He is called "Ognelis", "FF" and "Mozilla". Some users think browser Mozilla Firefox the worst that has ever been created, citing as arguments a lot of security holes and the program's love for fatal errors. The opposing side calls this browser ideal, putting it on a par with the best programs for and surfing in . A hard-to-explain psychological effect has long been noticed: as soon as a person works in Firefox for some time, he falls in love with it forever. Becoming his adherent, admirer and adept.

Today, Mozilla Firefox Internet browser occupies the third place in the world in terms of popularity among all and a confident first place in the "Free Software" nomination.

In other words, there are countries where the popularity of Firefox is higher than the global one. So, let's say, in Russia Firefox is the second, and in Germany it is the first. It is about what preceded such a deafening glory of this program that we will talk with you today.

Creation of Firefox. Start

And the history of Firefox began with the fact that Netscape Communications really wanted to create a browser that would grab some piece of the pie from the incredibly popular Internet Explorer. Yes, yes, I was not mistaken, that's right: today in limbo and revived only by attempts, the IE browser at the end of the 20th century was extremely, simply fantastic, popular.

It is only natural that other companies did their best to repeat this success. Yes, let's be frank, the Netscape 5 browser completely failed the fight with Internet Explorer in 1998, but still did not disappear without a trace - it was on its "remains" that the creation of new program for surfing the web. Rather, the program, in fact, was written from scratch, only some ideas and pieces of open source code were taken from Netscape 5. At the heart of the modern Firefox browser is the freely portable Gecko engine.

Until 2002, the development of the new browser was neither shaky nor rolly. As is often the case, the crisis was the motivational kick for hard work on the project. In 2002, AOL Time Warner Corporation, which owned Netscape Communications, decided to close the unprofitable project. However, the development of the new browser was not curtailed, but separated into a separate structure of the Mozilla Foundation.

By the way, AOL Time Warner Corporation did a great job of helping the new company at the initial stage, providing computer technology, giving some initial funds and transferring intellectual property rights.

Creation of Firefox. Continuation

Just from the moment of gaining independence, the development of the project began to gain serious momentum. Already on September 23, 2002, the first version 0.1 was released. Frankly, the first release did not attract the attention of either the general public or specialists. Moreover, the program was so “raw” that many changes were made by developers literally at full speed, at the time of using the program. Of course, this subsequently led to some compatibility problems. Nevertheless, a start was made: the browser saw the light and began to develop actively.

With a landmark date in history Mozilla browser Firefox can safely be considered November 9, 2004. On this day, the first stable version 1.0 was released. Sorry for the cliches, but the appearance of this version in its effect was akin to the effect of an exploding bomb. New browser users fell in love with it so much that in just a year it was installed by more than 100,000,000 people. Moreover, Firefox gained 25 million downloads in the first 100 days after the program was posted on the Internet. Impressive numbers.

Then there were versions 1.5 (2005); 2.0 (2006); 3.0 (2008); 4.0 (2011) and so on. Each of the versions improved, optimized, pulled into its orbit all the new operating systems and additional functions. As of March 2014, the Firefox browser already has 27 stable versions, each of which only increased the army of the program's fans.

And interestingly, the name Firefox was far from the first. Few people know now, but initially the browser was called Phoenix (“Phoenix”), then Firebird (“Firebird”), and only after both of these names were rejected due to copyright infringement by developers, did the well-known Internet community cute fiery fox. Which, by the way, is not a fox at all, but a red panda. At least, this is what the Chinese think, from whose language the name is literally translated.

Founders of Firefox

To date, both employees of the Mozilla Foundation and volunteers from around the world are working to maintain the functionality and expand the capabilities of the browser. And yet the browser has its "fathers", who are considered to be the creators of Firefox. There are only two of them - Blake Aaron Ross and Dave Hewitt. I think they deserve a few words.

Below I tried to remember Interesting Facts regarding the Firefox browser:

Firefox: Future Predictions

Since today, when colossal funds are circulating in the IT field, each successful solution akin to discovering a real gold mine. And the Firefox browser in this case is no exception. For several years now, intensive work has been carried out to popularize and integrate it with mobile devices. The volume of special extensions available to browser owners is expanding. Media seeding is also actively underway, thanks to which the growth in popularity of Mozilla Firefox is constantly increasing.

In general, if you follow the statistics of downloads, we can conclude that very soon another “redistribution of spheres of influence” awaits us. Given the fact that Firefox owners rarely switch to other web surfing systems, we can expect a significant jump in the popularity of this really very unusual and original browser.

