Mozilla today released Firefox 3.5, a major update to its popular, free and open source Web browser. Coming one year after the launch of the Firefox 3, Firefox 3.5 introduces new features, as well as new support for a wide variety of Web standards.

Firefox 3.5 delivers improved JavaScript performance, a new Private Browsing mode, native support for open video and audio, and Location Aware Browsing. The newest version of Firefox is more than two times faster than Firefox 3 and ten times faster than Firefox 2 on complex websites.

What?s New in Firefox 3.5

Firefox 3.5 makes surfing the Web easier and more enjoyable with new features and platform updates that allow Web developers to create the next generation of Web content. Native support for open video and audio, private browsing, and support for the newest Web technologies will enable richer, more interactive online experiences.

Performance. Firefox 3.5 includes the powerful new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine, which delivers high performance with today?s complex Web applications. Firefox 3.5 is more than two times faster than Firefox 3 and ten times faster than Firefox 2.

Open Video and Audio. Enjoy video and audio content from within your browser, without the need for plugins. Video is a vital part of the modern Web, whether it?s used to communicate, educate, or entertain. Firefox 3.5 delivers the first native integration of audio and video directly into the browser. Now everyone can easily watch open format Ogg Theora videos.

Web developers can use these technologies to design pages that interact with video content in new ways, offering richer interactive experiences beyond controlling playback and volume.

Privacy Controls. Firefox 3.5 includes features designed to protect users' privacy online and provide greater control over their personal data.

While using the new Private Browsing mode in Firefox 3.5, nothing a user will encounter on the Web will be stored from that moment on during their browsing session. Unique to Firefox 3.5, the new Forget this Site feature can remove every trace of a site from the browser. If a user wants to remove all private data or activity from the past few hours, Clear Recent History, another Firefox-only feature, gives a full control over what stays and what goes.

Location Aware Browsing. Location Aware Browsing saves users' time by allowing websites to ask them where they are located. If they choose to share their location with a website, it can use that information to find nearby points of interest and return additional, useful data like maps of their area. This is an optional feature.

Mozilla Firefox 3.5 is available now for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X operating systems as a free download from http://www.getfirefox.com. It is also available in more than 70 languages at: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all.html.