Firefox 10 released, available for download now

The next big release of Firefox was scheduled for a launch today and it’s finally out. Those using older versions of Firefox should find the new version available for updating. Firefox, in recent times has the ability to update itself by heading over to the Help > About menu. The new update then downloads and post a restart later, and you’re ready to go. If that doesn’t work and if you’re using a really old version of Firefox, head over to the Firefox download page for links to the binaries here. Firefox 10 comes a little more than a month since the last major release. Mozilla recently adopted a rapid release cycle for some of their products, such as the popular Firefox browser and the Thunderbird e-mail client.

Finally available for download

Firefox 10 brings along a whole bunch of security and bug fixes along with it, but there are a few new features as well. The highlighting feature is the extension support for Firefox, which allows older add-ons to function just fine on new versions, so users won’t have to wait for weeks before extension developers update their software. There’re also some features that developers might find handy. A feature called Page Inspector allows developers to monitor and examine elements on the page without having to leave the browser. Full screens apps are better supported now and WebGL content can be anti-aliased for better quality.

Yesterday, we also talked about the ESR (Extended Supported Release), which means better support for enterprises and large organisations that do not wish to update their Firefox browser every few weeks. Firefox 10 will be one such milestone, where security updates will be supplied to users, while major features won’t be changed as the months go by. A new Firefox 10 build for Android is also available. Mozilla has put up an entire list of changes on their web site and has warned of a few issues, which are yet to be addressed. For example, there’s bound to be a few web site compatibility issues and some issues with smooth scrolling, while using Google Mail.