86-415: Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition (formerly known as Portable Firefox and commonly known as Firefox Portable ) is a repackaged version of Mozilla Firefox created by John T. Haller . The application allows Firefox to be run from a USB flash drive , CD-ROM , or other portable device on any Windows computer or Linux / Unix computer running Wine . The program does not require Firefox to be installed on
172-537: A Metro-style version of Firefox, optimized for touchscreen use, on the "Aurora" release channel. However, on March 14, 2014, Mozilla cancelled the project because of a lack of user adoption. In March 2017, Firefox 52 ESR, the last version of the browser for Windows XP and Windows Vista , was released. Support for Firefox 52 ESR ended in June 2018. Traditionally, installing the Windows version of Firefox entails visiting
258-522: A blacklist and whitelist of sites that will be used in the filter. Version 23, released in August 2013, followed the lead of its competitors by blocking iframe , stylesheet, and script resources served from non-HTTPS servers embedded on HTTPS pages by default. Additionally, JavaScript could also no longer be disabled through Firefox's preferences, and JavaScript was automatically re-enabled for users who upgraded to 23 or higher with it disabled. The change
344-401: A boxed version of Apple 's Mac OS X Public Beta operating system was released. Between September 2005 and May 2006, Microsoft released community technology preview s ( CTP s) for Windows Vista . From 2009 to 2011, Minecraft was in public beta. In February 2005, ZDNet published an article about the phenomenon of a beta version often staying for years and being used as if it were at
430-537: A closed beta , or an open beta ; closed beta versions are released to a restricted group of individuals for a user test by invitation, while open beta testers are from a larger group, or anyone interested. Private beta could be suitable for the software that is capable of delivering value but is not ready to be used by everyone either due to scaling issues, lack of documentation or still missing vital features. The testers report any bugs that they find, and sometimes suggest additional features they think should be available in
516-438: A feature freeze , indicating that no more features will be added to the software. At this time, the software is said to be feature-complete . A beta test is carried out following acceptance testing at the supplier's site (the alpha test) and immediately before the general release of the software as a product. A feature-complete (FC) version of a piece of software has all of its planned or primary features implemented but
602-403: A preview , preview release , prototype , technical preview or technology preview ( TP ), or early access . Beta testers are people who actively report issues with beta software. They are usually customers or representatives of prospective customers of the organization that develops the software. Beta testers tend to volunteer their services free of charge but often receive versions of
688-422: A screenshot tool, web development tools , a "page info" feature which shows a list of page metadata and multimedia items, a configuration menu at about:config for power users , and location-aware browsing (also known as " geolocation ") based on a Google service. Firefox has an integrated search system which uses Google by default in most markets. DNS over HTTPS is another feature whose default behaviour
774-467: A beta version to the users is called beta release and is typically the first time that the software is available outside of the organization that developed it. Software beta releases can be either open or closed , depending on whether they are openly available or only available to a limited audience. Beta version software is often useful for demonstrations and previews within an organization and to prospective customers. Some developers refer to this stage as
860-544: A desktop browser), making it the fourth-most popular PC web browser after Google Chrome (65%), Microsoft Edge (13%), and Safari (9.0%). The project began as an experimental branch of the Mozilla project by Dave Hyatt , Joe Hewitt , and Blake Ross . They believed the commercial requirements of Netscape 's sponsorship and developer-driven feature creep compromised the utility of the Mozilla browser. To combat what they saw as
946-467: A new extension system that is designed to be similar to Chrome and other recent browsers. Firefox 57, which was released in November 2017, was the first version to contain enhancements from Quantum, and has thus been named Firefox Quantum . A Mozilla executive stated that Quantum was the "biggest update" to the browser since version 1.0. Unresponsive and crashing pages only affect other pages loaded within
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#17328768521171032-594: A new project called Servo to write a completely new and experimental browser engine utilizing memory safe techniques written in Rust . In 2018, Mozilla opted to integrate parts of the Servo project into the Gecko engine in a project codenamed the Quantum project. The project completely overhauled Firefox's page rendering code resulting in performance and stability gains while also improving
1118-506: A project known as Quantum , which sought to improve Firefox's Gecko engine and other components to improve the browser's performance, modernize its architecture, and transition the browser to a multi-process model. These improvements came in the wake of decreasing market share to Google Chrome , as well as concerns that its performance was lapsing in comparison. Despite its improvements, these changes required existing add-ons for Firefox to be made incompatible with newer versions, in favor of
