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Firefox 15 Released: Silent Updates, Compressed Textures, Add-on Memory Leak Fix

Mozilla released Firefox 15 today, and it brings a number of interesting changes. First, the browser is finally switching to a "silent" update model, like Chrome. (No doubt in answer to endless complaints about their rapid release cycle.) In addition, Mozilla says they have "now plugged the main cause of memory leaks in Firefox add-ons." Add-ons commonly hold extra copies of sites in memory when they don't need to, and the browser now has a mechanism to detect this and reclaim the memory. Another significant improvement is the addition of native support for compressed textures in WebGL, which is a boost for high-res 3D gaming. Here are release notes for the desktop and mobile versions.

5 of 393 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Flash freezing by MagusSlurpy · · Score: 5, Informative

    Flashblock fixes the problem with Flash freezing. If I could marry it, I would.

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    My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.
  2. Re:Old story, or something new? by Stalks · · Score: 5, Informative

    Open a lot of windows and tabs and see for yourself.

    I do. Daily. 100+ tabs open is not uncommon. Firefox hasn't crashed for years. The rest of your comment is OffTopic.

  3. Re:Old story, or something new? by Martin+Blank · · Score: 5, Informative

    Having run into memory problems repeatedly for years, Firefox 15 is shockingly better at memory management. They completely change the model they used to help clean up after add-ons that don't clean up after themselves and very few of them have had to be fixed to work with it. Memory usage for me has been cut by more than half.

    Mozilla also went out of its way to make the updater service run with as few rights as possible with code that revokes rights that it does not need. There were about three dozen permissions explicitly dropped when it was first developed around FF12. That number may have changed slightly but it's still a long list.

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    You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
  4. Re:Next... by Hatta · · Score: 5, Informative

    Why are you using WinRar when 7zip exists?

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    Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
  5. Re:SILENT updates? by msimm · · Score: 5, Informative

    Then, as a admin: about:config app.update.auto = false

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    Quack, quack.