Firefox 4, faster web apps

The version 4 of Firefox is trying to remake the retard on Chrome of which versions are released at a high rate, and countering the future coming of Internet Explorer 9 which no longer satisfied with the advantage of integration in Windows but wants to confront competing browsers by its own capabilities.

It was developed under the version number 3.7. It is based on Gecko 1.9.3.

What is new in Firefox 4

HTML5

The tag of divisions are implemented: <header> <nav> <article> <section> <footer>.
The <figure> tag is added.
Canvas as a tool for drawing and image manipulation.
Offline mode.
Geolocation.
Drag and drop.
The <video> tag uses the WebM codec.
WebSocket facilitates exchanges between the application and the server.
To change the history, the methods pushState() and replaceState().
The Forms API is supported to check entries.

SVG

SVG file in <img>.
A vector image is displayed as easily as a bitmap.
SMIL Animation.
SVG code directly in HTML.

CSS 3

2D Transformations.
Transitions. To display the content changes gradually.
@font-face. Using personal fonts.
Shadows.
Gradients.
calc() inserts calculations in the stylesheet.

3D

The 3D in the browser with WebGL that is enabled by default.

Ajax

XMLHttpRequest can use formData objects. They have methods to create lists in the form: name = value.

Database

IndexedDB.
This standard API allows to have a database structured as a hierarchy of key-value. This allows to store JavaScript objects.

JavaScript and speed

JägerMonkey replaces TraceMonkey, the JavaScript compiler. Its speed is the same that on Chrome.
Hardware acceleration.
Using the graphics processor (GPU) for the display of text as images or videos and DirectX or OpenGL.

Plugins Development

Jetpack replaces XUL as default platform. Extensions can be achieved with just JavaScript, HTML and CSS.
Installed by the user without relaunching the browser.
A development tool is provided: Addon Builder.
The XUL language was developed.
It is always possible to develop extensions to Firefox with XUL, this offers more extensive capabilities.

Interface

Tabs are placed above the window.
But the user can change their position in the options.

Interaction

Multitouch.
Events on touch screens are used in a web application in Firefox 4.