1204-497: A randomized device ID to prevent services from uniquely identifying the device for tracking purposes. The DRM module, once it has been downloaded, is enabled, and disabled in the same manner as other plug-ins . Since version 47, "Google's Widevine CDM on Windows and Mac OS X so streaming services like Amazon Video can switch from Silverlight to encrypted HTML5 video" is also supported. Mozilla justified its partnership with Adobe and Google by stating: Firefox downloads and enables
1290-459: A software product (e.g., an operating system ). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the final version, or "gold", is released to the public. Pre-alpha refers to the early stages of development, when the software is still being designed and built. Alpha testing is the first phase of formal testing, during which the software is tested internally using white-box techniques . Beta testing
1376-462: A software product is available for purchase, depending, however, on language, region, and electronic vs. media availability. Commercialization activities could include security and compliance tests, as well as localization and worldwide availability. The time between RTM and GA can take from days to months before a generally available release can be declared, due to the time needed to complete all commercialization activities required by GA. At this stage,
1462-456: A video call, with the extra feature of screen and file sharing by sending a link to each other. Firefox Hello was scheduled to be removed in September 2016. Former features include a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) client for browsing file servers, the ability to block images from individual domains (until version 72), a 3D page inspector (versions 11 to 46), tab grouping (until version 44), and
1548-662: A web page used too many resources, the entire Firefox process would hang or crash, affecting all tabs. Additionally, any exploit could easily access system resources, including user files. Between 2008 and 2012, most browsers shifted to a multiprocess architecture, isolating high-risk processes like rendering, media, GPU, and networking. However, Firefox was slower to adopt this change. It wasn't until 2015 that Firefox started its Electrolysis (e10s) project to implement sandboxing across multiple components. This rewrite relied on interprocess communication using Chromium 's interprocess communication library and placed various component including
1634-447: Is 0, DoH is disabled; 1 activates DoH in addition to unencrypted DNS; 2 causes DoH to be used before unencrypted DNS; to use only DoH, the value must be 3. By setting network.trr.uri to the URL, special Cloudflare servers will be activated. Mozilla has a privacy agreement with this server host that restricts their collection of information about incoming DNS requests. On May 21, 2019, Firefox
1720-468: Is also available on the Amazon Fire TV as one of the two main browsers available with Amazon's Silk Browser . Firefox is the spiritual successor of Netscape Navigator , as the Mozilla community was created by Netscape in 1998, before its acquisition by AOL . Firefox was created in 2002 under the codename "Phoenix" by members of the Mozilla community who desired a standalone browser rather than
1806-496: Is available for Windows 10 and later versions of Windows , macOS , and Linux . Its unofficial ports are available for various Unix and Unix-like operating systems, including FreeBSD , OpenBSD , NetBSD , and other platforms. It is also available for Android and iOS . However, as with all other iOS web browsers, the iOS version uses the WebKit layout engine instead of Gecko due to platform requirements. An optimized version
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#17328768521171892-432: Is available for Android (formerly Firefox for mobile, it also ran on Maemo , MeeGo and Firefox OS ) and Firefox for iOS is available for iOS. Smartphones that support Linux but not Android, or iOS apps can also run Firefox in its desktop version, for example using postmarketOS . Notes Firefox source code may be compiled for various operating systems; however, officially distributed binaries are provided for
1978-412: Is called code complete when the development team agrees that no entirely new source code will be added to this release. There could still be source code changes to fix defects, changes to documentation and data files, and peripheral code for test cases or utilities. Beta testers, if privately selected, will often be credited for using the release candidate as though it were a finished product. Beta testing
2064-740: Is conducted in a client's or customer's location and to test the software from a user's perspective. Also called production release , the stable release is the last release candidate ( RC ) which has passed all stages of verification and tests. Any known remaining bugs are considered acceptable. This release goes to production . Some software products (e.g. Linux distributions like Debian ) also have long-term support ( LTS ) releases which are based on full releases that have already been tried and tested and receive only security updates. This allows developers to allocate more time toward product development instead of updating code or finding and fixing newly introduced bugs due to outdated assumptions about
2150-578: Is determined geographically. Firefox provides an environment for web developers in which they can use built-in tools, such as the Error Console or the DOM Inspector , and extensions , such as Firebug and more recently there has been an integration feature with Pocket . Firefox Hello was an implementation of WebRTC , added in October 2014, which allows users of Firefox and other compatible systems to have
