Mozilla, a public-benefit organization dedicated to promoting choice and innovation on the Web, today released Firefox® 3.6, an update to its popular, free and open source Web browser. The latest version of Firefox introduces cutting-edge features, support for a wide variety of Web standards, and access to more than 6,000 free add-ons that allow users to customize their browser to their liking.

Firefox 3.6 is more than 20 percent faster than Firefox 3.5 and includes extensive under the hood work to improve performance for everyday Web tasks such as email, uploading photos, social networking, and more. It also delivers new features like customizable browser themes called Personas, a ground-breaking Plugin updater, improved JavaScript performance, and enhancements to familiar favorites like the Awesome Bar for a better, more personal Web experience.

Firefox 3.6 was built by Mozilla’s global community of passionate contributors, including thousands of experienced developers, security experts, localization and support communities, and hundreds of thousands of active testers. More than 350 million users worldwide enjoy Firefox’s fast, secure browsing experience and unparalleled customization.

What’s new in Firefox 3.6:

Below are some of the coolest features of Firefox 3.6:

Personas: Personalize the look of your Firefox by selecting new themes called Personas in a single click and without a restart

Plugin Updater: To keep you safe from potential security vulnerabilities, Firefox will now detect out of date plugins

Stability improvements: Firefox 3.6 significantly decreased crashes caused by third party software – all without sacrificing our extensibility in any way

Form Complete: When filling out an online form, Firefox suggests information for fields based on your common answers in similar field

Performance: Improved JavaScript performance, overall browser responsiveness, and startup time

Open Video and Audio: With the world’s best implementation of HTML 5 audio and video support, now video can be displayed full screen and supports poster frames

What’s New Under the Hood for Developers

Support for the latest HTML5 specification, including the File API for local file handling

Font Support: In addition to OpenType and TrueType fonts, 3.6 now supports the new Web Open Font Format (WOFF)

CSS gradients: Supports linear and radial CSS gradients which allow for a smoother transition between colors

Device orientation: Firefox 3.6 exposes the orientation of the laptop or device to Web pages

How to get Mozilla Firefox 3.6:

Firefox 3.6 is available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux in more than 70 languages – more platforms and languages than any other browser! You can download Firefox 3.6 at www.firefox.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE:

For screenshots and logos, visit http://www.mozilla.com/press/images.html.

For a video tour of Firefox 3.6, visit http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/video/?video=whatnew-3.6.

Further details on Firefox 3.6 features can be found in the Reviewer’s Guide.

For more information about Mozilla Firefox 3.6 and how it provides a better and faster online experience, visit www.firefox.com.

Web developers are encouraged to check out the Firefox 3.6 for developers page and the full release notes.