The Mozilla Foundation today announced the release of its much awaited Firefox 57, aka Quantum web browser for Windows, Mac, and Linux, which claims to defeat Google's Chrome.
It is fast. Really fast. Firefox 57 is based on an entirely revamped design and overhauled core that includes a brand new next-generation CSS engine written in Mozilla's Rust programming language, called Stylo.
Firefox 57 "Quantum" is the first web browser to utilize the power of multicore processors and offers 2x times faster browsing experience while consuming 30 percent less memory than Google Chrome.
Besides fast performance, Firefox Quantum, which Mozilla calls "by far the biggest update since Firefox 1.0 in 2004," also brings massive performance improvements with tab prioritization, and significant visual changes with a completely redesigned user interface (UI), called Photon.
Firefox 57 also includes built-in screenshot functionality, improved tracker blocking and support for WebVR to enable websites to take full advantage of VR headsets.
Firefox has plans to speed things even further by leveraging modern GPUs in the near future.
Firefox Quantum for the desktop version is available for download now on Firefox's official website, and all existing Firefox users should be able to upgrade to the new version automatically.
However, the Android version of Firefox 57 is rolling out on Google Play in coming days, and its iOS version should eventually arrive on Apple's official App Store.