2236-404: Is entered. Firefox now supports HTTP/2. In February 2013, plans were announced for Firefox 22 to disable third-party cookies by default. However, the introduction of the feature was then delayed so Mozilla developers could "collect and analyze data on the effect of blocking some third-party cookies." Mozilla also collaborated with Stanford University 's "Cookie Clearinghouse" project to develop
2322-477: Is not thoroughly tested by the developer before it is released to customers. Alpha software may contain serious errors, and any resulting instability could cause crashes or data loss. Alpha software may not contain all of the features that are planned for the final version. In general, external availability of alpha software is uncommon for proprietary software , while open source software often has publicly available alpha versions. The alpha phase usually ends with
2408-448: Is not yet final due to bugs , performance or stability issues. This occurs at the end of alpha testing in development . Usually, feature-complete software still has to undergo beta testing and bug fixing , as well as performance or stability enhancement before it can go to release candidate , and finally gold status. Beta, named after the second letter of the Greek alphabet , is
2494-463: Is often abbreviated as FF . The Firefox project went through many versions before version 1.0 and had already gained a great deal of acclaim from numerous media outlets, such as Forbes and The Wall Street Journal . Among Firefox's popular features were the integrated pop-up blocker , tabbed browsing , and an extension mechanism for adding functionality. Although these features have already been available for some time in other browsers such as
2580-446: Is sold as part of a bundle in a related computer hardware sale and typically where the software and related hardware is ultimately to be available and sold on mass/public basis at retail stores to indicate that the software has met a defined quality level and is ready for mass retail distribution. RTM could also mean in other contexts that the software has been delivered or released to a client or customer for installation or distribution to
2666-455: Is the first phase of software testing (alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet , used as the number 1). In this phase, developers generally test the software using white-box techniques . Additional validation is then performed using black-box or gray-box techniques, by another testing team. Moving to black-box testing inside the organization is known as alpha release . Alpha software
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2752-427: Is the next phase, in which the software is tested by a larger group of users, typically outside of the organization that developed it. The beta phase is focused on reducing impacts on users and may include usability testing. After beta testing, the software may go through one or more release candidate phases, in which it is refined and tested further, before the final version is released. Some software, particularly in
2838-409: Is typically the final build of a piece of software in the beta stages for developers. Typically, for iOS , it is the final build before a major release, however, there have been a few exceptions. RTM is typically used in certain retail mass-production software contexts—as opposed to a specialized software production or project in a commercial or government production and distribution—where the software
2924-571: The 32-bit editions of Windows XP and two service packs for the 64-bit editions. Such service releases contain a collection of updates, fixes, and enhancements, delivered in the form of a single installable package. They may also implement new features. Some software is released with the expectation of regular support. Classes of software that generally involve protracted support as the norm include anti-virus suites and massively multiplayer online games . Continuing with this Windows XP example, Microsoft did offer paid updates for five more years after
3010-621: The Acid3 test fully because they believed that the SVG fonts part of the test had become outdated and irrelevant, due to WOFF being agreed upon as a standard by all major browser makers. Because the SVG font tests were removed from the Acid3 test in September 2011, Firefox 4 and greater scored 100/100. Firefox also implements "Safe Browsing," a proprietary protocol from Google used to exchange data related with phishing and malware protection. Firefox supports
3096-504: The Firebird database software project. The Mozilla Foundation reassured them that the browser would always bear the name Mozilla Firebird to avoid confusion. After further pressure, Mozilla Firebird became Mozilla Firefox on February 9, 2004. The name Firefox was said to be derived from a nickname of the red panda , which became the mascot for the newly named project. For the abbreviation of Firefox, Mozilla prefers Fx or fx, although it
3182-492: The Mozilla Application Suite bundle. During its beta phase, it proved to be popular with its testers and was praised for its speed, security, and add-ons compared to Microsoft 's then-dominant Internet Explorer 6 . It was released on November 9, 2004, and challenged Internet Explorer 's dominance with 60 million downloads within nine months. In November 2017, Firefox began incorporating new technology under
3268-694: The Mozilla Suite and Opera , Firefox was the first of these browsers to have achieved large-scale adoption. Firefox attracted attention as an alternative to Internet Explorer , which had come under fire for its alleged poor program design and insecurity—detractors cite IE's lack of support for certain Web standards, use of the potentially dangerous ActiveX component, and vulnerability to spyware and malware installation. Microsoft responded by releasing Windows XP Service Pack 2, which added several important security features to Internet Explorer 6. Version 1.0 of Firefox
