noticeable change in upgrading is the way the browser handles add-on software. According to Mozilla, most add-ons will now work by default (after the changes made by Firefox 8), rather than having to be reloaded to suit the new version. HTML5-support APIs for full-screen viewing are also new to the build.

In addition, Mozilla claims to have fixed the crashable conflicts caused by Java for Mac OS X users of Firefox, and similar stability problems that occurred when trying to shift bookmarks around. Anti-aliasing for WebGL and CSS3 3D-transforms are also included in the new release.

For developers, Mozilla has added a function dubbed Page Inspector, which allows a website creator to examine the HTML structure and layout of a site without leaving the browser window. Site Inspector gives the ability to edit a page, and to access CSS properties.

There are, however, still issues. Gmail users will find scrolling a tad slow, and notifications won't work with Growl 1.3 and above. Two-digit browser version numbers can also still cause crashes, and Firefox won't scroll down with some Synaptics touchpads. ®

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