• Audio/video .ogg files, as well as .pdf files, are now handled by Firefox if none of the applications are specified for them (Windows only);
• Added a web search form to the new tab page;
• Implemented and enabled WebVTT;
• Support for variables in CSS blocks. Now it is possible to create variables with the "--" prefix (previously "var-" was suggested) and the possibility of their subsequent use using the var() instruction.;
• CSP 1.1 nonce-source and hash-source are enabled by default;
• Dialogs fired by the onbeforeunload event no longer block access to the rest of the browser;
• Developer Tools: Added the Eyedropper tool to the Color Picker;
• Developer tools: Editable Box Model;
• Developer Tools: Improved Code Editor;
• Developer tools: Console stack trace;
• Developer tools: Copy as cURL;
• Developer tools: Styling console logs;
• Developer Tools: Add-on Debugger;
• Developer Tools: Canvas Debugger;
• Fixed search for partially selected link text from the context menu.

• Added the ability to update the page of synchronized tabs by swiping from top to bottom;
• Added support for rearranging panels on home page(about: home);
• Integration of the Generational Garbage Collector, which allows you to achieve higher performance and reduce memory consumption in the situation of storing a large number of objects that live for a short time;
• The OdinMonkey optimization module for code using the asm.js style uses a new additional optimization layer (backtracking allocator), which allows for better generation of machine instructions when JIT is running. The downside of the new method is increased compilation time and higher resource consumption due to more complex methods for finding the optimal solution, so this method is not used by default for regular code, but is quite applicable for Asm.js. In the octane-zlib test, the inclusion of a new level of optimization allowed us to increase performance from 45,000 to 50,000 points;
• The new library mozilla::pkix is ​​used to check the correctness of digital certificates. The new library is more secure by checking all available certificate verification chains. The library code is written in C ++ and is only 4167 lines, which greatly simplifies its maintenance (the previous library was unnecessarily complicated and consisted of 81865 lines due to the fact that it was translated from Java to C);
• Partially implemented OpenType MATH table (section 6.3.6), more details in the documentation about mathematical fonts and MathML Torture Test;
• Added translations for the following languages: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu;
• Removed the CAPS framework for defining site-specific permissions (via capability.policy.* parameters). In particular, attempts to use this functionality to provide access to the clipboard will no longer work. The only exception is the checkloaduri permission, which can still be used as before to allow sites to load file:// URIs;
• Firefox Hub APIs
• Implemented and enabled WebVTT;
• Support for variables in CSS blocks. Now it is possible to create variables with the "--" prefix (previously "var-" was suggested) and the possibility of their subsequent use using the var () instruction;
• Support for the navigator.sendBeacon interface is enabled by default, for asynchronously transferring small portions of data from the browser to the server;
• For arrays, support for the Array.prototype.fill() method has been added, designed to fill the entire array or part of its elements with a certain value;
• The new built-in object Object.setPrototypeOf();
• CSP 1.1 nonce-source and hash-source are enabled by default.

Initially, the browser was called "Phoenix" ("Phoenix"). Some time later, the browser was renamed "Firebird" ("Firebird") due to a trademark conflict, but this name was later changed to "Firefox" for a similar reason. However, "Firefox" turned out to be a trademark of The Charlton Company in the UK, which was reflected in the "About" dialog.

Firefox ("fire fox") - a literal translation from the whale, pinyin hǔo hú, which the Chinese sometimes call the red fox and the red panda, after which, according to the developers, the browser is named. Firefox is preferred to be abbreviated as "Fx" or "fx" rather than "FF" or "FX".

Often in everyday life, the browser is mistakenly called "Mozilla".

The Firefox project was started by Blake Ross and Dave Hyatt while working at Netscape Communications, which was part of AOL Time Warner. Since the closure of Netscape Communications, the entire Mozilla project has been managed by the then-created Mozilla Foundation, which owns the Mozilla Firefox trademarks.

Firefox was spun off from the Mozilla Application Suite, which was coded from scratch by the Mozilla Organization instead of the Netscape Communicator 5 code, some of which was released under the Mozilla Public License after losing the browser war.

The browser uses the free, portable Gecko engine, built with open standards in mind. Firefox is developed by employees of its subsidiary Mozilla Corporation and volunteers around the world.

