Firefox 7 Beta Arrives in Ubuntu 11.10

Firefox 7 beta is now the default web browser in Ubuntu 11.10 Onceric Ocelot beta and for the first time ever, Firefox scores a perfect 100 in Acid3 tests. Congratulations Mozilla!

Acid3 Tests and Web Browsers

Acid3 test is a web test page from the Web Standards Project that checks a web browser's compliance with elements of various web standards, particularly the Document Object Model (DOM) and JavaScript. Acid3 test was launched on 3 March 2008 by Ian Hickson, a Google employee and the tests became popular with the advent of Google Chrome which scored a perfect 100 in Acid3 tests and reignited the browser wars.

When all the other popular browsers like Opera and Safari along with Google Chrome soared in terms of performance, Firefox and IE consistently under performed. But that's changing now. Firefox has recently decided to shift to a rapid release cycle mode(like Google Chrome) and the move is already starting to give results.

The first screenshot shows the results of Acid3 tests in Firefox 7.0 beta, which is the default web browser in upcoming Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot. This one above shows the results of Acid3 tests in Firefox 9 Alpha running in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal. Yes, both score a perfect 100. Learn how to install Firefox 9.0 Alpha in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Nawhal.

From what I have experienced, latest releases of Firefox has significant performance gains over its previous iterations. These improvements coupled with overheating issues of Chromium and Google Chrome were good enough reasons for me to switch back to Firefox. One thing is sure, even though Google Chrome has started eating into Firefox's and IE's market share big time, browser wars are far from over. Firefox is not ready to give up just yet.