Firefox 12 launches with ‘ninja’ updates for Windows, numbered page source lines

Mozilla has released a new update of its popular open-source web browser Firefox today, which packs a handful of changes, bug fixes, new features, and a brand new version number.

Firefox 12 has two notable additions to its feature set. The first is the appearance of Page Source lines that are numbered, an exciting development but something most people probably aren’t super excited about. The second addition is the availability of (ninja) silent updates for Windows, which bypass the User Account Control prompt so you have one less screen bothering you.

One thing that isn’t available in this version is the experimental feature that allows you to toggle web browser plugins on and off to help speed up page load times, cut down on data usage, or whatever the reason may be. You actually have to “opt-in” to the plugins before they begin working on the page. This functionality, is of course, already available through third-party Firefox add-ons. So if you really have your heart set on opt-in plugin support, you can make that happen.

We’ve listed Mozilla’s overview of changes in the new version below.

• New – Windows: Firefox is now easier to update with one less prompt (User Account Control)
• New – Page Source now has line numbers
• Changed – Line breaks are now supported in the title attribute
• Changed – Improvements to “Find in Page” to center search result
• Changed – URLs pasted into the download manager window are now automatically downloaded
• Developer – Support for the text-align-last CSS property has been added
• Developer – Experimental support for ECMAScript 6 Map and Set objects has been implemented
• Fixed – Various security fixes
• Fixed – Some TinyMCE-based editors failed to load (739141)
• Fixed – OS X: WebGL performance may be degraded on some hardware (713305)
• The full list of changes in version 12.0 is available on Mozilla’s official site.

Firefox art via Studio Jon Garza