Firefox 100: Mozilla Upgrades Its Browser With New Video Features
These include subtitles in the picture-in-picture view and Youtube HDR videos for macOS. Windows users benefit from hardware acceleration for AV1 videos.
Mozilla has released Firefox 100 for download. The new version mainly brings users new video functions. However, several bugs have also been fixed and nine security holes have been plugged.
Users who consume videos from YouTube, Prime Video or Netflix in the picture-in-picture view will from now on also be able to see subtitles. In addition, Firefox 100 for Mac (from macOS 11) supports the playback of HDR videos on compatible screens. Google’s video service Youtube is the first to do so.
Windows users receive support for hardware-accelerated playback of videos in AV1 format. The prerequisite is a GPU that supports hardware acceleration and the AV1 video extension available in the Microsoft Store.
Firefox 100 introduces multilingual spell checker
In addition, Firefox 100 offers a spell checker in several languages. When Firefox 100 is first launched after installation, it checks whether the installed language matches the language of the operating system. If not, the user is offered to select one of the two languages for the browser.
Another change concerns the browser’s installer. It is now signed with SHA-256 and no longer with SHA-1. Users who still use Windows 7 need the Windows update KB4474419 to update to Firefox 100.
The nine security holes that the developers have eliminated with Firefox 100 allow, among other things, spoofing attacks or disclose the browsing history. However, several memory errors have also been corrected, which under certain circumstances could allow the infiltration and execution of malicious code.
100 Versions of Firefox within 17 years
Firefox reached the milestone of 100 versions within 17 years – mainly due to the switch to a faster release cycle in 2011. Mozilla also used the “birthday” to thank its users: “We couldn’t have made it this far – 17 years and 100 versions later – without your support. Your decision to use Firefox directly contributes to a better web by keeping it open and accessible to all. It is with a deep sense of gratitude and appreciation that we will continue to fight for this global public resource and put people over profits.”
Firefox is now considered the last “independent” browser with its own browser engine. Even Microsoft’s Edge is now based on Chromium, the open-source variant of Google Chrome. Apple Safari, on the other hand, also uses its own engine, called WebKit, whereas the Chrome engine is a so-called fork of WebKit – so both have common roots.
