Windows users are most likely more excited about the new Windows 10 browser code named “Project Spartan” being released soon than any other browser related news but for those who prefer other browsers, a 64-bit version of Mozilla Firefox is now available. Firefox is a cross platform browser that already supports Linux, Mac, and Windows but the latest update adds a second, heavier duty 64-bit version for Windows.
64-bit applications can run much larger applications than their 32-bit counterparts. Some games even require a 64-bit system to run at all. The increase from a 32-bit browser to a 64-bit browser also allows Firefox to run JavaScript more quickly.
Here’s a full change log for the new 64-bit version:
New
- 64bit Windows builds
- BroadcastChannel API implemented (more at hacks.mozilla.org)
- Implemented srcset attribute and element for responsive images
- Implemented DOM3 Events KeyboardEvent.code
Changed
- autocomplete=off is no longer supported for username/password fields
- URL parser avoids doing percent encoding when setting the Fragment part of the URL, and percent decoding when getting the Fragment in line with the URL spec
- RegExp.prototype.source now returns “(?:)” instead of the empty string for empty regular expressions
- Page load times improved by speculative connection warmup
Developer
- Optimized-out variables are now visible in Debugger UI
- XMLHttpRequest logs in the web console are now visually labelled and can be filtered separately from regular network requests
- WebRTC now has multistream and renegotiation support
- copy command added to console
Further reading: Firefox, Web browser
