Mozilla doesn't really detail how many people use Firefox . But the company said that there are "half a billion people around the world" use the browser. What this means, Firefox is a major platform among the few that developers and websites target.
On June 13th, 2017, Mozilla releases Firefox version 54 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. The version includes a hefty of changes, making Mozilla to go as far as saying version 54 as "the best Firefox ever."
What the version introduces, besides the usual security fixes and improvements, highlights the next major phase of multi-process support that streamlines memory use, improving responsiveness and speed.
This multi-process support in Firefox has been under development for years as part of the ‘Electrolysis' (or E10s) project. Mozilla has been developing the frontend and add-ons support for multiple processes starting 2013.
And in Firefox 54, the E10s project has changed the web browser's code base in a big way. Version 54 enables Firefox to make better use of users' computer hardware. Having more than one process working, Firefox 54 assures that if something goes wrong on one tab, the problem won't affect other open tabs.
The trade-off for this multiple processes, is memory overhead. This is because each process contains an instance of the browser's rendering engine. Ti counter the issue, Mozilla said that it has been working to avoid an increase in memory consumption. But as a result, users can get four content processes by default (this however can be changed in the browser's setting).
To lower memory consumption, Firefox 54 uses MemShrink to reduce RAM usage. As a result, complex webpages in one tab can have a much lower impact on responsiveness and speed in other tabs.
Mozilla believes that it has found the perfect balance between multi-process and memory bloat and refers to it as the "Goldilocks Browser".
However, E10s isn't available for all users at launch. "Roughly half of Firefox's user population is using multiple content processes, but Mozilla will be expanding the number over the next few months based on extension compatibility, accessibility support work and other factors," said a Mozilla spokesperson.
Users can know more about this feature by typing "about:support" into the URL bar and check to see if "1/1 (Enabled by default)".
The improvements to Firefox come after Mozilla experienced a hard time. Back in February, the company laid off about 50 employees after Firefox OS failed, and Firefox employees have acknowledged how far the browser has fallen from its prime days. But if Firefox can use less memory than Chrome and run slightly faster than it used to, the browser may present itself as a decent browser alternative.
Apart from E10s and various fixes, Firefox 54 also comes with a some visible changes that include: a simplified download button and download status panel, new WebExtension APIs that allow for add-ons that work across multiple browsers, and the inclusion of Burmese language on Firefox desktop.
With the release of Firefox 54, Mozilla has shut down the Aurora release channel. Instead of the four-stage release (Nightly, Aurora, Beta, Stable), Firefox is jumping straight from Nightly to Beta. This is its hope to speed up the arrival of new features so Firefox remains competitive, especially against Chrome.
On Firefox for Android, improvements have been made on the browser's sync performance and audio/video content playback in the web browser along with the addition of Bulgarian and Kabyle languages.