Mozilla is partnering with Samsung to create a next generation web browser, in efforts to mitigate web security issues and improve internet browsing in line with modern hardware capabilities.
The new browser engine will also be available for mobile platforms, with the experimental version of the browser – Servo – being brought to Android and ARM, Mozilla announced.
Servo will be written in Rust – a safe systems language developed by Mozilla and contributing enthusiasts.
“Servo is an attempt to rebuild the Web browser from the ground up on modern hardware, rethinking old assumptions along the way,” Mozilla explained. “This means addressing the causes of security vulnerabilities while designing a platform that can fully utilize the performance of tomorrow’s massively parallel hardware to enable new and richer experiences on the web.”
The company noted that over the coming year the partners will be focusing efforts on improving the Rust language through a first major revision – Rust currently being in v.0.6 – and further developing Servo as a fast and secure browser.
“We, along with our friends at Samsung will be increasingly looking at opportunities on mobile platforms,” Mozilla added.
The source codes for both Rust and Servo are available on GitHub, while the recently completed Rust 0.6 is available for download. Mozilla and Samsung have encouraged programming-savvy members of the public to try out the new language and check over the codes to contribute to the development process.
“Both of these efforts are still early stage projects and there’s a lot to do yet, so now is a good time to get involved.”
