Mozilla's web browser hits triple digits

With three-digit numbering, Mozilla's web browser catches up with the Chromium family, but nothing else changes in the typical monthly release cycle, which doesn't usually attract much attention.

Firefox 100 is no exception, and while there have been some new advances, they have not gone out of their way to surprise everyone. By the way, Chromium derivatives did not reach 100; nonetheless, Firefox is not Chromium, and its road here has been extremely different.

We may quickly recall a portion of its history when it was not yet recognized by the name it is known now. The browser was renamed Firefox, Mozilla Firefox, two years after its initial release, with the release of version 0.8 in 2004. That same year, version 1.0 was released, and the alternative was beginning to gain traction.

In 2005, Firefox 1.5 was released, followed by Firefox 2.0 in 2006, and Firefox 3 in 2008, a version that marked a before and after. For the first time in years, a browser stood up to the then-mighty Internet Explorer, though modestly, and positioned itself as the preferred choice for computer 'experts', with Opera's approval.

Mozilla established itself in opposition with an everlasting version (Firefox 3.5 was published in 2009, Firefox 3.6 in 2010), and by the time they set out to replace the chip with Firefox 4 (2011), Google Chrome had already begun to consume the field. Mozilla's answer was to accelerate development and release cycles, and with Firefox 5, they launched the fast cycle that they would continue until 2020.

No, it is not that they lowered the Firefox development and release cycle in 2020: from around six weeks between one version and the next, it was then passed to the monthly version that is still in use, which is why Firefox 100 now emerges. In terms of its impact on the web… Let's just say the browser has seen better days… not that it's worse than ever.

However, it should be recalled that Firefox is where it is due in part to poor management by Mozilla. Its current market share is reported to be around 7% on PC, 0.5 percent on mobile, and 3% overall, albeit the statistics fluctuate depending on the source.

As a result, while Firefox 100 is also available for Android, it only has one noteworthy new feature, namely the addition of a search option in bookmarks. This is why we concentrate on the PC version (Linux, Mac, and Windows), which, according to the release notes, includes new features such as…

According to official cross-platform information, the highlight of Firefox 100 is support for subtitles in the floating video window, Picture-in-Picture or PiP, but only for Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and YouTube. All you need to do is have the subtitles enabled in the player on duty for it to operate. PiP now provides WebVTT support (Web Video Text Track).

The second topic of widespread interest in Firefox 100 is languages, and it is divided into various segments. The first is that when the browser is launched for the first time, it will identify if the language does not match the system language and will suggest an option that does. It is a step that supplements, i.e. aids, the ability to install the desired language from the preferences.

Furthermore, Firefox 100 improves spell checking, which is accessible via the application's context menu and allows you to select the language. The operation is standard: misspelled words are highlighted, and valid alternatives are supplied via the context menu.

Other new features in Firefox 100 include HDR support on Mac (macOS 11 and higher and compatible screens), currently only for YouTube; hardware acceleration with AV1 on Windows (Intel Gen 11 and higher, AMD RDNA 2 except Navi 24, and GeForce 30); and floating scrollbars on Linux.

So far, these are the highlights of Firefox 100, however, there are more improvements in the shape of modest adjustments, security patches, and other types that this version receives, and the update should be arriving at you soon if you have the browser installed.