Version history:

Firefox 1.0

Firefox 1.0 (codenamed "Phoenix") was a direct successor to Mozilla Suite 1.7 (running on the Gecko 1.7 engine) and had quite a lot in common with it in the user interface - for example, in the settings window, the buttons were located not horizontally (as they are now), but vertically, in the Mozilla tradition. Among the improvements - the extension manager, the ability to automatically update by downloading the installer of the new version.

The 1.0.x branch was the only one (at the moment) in which developers made major changes to the API on the fly, during its active use, which led to partial incompatibility of extensions for Fx 1.0.3 with versions 1.0.4-1.0.8

Currently no longer maintained, has a significant number of unpatched security holes, and is obsolete.

Firefox 1.5

Firefox 1.5 (codenamed Deer Park) was released on November 29 (according to other sources November 30), 2005, with regular updates for a year and a half.

Improvements in version 1.5:

Built-in automatic update system.
Faster and improved navigation.
Sorting tabs through the mechanism Drag and drop.
Improved pop-up blocker.
Clear Private Data function to remove personal information.

May 31, became available to the general public Firefox 1.5.0.12 and Firefox 2.0.0.4 through the system automatic updates. it standard updates security and stability. Also 1.5.0.12 is the final version of the 1.5 branch. Firefox 1.5.0.12 already includes an improved update mechanism that will allow users to "migrate" to Firefox 2 by installing a special patch. The upgrade to the 2.x branch was offered to users on June 28, 2007.

Firefox 2

On October 25, 2006, Firefox 2.0 was released (codenamed "Bon Echo"). In the first day that has passed since the official release of the browser, it was downloaded more than 2 million times. It is based on the advanced Firefox 1.5 - Gecko 1.8.1 engine. It has improved support for JavaScript, SVG, XML, the browser design has been slightly changed, and an anti-phishing system developed by Google has been introduced. The original plan was to add a modern bookmarking system called Places, but due to difficulties in debugging it, it was only included in Firefox 3.0 (June 2008). Added spell checking for text in web forms.

Firefox 3

On April 2, 2008, quite stable was released Firefox version 3.0 Beta 5, which was included with Ubuntu 8.04 and Fedora 9.

In beta versions, the format of the default autocompletion drop-down list has been changed, and the autocompletion algorithm has been improved. By beta 4, the dependence of the position of the result on what the user selects by entering a certain search string is implemented.

Added the ability to use system settings access through a proxy server (environment variable $http_proxy) on the Linux platform, and a radio button to select it in the corresponding dialog, displayed only if the variable is set.

The "DOM Inspector" extension has been removed from the standard package. Now it is available in add-ons.

On May 16, the first release candidate was released - Firefox 3.0 RC1, which has already been downloaded by more than 1.5 million people. It contained 10 serious bugs (including 3 critical bugs). The final version was supposed to be released only after fixing all the errors.

One of these "bugs" is actually a combination of Linux's implementation of fsync, the use of fsync in SQLite version 3.5.8, and the consequences of requiring this version of SQlite by several builds of Firefox shortly before 3.0 RC1.

"This build has reduced the amount of memory it takes up while running and significantly improved performance," said Mozilla VP Mike Beltzner. RC2 added automatic memory cycle counters, systems for defragmenting memory, and changed about a hundred code fragments (through which memory leaks occurred). The browser also received additional security mechanisms when working with secure web pages. Bookmarks, web history, cookies and passwords are now stored in a secure format. The JavaScript engine has been overhauled.

Release Candidate 3 has been released. This version fixes a browser freeze error in operating system Mac OS X 10.5.3, Windows and Linux versions remain unchanged.

On June 17, 2008, Firefox 3 was released, based on the Gecko 1.9 platform, which has been developed over the past 34 months. The new platform includes more than 15,000 changes that improve performance, increase the stability and accuracy of content display, simplify and improve code. The use of the new platform has made Firefox 3 a more secure, easy-to-use, and highly customizable product with a wide variety of options for developers of websites and Firefox add-ons.

Firefox 3.5

Firefox 3.5 is the next stable release and was released on June 30, 2009. The codename is Shiretoko. The Gecko version is 1.9.1.

This release of Firefox came out under version 3.5, not 3.1 as originally planned.

This decision was made to more accurately highlight the many changes that have been made since Firefox 3.0 was released last summer. These include a number of changes to tab management, web standards compatibility fixes, a heavily redesigned JavaScript engine, and privacy improvements including a new private mode that allows users to delete all personal data at the end of a session.

