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March 18, 2014

Firefox 28 released


Firefox 28: Find out what is new


By on March 18, 2014 in Firefox 11
The Firefox 28.0 update introduces several new technologies to the browser. Mozilla has added VP9 video decoding support, support for Opus in WebM, improved volume controls for HTML5 media, and its GamePad api to the browser.

Mozilla is about to release upgrades for all Firefox channels. The stable version of Firefox will be upgraded from Firefox 27.0.1 to Firefox 28 in the coming 24 hour period, while Beta, Aurora and Nightly releases will see a version bump as well to 29.0, 30.0 and 31.0 respectively. Firefox ESR users last but not least will be upgraded to version 24.4.0 in that time period.

The updates are already available on third-party download sites and the official Mozilla FTP server. While it is possible to download the update early, there is always the chance that last minute changes force Mozilla to push out another build as the final update.
To check which version of Firefox you are running, tap on the Alt-key, and select Help > About Firefox from the menu, or load about:support right away.
Downloads will be made available on the official Mozilla website later today. If you have configured automatic updates, you will receive the update automatically the next time you run the Firefox web browser.
Please note that Mozilla distributes so-called net installers or stubs by default. Read this guide to find out how you can download Firefox offline installers.

Firefox 28 Changes

firefox 28.0


Mozilla planned to release Firefox for Metro, a specialized version of the web browser for Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system with Firefox 28 but decided to pull it in the last minute. The organization made the decision to stop the development at this point in time to concentrate on improvements and products
that are higher up on the priority list right now.
On to the improvements in this version:

The GamePad API has been finalized and is now enabled by default

The GamePad API was launched in Firefox 24, but was locked behind a preference for the time being. While you could enable it by setting dom.gamepad.enabled to true on the Firefox about:config page, that is no longer necessary once Firefox Stable gets updated to version 28 as it is enabled by default then.
The API is also implemented in Chrome, also the browser supports a slightly different set of features.
Web developers can use the api to create games and applications that make use of gamepads, so that gamepads can be used to control actions on the screen. A basic example is a game that supports gamepads next to keyboard, mouse or touch input.
A very basic test is available here.


Volume control for HTML5 audio and video
firefox-volume-slider


This introduces an always visible horizontal volume slider on all HTML5 audio and video files that you play in the Firefox web browser.
A vertical slider was used previously, and there were cases where it was not displayed properly to the user.
Check out bug 649490 for additional information about the implementation and reasoning.
Support for VP9 video decoder and Opus in WebM added
Firefox can now play VP9 encoded videos in WebM format. If you open this test page in Firefox 27.0.1 or earlier, you get an error message that the VP9 video cannot be played, while the VP8 video plays fine.
Opening the same page in Firefox 28 or newer plays both videos fine.
Mozilla is currently working on implementing part of MSE to pass the HTML5 video test on YouTube's HTML5 test page.
WebVTT support added
The Web Video Text Tracks Format can be used to display text tracks using the <track> element, for instance in the form of video subtitles or captions.
Information about Mozilla's implementation are listed here on this page.
Developer changes
Mozilla is working on the platform constantly, which means that new technologies get added or old ones removed. Developers should check the additional information and sources listing at the end of the article for links to pages that detail all changes for developers.
This listing contains just the highlights:
  1. Dark theme and split console mode added to Web Console in Developer Tools.
  2. Inspector now features a color picker in rules view.
  3. You can now prettify minified JavaScript files in the Debugger. Here you can now also inspect the value of a variable while debugging.
  4. CSS: Support for multi-line flexbox, background-blend-mode property and none value for font-variant-ligatures.
  5. WebVIT has been switched on by default.
  6. Various interface, api and DOM changes such as implementation of the File constructor, improving privacy by stopping navigator.plugins from being enumerable, or activation of the GamePad API by default.
  7. Opus in WebM is now supported.
  8. The VP9 video decoder is now supported.
  9. Support of SPDY/2 has been removed.

 Source: http://www.ghacks.net/2014/03/18/firefox-28-find-new/

Firefox 28 released: Windows 8 Metro version removed at the last moment because it only had 1,000 users

Firefox 28 for Windows

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Firefox 28 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android has been released. For Android, version 28 adds a lot of cool features  – such as predictive lookup from the address (Awesome) bar, the addition of quick share buttons, and support for OpenSearch. On the desktop side of the equation, though, Firefox 28 adds support for the VP9 video codec… and that’s about it. Why I hear you ask? Well, Firefox 28 was meant to include the long-awaited Windows 8 Metro version of the browser — but at the last minute, citing almost zero demand for Windows 8′s Metro interface, Mozilla’s vice president for Firefox decided to terminate the project and pull the code out of version 28.


