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Firefox 19 Launches With Built-In PDF Viewer

Posted by Soulskill on from the they-should-use-roman-numerals-for-launch-numbers dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Mozilla on Tuesday officially launched Firefox 19 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. The improvements include a built-in PDF viewer on the desktop and theme support as well as lower CPU requirements on Google's mobile platform. You can see the official changelogs here: desktop and Android."

4 of 288 comments (clear)

  1. In version 20 Firefox will have built-in Emacs! by RocketRabbit · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Are they serious? A built in PDF reader, and this is only the start of things. Meanwhile there are Mozilla bugs that are over half a decade old.

    This constant bloat of software, where a program eventually gets filled with so many features that it might as well be Ann entire OS, is one of the most dangerous diseases in the tech world. The irony is that Firefox was originally a lightweight answer to the entire Mozilla suite, because it had grown too bloated.

    Every platform out there already has a PDF reader. My operating system has a PDF renderer built in. It works great. Why jam another one in the browser? They're just increasing the attack surface, and if a vulnerability in the PDF format were to crop up now I have to worry about getting patches for yet another thing here.

    1. Re:In version 20 Firefox will have built-in Emacs! by ZorinLynx · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The PDF reader in Firefox is actually implemented in JavaScript. It's quite an achievement!

      It doesn't bloat the software much; it's just a .js file that gets loaded when needed. I personally think this is the RIGHT way to do it; external binary plugins are much more susceptible to security problems than simply using the already existing JavaScript engine, which has been time tested to be secure.

      Worry not, Firefox is in good hands.

    2. Re:In version 20 Firefox will have built-in Emacs! by TeknoHog · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They should really make a small, light version of Firefox that only does web browsing, and does it well. They could call it "Phoenix", for example.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
  2. Re:Still exists? by epyT-R · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1. it's got adblockplus
    2. it's the only browser left that isn't directly targeted at marketing interests over my privacy (you worry about holes, but then trust google??)
    3. a useful library of plugins. sure other browsers have this now, but not like firefox.

    does that excuse the performance issues? hell no.