Firefox 11 Due Today, Features Chrome Migration, Add-on Sync

 by Andrew Cunningham on March 13, 2012 9:30 AM EST
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Mozilla is due to release Firefox 11 to the stable channel today, and like every Firefox release since 4.0 the new version adds a handful of new features and fixes without drastically changing how the browser works. Firefox 10, the current Firefox Extended Support Release, will see a new 10.0.3 patch that will implement Firefox 11's security patches but not its new features.

Firefox users looking to move back to Mozilla's browser after trying Chrome will now be able to import that browser's bookmarks, history, and cookies, with passwords, form data, and settings to follow in a later version. Users of Firefox Sync will now also be able to synchronize their browser add-ons across multiple computers, ensuring a more consistent experience for people with multiple systems.

Additionally, the new Firefox offers a couple of new developer tools: the first is called Tilt, and it's pictured above - when inspecting page elements (right-click a page, click Inspect Element), users with WebGL-capable systems can now click a 3D button to see a copy of the page rendered in 3D. You can move the page around and zoom in and out at will - in addition to looking pretty cool, it can also make it easier to interact with elements that overlap. The other addition is a new Style editor, accessible from the Web Developer menu.

All of this comes with a handful of smaller changes and security fixes which are laid out in the release notes, linked below. Firefox 11 is available for Windows XP, Vista, and 7, as well as OS X 10.5 (Intel), 10.6, and 10.7 and most Linux distributions.

Source: Mozilla

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  • geekfool - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link

    When I told firefox 10.0.2 to look for updates, windows firewall appeared stating that
    readix.exe wanted to connect to the internet. I have never heard of this before and firefox never had problems updating from version 4. Google doesn't being up any results for this file.

    This file is found under
    C:\Users\Andrew\AppData\Roaming\Oqoqv

    I denied access for this file and now when I check for updates firefox said could not connect to server.

    But now 15 minutes later I check again and firefox says my version is up to date.

    What is going on?     Reply

  • geekfool - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link

    More info:
    When I first told firefox to check for updates it was downloading info like it normally would if an update available. It was 7mb I think. Then I eventually got the readix.exe windows firewall question. Said no, and firefox failed to update. Then when retried to look for updates failed to connect to server. Now currently it says no updates available.

    I scanned the file and quick scan with MSE, and nothing wrong with it.     Reply

  • Andrew.a.cunningham - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link

    That's a weird one! I'd say it was a silent updater, but that isn't slated to make it into FF before version 12 or 13 (don't remember which offhand). Reply

  • geekfool - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link

    Firefox finally noticed a new version again. 7.4mb download. applied update no problem. No mention of the other file.

    Maybe one of their mirrors had a bad update?

    Argh.
    I'm trying to delete the file and it says it is in use! I closed firefox, and don't see any firefox processes running, so I have no idea what is using it.

    File is 194kb
    date created/modified/accessed: Thursday July 21, 2011.
    No idea what that is from and why it wanted to run when updating firefox today.

    I am now running process explorer and it shows up.
    As far as I can tell it looks like a crash report program for mozilla updater.
    http://i.imgur.com/WwD4Y.png

    Process explorer killed process and I was able to delete file/folder.     Reply

  • clairvoyantx - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 - link

    Don't forget Firefox 11 also implements the SPDY protocol but it is not yet enabled by default. The most important goal of SPDY is to transport web content using fewer TCP connections. Initially developed by Google but now with contributions from others. To enable:
    about: config then search for network.http.spdy.enabled and set it to true.     Reply

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