Mozilla Firefox

Overview

What this release is

Firefox is the last widely used browser that does not run on the same engine as everything else, which matters more than it sounds. A web that only renders correctly in one engine is a web that one organisation decides the shape of, and this is the practical alternative to that outcome rather than a nostalgic one.

Tracking protection is on by default and it is not a token gesture. Cross site trackers, cryptominers, and fingerprinting scripts are blocked in the standard configuration, and total cookie protection puts each site's cookies in a separate container so a tracker present on twenty sites cannot connect the visits together. The strict setting goes further at the cost of occasionally breaking a login flow.

Container tabs are the feature that regular users end up depending on. Open a tab in a named container and it gets its own cookie store, which means several accounts on the same service stay signed in at once and work browsing stays separate from everything else without a second browser profile.

Customisation goes deeper than any competitor. The toolbar is genuinely rearrangeable, the extension model still allows the content blockers and page modifying add ons that other browsers have restricted, complete themes change the whole interface, and the configuration editor exposes several thousand settings for anyone who wants them.

This is the full offline installer rather than a downloader stub, which matters when setting up a machine before the network is configured, and both architectures are included on the same image. The included configuration disables the telemetry and study components before the first launch.

Feature set

What you get

Changes in this build

What changed

• Faster startup and lower memory use on sessions with a large number of restored tabs
• Improved fingerprinting resistance in the strict protection setting
• Reworked profile manager for handling several separate profiles more easily
• Better handling of high refresh rate displays with smoother scrolling
• Fixed the video playback stall on certain hardware accelerated streams after a display change

Installation

How to install it

1. Extract the archive and pick the architecture that matches your system.
2. Run the setup executable. Administrator rights are only needed for a machine wide installation.
3. Import bookmarks and passwords from your previous browser when the import screen appears, since it is more awkward later.
4. Open the privacy settings and choose between the standard and strict protection levels before browsing.
5. Install a content blocker from the add ons page as the first thing you do.

Hardware

System requirements

Package

Release information

Questions

Before you start