The browser engine Servo, written in the Rust language, has recently published its first separate release, marking a significant milestone for the project. Previously, Servo had only been available through nightly builds, but this release signifies a shift towards more stable and structured development. The release notes indicate that this version is functionally equivalent to the October 19 nightly build, which underwent additional manual testing to ensure its reliability.
In addition to this release, Servo has started building versions for Apple systems with macOS that are based on ARM architecture. This expansion demonstrates Servo’s commitment to reaching a wider audience and catering to different operating systems. The ready-made builds are currently available for Linux, Android, macOS, and Windows, making it accessible to users across various platforms.
Originally developed by Mozilla, Servo is now under the auspices of the Linux Foundation. It is known for its support of multi-threaded rendering of web pages, parallelization of operations with the DOM (Document Object Model), and its utilization of secure programming mechanisms offered by the Rust language. Servo is specifically designed to break down DOM and rendering tasks into smaller subtasks that can run in parallel, optimizing the use of multi-core CPU resources.
Parts of Servo have already been integrated into Firefox, including the multi-threaded CSS engine and the WebRender rendering system. Furthermore, a demo browser called ServoShell is in development, showcasing the capabilities of Servo in a user-friendly interface. Overall, the release of Servo’s first standalone version signifies a step towards greater versatility and efficiency in web browsing technology.