Mozilla recently launched Firefox 39 for Android, Linux, Mac, and Windows. Notable changes to the popular web browser include the ability to paste Android clipboard content into editable web content, smoother scrolling and animation on Mac OS X, an option to share Hello URLs via social networks, and critical bug fixes. Firefox 39 for desktop is available for download now from Firefox.com and the update is trickling out slowly on Android via Google Play.
Important bug fixes addressed in the update include memory corruption and “exploitable crash” fixes, two “high” severity flaws, half a dozen “moderate” severity flaws, and a single “low” severity flaw. Detailed information regarding these bug fixes can be found here. The update also arrived with better malware detection and support for the Unicode 8.0 skin tone emoji.
According to Firefox though, the crowning achievement of this update is the ability for users to share their Firefox Hello link on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. In Firefox 33 beta, Mozilla introduced an experimental WebRTC feature that allows users to make free voice and video calls without additional software, plugins, or logging into an account. The feature was further improved and launched in Firefox 34. Now Mozilla is calling Firefox Hello “the first global communications system built directly into browser.”
WebRTC is compatible with Chrome and Opera so users don’t need the same software or hardware as the person they want to call. To use the new sharing option released with Firefox 39 users first have to add their social networks by visiting Services For Firefox, and then clicking the “Activate Now” button. After that, sharing Hello links is as easy as clicking the Firefox Hello button and sharing a link with a social network on the list.
Other changes in Firefox 39 include improved performance, improved NPAPI plug-in performance, removed support for insecure SSLv3 network connections, and more. You can view the full change log here.