IBM Mainframe

Mozilla has released Firefox 1.5, the latest version of the popular open-source Web browser. Firefox 1.5 includes faster browsing, better caching and protection against pop-ups and the ability to organise tabbed browsing windows. The new browser also comes with an automatic update mechanism that downloads and installs updates and patches.

Based on the new Gecko 1.8 rendering engine, version 1.5 is faster, more stable and offers a host of new features. Firefox 1.5 also includes new support for Web standards, adding support for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), JavaScript 1.6 and new versions of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). SVG is a language based on XML for writing two-dimensional graphics, and JavaScript 1.6 is the latest version of the scripting language.

Other new features in the browser include an automatic software update mechanism, faster navigation using the 'Back' and 'Forward' tabs, and the ability for you to drag and drop browser tabs for reordering. In addition, the Firefox update adds better pop-up blocking and a host of security enhancements, according to Mozilla. Other new features include the addition of Answers.com to Firefox's list of search engines and a Clear Private Data function that allows users to quickly remove personal data through a menu item or keyboard shortcut.

Mozilla had released three test release candidates of the browser earlier this month, as well as two beta versions, the first in September and the second in October. Firefox, which celebrated its one-year anniversary November 9, has become a popular alternative to Microsoft Internet Explorer. In October, the total number of Firefox downloads topped 100 million.

The software can also be downloaded from our site.