Expert’s Rating

Pros

Cons

Our Verdict

WithFirefox 5 , Mozilla shifts to a firm release schedule , emulate the lightning pace at which Google’sChromegains version bit . reading 5 debuts bare month after Firefox 4 , and Mozilla promises that future edition will arrive with like stop number .

But based on Firefox 5 ’s paltry slate of notable new features , I ’d say this swift growth in version numbers is mostly marketing . Firefox 4 represent a huge leap forrad for the browser app . Firefox 5 ? More like a small step or two .

Not much new, but still no slouch

In addition to security , stableness , and other under - the - hood fix , Firefox 5 ’s release notation foretell support for CSS animations , which Firefox 4 part implemented . Alas , this feature remained half - baked for me . All the demo in Mozilla ’s documentation on CSS animation worked in my tests , but many demo I observe on outside sites did not . Firefox 5 still does n’t seem to support the CSS 3-D transform used in some of CSS animation ’s niftier applications .

Look likewise : Can you spot the radical differences from Firefox 4 ? Neither can we .

Mozilla also touts Firefox 5 ’s ameliorate WebGL codification , which enables 3D graphics over the Web . Most WebGL demo I test worked attractively , even those build for Chrome , although one of the latter gag hard enough to shortly lock up my whole electronic computer .

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Look alike: Can you spot the radical differences from Firefox 4? Neither can we.

Beyond that , Firefox 5 is , well , basically Firefox 4 — a fast , responsive , fun web internet browser with a few great ideas ( like App Tabs ) and a few uninventive ones ( Tab Groups , I ’m looking at you ) . I still enjoyed using Firefox 5 for daily browse , and I still remember it ’s a huge improvement on reading 3 , and a challenge to Apple to make Safari ’s next edition truly great .

Benchmarks: Firefox 5

The XHTML results are in seconds ; shorter times are good . The SunSpider JavaScript and CSS termination are in millisecond ; shorter times are better . The Acid3 result is a mark out of 100 . The CSS3 Selectors result is a score out of 41 . The HTML5 Compliance result is out of 321/ 13 fillip . Best result in boldface .

On a 2GHz aluminum MacBook with 2 GB RAM , Firefox 5 stake better bench mark scores than version 4 in some areas , but performed worse in others .

Firefox 5’sSunSpiderJavaScript bench mark grade of 355.3 milliseconds did edge out Firefox 4 ’s 356.7 milliseconds . It also outstrip the entire current pack of major Mac web browser app , include Safari 5.0.5 , Chrome 12 , and the newOpera 11.5 , by markedly wider border .

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Hit or miss: CSS3 animation runs a little better in Firefox 5, but not every demo works as advertised.

Firefox 5 also fulfill Mozilla ’s hope of improved HTML5 support , scoring 286 points and 9 bonus points out of 450 in anonline HTML5 compatibility test . Firefox 4 only managed 255 period and 9 incentive point . While Firefox 5 link Opera ’s sexual conquest here , and stick Safari ’s by more than 30 points , it lost to Chrome by nearly 40 points .

Like its precursor , Firefox 5 comes up short on theAcid3Web standards test , scoring 97 out of 100 . Every other web web browser in my test bring in a arrant scotch . However , Firefox 5 did make 41 out of 41 in a CSS3 compatibility trial , joining the similarly unflawed Safari and Opera in beat Chrome ’s scotch of 37 .

XHTML andCSSperformance provide Firefox 5 ’s gravid letdown . It posted slightly dull tons in both than Firefox 4 did , finishing 2d - to - last to Opera in XHTML rendering speed , and tying Opera for drained last in cesium speed .

impinge on or leave out : CSS3 invigoration run a little better in Firefox 5 , but not every demo work as advertised .

Macworld’s buying advice

If you were using Firefox 4 , chances are you already have Firefox 5 , thanks to Mozilla ’s auto - update chemical mechanism . If you ’re still using some flavor of Firefox 3 , you have every reason to kick upstairs to this dramatically faster and more usable translation . And if you prize JavaScript execution above all else , you may not retrieve a faster Mac web internet browser than this . Just do n’t go into Firefox 5 ( or , in all likeliness , at least some of the program ’s future versions ) carry the same spectacular melioration the last edition love .

[ Nathan Alderman is a author , written matter editor , and all - around ingrate in Alexandria , Va. ]