Speaking on Mozilla’s official Firefox Beta blog, vice president Jonathan Nightingale paints a stark picture of Microsoft’s touch-oriented Metro interface. Back in 2012, when the Firefox for Metro team was formed, Nightingale — like Microsoft — really did think that the Metro interface would be “the next battleground for the Web. Windows is a massive ecosystem and Microsoft pushes its new platforms hard.” In Nightingale’s defense, I think we all thought that the Metro interface would at least experience some measure of success. I don’t think anyone predicted that Windows 8′s touch interface would tank as hard as it has done.



Firefox for Windows 8, Metro version


Firefox for Windows 8, Metro version. This is what it would’ve looked like, if it hadn’t been pulled. [Image credit: Ghacks]
Anyway, after a lot of hard work, Firefox for Windows 8 Touch was eventually released to the alpha and beta testing public. To help with the testing process, Mozilla tracks the usage of its alpha and beta browsers — and, in the case of Metro, the usage statistics were very bad indeed:
“In the months since, as the team built and tested and refined the product, we’ve been watching Metro’s adoption. From what we can see, it’s pretty flat. On any given day we have, for instance, millions of people testing pre-release versions of Firefox desktop, but we’ve never seen more than 1000 active daily users in the Metro environment.”
As a result, Mozilla was faced with a hard decision: Ship the Metro version of Firefox, knowing that it hadn’t been appropriately beta tested and was probably still full of bugs… or just pull it completely. There was another option — to continue developing and testing it for future release — but, given how few people are interested in the Metro version, Mozilla decided to focus its efforts on other areas. “If we release a product, we maintain it through end of life. When I talk about the need to pick our battles, this feels like a bad one to pick: significant investment and low impact.”



Chrome OS on Windows 8, ExtremeTech version


The Metro version of Chrome looks more like Chrome OS than anything else
Nightingale admits that Firefox now runs the risk of being caught with its pants down if Metro suddenly becomes very popular (Chrome has had a stable Metro version since January) — but honestly, I think at this point we can all agree that any gains made by Metro will come as a result of painstakingly small victories won by Microsoft over a scale of months and years, not days and weeks.


Download Firefox 28 for Windows / Mac / Linux / Android (will be updated later today)– or see the full release notes

Source: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/178659-firefox-28-released-windows-8-metro-version-removed-at-the-last-moment-because-it-only-had-1000-users







What’s New

  • NEW
    VP9 video decoding implemented
  • NEW
    Mac OS X: Notification Center support for web notifications
  • NEW
    Volume control for HTML5 audio/video
  • NEW
    Support for Opus in WebM
  • CHANGED
    Now that spdy/3 is implemented support for spdy/2 has been removed and servers without spdy/3 will negotiate to http/1 without any penalty
  • DEVELOPER
    Support for MathML 2.0 'mathvariant' attribute
  • DEVELOPER
    Background thread hang reporting
  • DEVELOPER
    Support for multi-line flexbox in layout
  • FIXED
    Various security fixes

Known Issues

  • Unresolved
    Echo cancellation on apprtc.appspot.com fails (see 974537)
    Unresolved on v28 Resolved in v29
  • Unresolved
    Text Rendering Issues on Windows 7 with Platform Update KB2670838 (MSIE 10 Prerequisite) or on Windows 8.1 has a workaround (see 812695)




What’s New

  • NEW
    VP9 video decoding implemented
  • NEW
    Mac OS X: Notification Center support for web notifications
  • NEW
    Volume control for HTML5 audio/video
  • NEW
    Support for Opus in WebM
  • CHANGED
    Now that spdy/3 is implemented support for spdy/2 has been removed and servers without spdy/3 will negotiate to http/1 without any penalty
  • DEVELOPER
    Support for MathML 2.0 'mathvariant' attribute
  • DEVELOPER
    Background thread hang reporting
  • DEVELOPER
    Support for multi-line flexbox in layout
  • FIXED
    Various security fixes

Known Issues

  • Unresolved
    Echo cancellation on apprtc.appspot.com fails (see 974537)
    Unresolved on v28 Resolved in v29
  • Unresolved
    Text Rendering Issues on Windows 7 with Platform Update KB2670838 (MSIE 10 Prerequisite) or on Windows 8.1 has a workaround (see 812695)
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