Mozilla adds WebAssembly support to Firefox

Mozilla has released Firefox 52 for Mac, Windows, Linux and Android. The latest version includes several new features, but the most notable one in the series is the WebAssembly support that distinguishes the web browser from the competition.

The addition of WebAssembly makes Firefox the most advanced web browser for 3D graphics delivery. The low-level assembly style language is specifically designed to enable gaming, CAD, scientific visualisation and video editing in the browser. Mozilla targets at bringing native-like performance to all these areas through the new development.

“We expect that WebAssembly will enable applications that have historically been too complex to run fast in browsesrs – like immersive 3D video games, computer-aided design, video and image editing and scientific visualisation,” said Nick Nguyen, vice president of product strategy, Mozilla, in a blog post. “We also expect that developers will use WebAssembly to speed up many existing web apps.”

Not an exclusive

Mozilla considers that the WebAssembly support within Firefox would be a game changer for web apps. However, the technology will not be available an exclusive to Firefox browser for long time. The same assembly language is also expected to be available for Chrome users through its next release.

Additional features in new version

Alongside the support for WebAssembly, Firefox 52 comes with automatic detection for captive portals and public WiFi services. The feature also checks for the security of these public Wi-Fi networks and shows an error if the connection is not secure. The whole idea behind the advanced development is to remind users if their login credentials are not secure.

Mozilla has also implemented a new warning in the address bar that pops up if you click into a username or password field on a page that is not encrypted using HTTPS.

Furthermore, the new Firefox is designed to abandon the use of some dated plugins. These plugins include Java, Acrobat and Silverlight.