Mozilla’s Firefox web browser has lost some ground to both Chrome and Internet Explorer (IE) over the last few months, and the company is now looking to reclaim that ground with the release of the latest version of its popular desktop browser.   

Firefox 16 (Windows, Mac OS, and Linux versions) now incorporates support for web applications. Web apps are applications that have been programmed using standard web technologies such as HTML5 and JavaScript, which users install themselves from Mozilla’s Firefox Marketplace (currently not accessible for general users) and that work in any modern web browser. These apps are self-contained and can be built to run offline, like the Gmail app for instance.

In addition, Mozilla has taken a page out of Apple’s Safari browser handbook as Firefox for Android now offers users a distraction free web page reading experience via Reader mode. All you need to do is tap the small book icon that will appear next to the page’s URL, but this icon only shows if the mobile browser is able to convert the page for enhanced readability.

Windows, Mac OS and Linux users new to Firefox can download the browser (approximately 17 MB - Windows PC version), whilst Firefox users can click on the About Firefox section under Help within their browser to upgrade (around 8 MB for Windows PC) to the latest version. Firefox for Android version 16 can be downloaded (around 19 MB) for free from Google Play for smartphones and tablets running on Android 2.2 (Froyo) and up.

In related news, StatCounter recently provided its latest global desktop browser data, revealing that Google’s Chrome has now managed to build upon its lead over Microsoft’s Internet Explorer as well as Firefox.