In addition, in the final version of the browser, the logo has changed to a new one. The image as a whole remains the same, with the exception of the tail of the fox, which symbolizes the fire that engulfs the planet Mozilla.

Firefox 3.6

Firefox 3.6 is the next stable release and was released on January 21, 2010. Code name - Namoroka. The Gecko version is 1.9.2.

At the preliminary stage of testing, the release was referred to as version 3.2.

The main features of Firefox 3.6 are:

Performance improvements: Decreased browser startup and tab opening times, increased responsiveness when executing user commands.

Support for lightweight themes that do not require restarting the browser (Personas), tighter integration with Windows 7 and Mac OS 10.6, fixes in the smart address bar and autocomplete form.

Firefox 4.0

Version following Firefox 3.6. It was decided to release it under version 4.0, and not 3.7, as planned at the alpha testing stage. Firefox 4.0 will be released in early 2011.

Numerous UI fixes have become one of the key areas of development. For example, it is planned to place the tab bar in the window frame, get rid of the status bar, and the add-on manager will be redesigned. Grouping will also be added. open tabs.

The basic delivery of the browser will include Firefox extension Sync, which will allow users to synchronize their bookmarks, list of open tabs, history and saved passwords between multiple computers and mobile phones.

In addition, Firefox 4.0 will include the new Jägermonkey JavaScript engine, which will increase the speed of JavaScript code execution by several times.

• Audio/video .ogg files, as well as .pdf files, are now handled by Firefox if none of the applications are specified for them (Windows only);
• Added a web search form to the new tab page;
• Implemented and enabled WebVTT;
• Support for variables in CSS blocks. Now it is possible to create variables with the "--" prefix (previously "var-" was suggested) and the possibility of their subsequent use using the var() instruction.;
• CSP 1.1 nonce-source and hash-source are enabled by default;
• Dialogs fired by the onbeforeunload event no longer block access to the rest of the browser;
• Developer Tools: Added the Eyedropper tool to the Color Picker;
• Developer tools: Editable Box Model;
• Developer Tools: Improved Code Editor;
• Developer tools: Console stack trace;
• Developer tools: Copy as cURL;
• Developer tools: Styling console logs;
• Developer Tools: Add-on Debugger;
• Developer Tools: Canvas Debugger;
• Fixed search for partially selected link text from the context menu.

• Added the ability to update the page of synchronized tabs by swiping from top to bottom;
• Added support for rearranging panels on the home page (about: home);
• Integration of the Generational Garbage Collector, which allows you to achieve higher performance and reduce memory consumption in the situation of storing a large number of objects that live for a short time;
• The OdinMonkey optimization module for code using the asm.js style uses a new additional optimization layer (backtracking allocator), which allows for better generation of machine instructions when JIT is running. The downside of the new method is increased compilation time and higher resource consumption due to more complex methods for finding the optimal solution, so this method is not used by default for regular code, but is quite applicable for Asm.js. In the octane-zlib test, the inclusion of a new level of optimization allowed us to increase performance from 45,000 to 50,000 points;
• The new library mozilla::pkix is ​​used to check the correctness of digital certificates. The new library is more secure by checking all available certificate verification chains. The library code is written in C ++ and is only 4167 lines, which greatly simplifies its maintenance (the previous library was unnecessarily complicated and consisted of 81865 lines due to the fact that it was translated from Java to C);
• Partially implemented OpenType MATH table (section 6.3.6), more details in the documentation about mathematical fonts and MathML Torture Test;
• Added translations for the following languages: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu;
• Removed the CAPS framework for defining site-specific permissions (via capability.policy.* parameters). In particular, attempts to use this functionality to provide access to the clipboard will no longer work. The only exception is the checkloaduri permission, which can still be used as before to allow sites to load file:// URIs;
• Firefox Hub APIs
• Implemented and enabled WebVTT;
• Support for variables in CSS blocks. Now it is possible to create variables with the "--" prefix (previously "var-" was suggested) and the possibility of their subsequent use using the var () instruction;
• Support for the navigator.sendBeacon interface is enabled by default, for asynchronously transferring small portions of data from the browser to the server;
• For arrays, support for the Array.prototype.fill() method has been added, designed to fill the entire array or part of its elements with a certain value;
• The new built-in object Object.setPrototypeOf();
• CSP 1.1 nonce-source and hash-source are enabled by default.