Continuing with its trend of rapid releases, Mozilla has released new version of Firefox Web browser for desktop and mobile devices. Firefox 15, the latest version of the browser targets the add-ons that consume RAM and hence uses less memory.

The new version of Firefox for Android also offers speed improvements along with a couple of new features

The updated browser comes with a 'request desktop site' option, which allows the users to switch between mobile and full desktop views for Web pages in cases where both are available. The browser maker has resolved the text selection problems and has also added a swipe-to-close gesture for browser tabs. It also brings the ability to find text on a Web page.

The desktop version of the browser, which comes for Linux, Windows and Mac comes added with silent updates, which lets users download and install software update without interventions. It means that new versions of Firefox will be automatically downloaded in the background after release and will be installed the next time users starts the browser. It is the same way as the updates in Google's Chrome is installed.

The Firefox maker says that it has been working on the reduction of memory usage for years. It has finally resorted to targeting 'poorly written add-ons'. The new Firefox can detect memory leaks and has the ability to vacate the memory when it’s no longer required by the plugin.

Firefox for Android can be downloaded from Google Play Store and the latest version of desktop browser is available to be downloaded from Mozilla website.

By Diksha  P Gupta

  Linux is getting bigger and better. Even “biggest” proprietary companies like Apple could not stay untouched by the magic of open source. With the arrival of cloud, open source is evolving to an entirely new level and even Apple is adapting to it.

Addressing the audiences at first CloudOpen, Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation emphasised that everything is becoming a service and these services are moving to the forefront of the enterprise. The best part is that they are built on open source.



So if you intend to master software, you have to master open source. There is no other way to go about it and there is no other way to succeed in the services world than mastering open source.

Brands like Google, IBM and Intel have all understood the importance of open source technology and are investing in it. Even companies like Microsoft, known for their 'proprietary' angles, and even those you would not expect are adopting open source technologies.

Zemlin revealed, “Apple, known to be one of the most closed companies in the world, is using a lot of open source technology. It is proved by the licensing information in the Apple iPhone. The legal section on the iPhone cites Linux Kernel developer Ted Ts’o for his code. Apple uses Linux Suse.”

Zemlin said that Apple has billions of dollars, which can buy companies like HP, Intel and Dell combined. But Apple chose to purchase the copyright to the Common Unix Printing System (CUPS), which is present on every Linux and Apple system.

Companies like Apple and Microsoft that equated open source with communism are featuring in the list of top contributor to the Linux Kernel project.

via EFYtimes

With a host of Linux distributions swarming the market, it is difficult to judge which one is doing the best. Moreover, there is no survey that could establish the fact so far. So, for that the best aid to help judge you is the DistroWatch, the master Linux desktop tracking site for useful desktop Linux use data. Even the site states: "The DistroWatch Page Hit Ranking statistics are a light-hearted way of measuring the popularity of Linux distributions and other free operating systems among the visitors of this website. They correlate neither to usage nor to quality and should not be used to measure the market share of distributions. They simply show the number of times a distribution page on DistroWatch.com was accessed each day, nothing more.”


This list has been recorded keeping in mind the figures in DistroWatch along with a bit of chit chat here and there. Let’s have a look:

Mint Linux: The last time EFYTimes had carried the top Linux distributions, one name that kept coming up was Mint Linux and this time, it is right on the top of the chart. Mint Linux has become even more popular with the downfall of Ubuntu due to the Unity factor. Mint has an outstanding desktop interface of its own, Cinnamon, which reminds you of the classic GNOME 2.x interface.

Mageia: Mageia was released in September 2010, which emerged as a part of Mandriva Linux, a commercial Linux distribution. This distro bailed out Mandriva of its business issues and has been a preferred choice ever since. It has an easy to use user interface and uses KDE 4.8 desktop.

Ubuntu: This distro was on the top spot  but this time it is on number 3. Many Linux enthusiasts don’t like the new Unity interface, as they feel it gets in the way of easy computing. Having said that, Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth is sure that the operating system will see 20 million new PCs sold with Ubuntu in 2012. This figure is sans the people who will install it, especially the new converts.

Fedora: This Red Hat's community Linux distribution has the GNOME 3.x, the desktop interface that people love to hate. This makes all the sense, especially for those who work on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) development, as they will be able to see RHEL's future.

Debian: The DistroWatch clearly shows Debian at number 5 in the popularity list. The distro recently turned 19 and clearly takes the cake as it is the foundation for many other Linux distributions.

While we have presented the top five list, we want to tell you that the most popular Linux distro is in your hand, an Android device! Keep pouring your views on your favourite Linux distro...