Today, the Mozilla Foundation released the latest version of its popular Firefox web browser, which includes better support for the emerging HTML 5 specification, support for CSS linear and radial gradients, and the introduction of device orientation for web pages so that developers can create websites and applications that change orientation when a laptop or netbook is rotated—similar to what happens when you turn an Apple iPhone, Motorola Droid, or Google Nexus One phone on its side.
Better HTML 5 Support
Perhaps the most interesting change to Firefox 3.6 is support for HTML 5's addition of a File API to the DOM. This feature means that a web page or web application can now ask the user to select local files, and once permission is granted, read those files. File selection can be done using the HTML imput or via AJAX.
New CSS Options
Another important improvement is support for linear and radial gradients properties for the background _ attribute. The gradients are not quite what can be found in the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) CSS level 3 draft, but it is clear movement in the proper direction. To set the value, developers can use _-moz-linear-gradient and -moz-radila-gradient.
This feature is comparable to -webkit-gradient(linear,…) which has been available for the Safari 4.0 and Chrome.
Device Orientation
The new Firefox 3.6 also grants developers access to a devices orientation. This will be especially important for laptop, tablet, and netbook users, since web developers can now create a user experience similar to an advanced mobile handset.
User Experience
Firefox 3.6 is also supposed to be 20 percent faster than 3.5, which was faster than its predecessor. And the new Firefox includes a new sort of plugin called a Persona that lets users quickly skin the browser using any of more than 35,000 personas available at GetPersonas.com.
