With the release of Firefox 5 earlier this week, Mozilla has finally added its Do Not Track privacy feature to the company’s flagship browser. The feature, aimed at customizing how users browsing behavior is tracked is the first of its kind that can be implemented across multiple platforms, including Android phones, according to a post on the Mozilla Blog on Tuesday.
Mozilla’s move follows in the footsteps of Google and Microsoft who recently added tracking technology to their Chrome and Internet Explorer browsers respectively, after pressure from the Federal Trade Commission late last year.
In addition to the tracking features, Mozilla has also unveiled two new tools for developers; including a downloadable Add-on SDK and the beta release of an online development environment deemed Add-on Builder. Developers looking use Javascript, HTML and CSS to build and tweak their own browser add-ons can find APIs built by Mozilla as well as 3rd party developers.
The features are only two of reportedly over 1,000 enhancements to Firefox 5 – that unlike Firefox 4, which took nearly a year to develop – comes just two months after the browser’s last iteration.
The speedy turn-around time seems to complement Mozilla’s move toward a new rapid-release development cycle, one that stresses faster enhancements and updates. That being said, those who choose not to upgrade may find themselves in the dark when it comes to security updates. Users who run Firefox 4 will no longer have fixes pushed to them and instead will just be given an option to upgrade to Firefox 5.
