Firefox fans can now download the latest official release. Firefox 15 builds upon earlier enhancements to the browser’s treatment of online games by including native support for compressed textures via WebGL. This will feature will help 3D games running under Firefox provide better texture quality without destroying performance. There’s also new API support for more precise application timing, which is helpful for developers who want to make fast-paced games run in a browser.

Mozilla showed off their improvements earlier this year by creating a small RPG called BrowserQuest. Now they’ve done it again, this time via a first person shooter demo called BananaBread. The game runs on a port of an existing C/C++  engine that’s been converted to JavaScript and WebGL. It uses the new compression features found in Firefox 15 and will only work for users who update their browser.

Another important new feature is support for silent background updates. Firefox fans will no longer have to go to Mozilla’s website and download the newest version. Updates will instead be distributed automatically when available. Mozilla was a bit behind the curve on this one, but it’s nice to see the feature finally arrive.

A variety of other minor updates have been made in Firefox 15 including optimization of memory use for add-ons, minor changes and addition to HTML5 rendering and more. You can check out the full list or head straight to the download.

Source: Ars Technica