3354-521: The Mozilla Suite 's software bloat , they created a standalone browser, with which they intended to replace the Mozilla Suite. Version 0.1 was released on September 23, 2002. On April 3, 2003, the Mozilla Organization announced that it planned to change its focus from the Mozilla Suite to Firefox and Thunderbird . The Firefox project has undergone several name changes. The nascent browser
3440-551: The WHATWG such as client-side storage, and the canvas element . These standards are implemented through the Gecko layout engine, and SpiderMonkey JavaScript engine. Firefox 4 was the first release to introduce significant HTML5 and CSS3 support. Firefox has passed the Acid2 standards-compliance test since version 3.0. Mozilla had originally stated that they did not intend for Firefox to pass
3526-425: The "alpha/beta" test terminology originated at IBM . Similar terminologies for IBM's software development were used by people involved with IBM from at least the 1950s (and probably earlier). "A" test was the verification of a new product before the public announcement. The "B" test was the verification before releasing the product to be manufactured. The "C" test was the final test before the general availability of
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3612-675: The Adobe Primetime and Google Widevine CDMs by default to give users a smooth experience on sites that require DRM. Each CDM runs in a separate container called a sandbox and you will be notified when a CDM is in use. You can also disable each CDM and opt-out of future updates and that it is "an important step on Mozilla's roadmap to remove NPAPI plugin support." Upon the introduction of EME support, builds of Firefox on Windows were also introduced that exclude support for EME. The Free Software Foundation and Cory Doctorow condemned Mozilla's decision to support EME. From its inception, Firefox
3698-461: The Firefox website and downloading an installer package, depending on the desired localization and system architecture. In November 2021, Mozilla made Firefox available on Microsoft Store . The Store-distributed package does not interfere with the traditional installation. Software release life cycle#Beta The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing
3784-467: The Servo team transferring ownership of the project to the Linux Foundation . When Firefox initially released, it used a custom script permission policy where scripts that were signed by the page could gain access to higher privilege actions such as the ability to set a user's preferences. However, this model was not widely used and was later discontinued by Firefox. Modern day Firefox instead follows
3870-524: The ability to add customized extra toolbars (until version 28). Functions can be added through add-ons created by third-party developers . Add-ons are primarily coded using an HTML , CSS , JavaScript , with API known as WebExtensions , which is designed to be compatible with Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge extension systems. Firefox previously supported add-ons using the XUL and XPCOM APIs, which allowed them to directly access and manipulate much of
3956-721: The appearance of the browser. In 2013, Firefox for Android added a guest session mode, which wiped browsing data such as tabs, cookies, and history at the end of each guest session. Guest session data was kept even when restarting the browser or device, and deleted only upon a manual exit. The feature was removed in 2019, purportedly to " streamline the experience ". Firefox implements many web standards , including HTML4 (almost full HTML5 ), XML , XHTML , MathML , SVG 1.1 (full), SVG 2 (partial), CSS (with extensions), ECMAScript ( JavaScript ), DOM , XSLT , XPath , and APNG (Animated PNG ) images with alpha transparency . Firefox also implements standards proposals created by
4042-533: The browser's internal functionality. As compatibility was not included in the multi-process architecture, XUL add-ons have been deemed Legacy add-ons and are no longer supported on Firefox 57 "Quantum" and newer. Mozilla has occasionally installed extensions for users without their permission. This happened in 2017 when an extension designed to promote the show Mr. Robot was silently added in an update to Firefox. Firefox can have themes added to it, which users can create or download from third parties to change
4128-437: The code name " Quantum " to promote parallelism and a more intuitive user interface . Firefox usage share grew to a peak of 32.21% in November 2009, with Firefox 3.5 overtaking Internet Explorer 7 , although not all versions of Internet Explorer as a whole; its usage then declined in competition with Google Chrome . As of July 2024 , according to StatCounter , it had a 6.5% usage share on traditional PCs (i.e. as
4214-505: The computer, nor does it leave personal information on the computer or interfere with any installed versions of Firefox, however, installation on the computer's data storage device is possible. The program is not totally portable, it can't run multiple instances of Firefox out of the box . It is compatible with Windows 7 , Windows 8 , Windows 10 , Windows 11 as well as Wine on Unix-like systems. Although recent versions have serious compatibility issues with WinPE XP and BartPE XP,
4300-526: The corresponding key-value pairs reportedly stopped working in later builds, resulting in criticism. These included accessibility concerns despite Mozilla's claim to "continue to work with the accessibility community" and had not been resolved as of October 2024 . On January 13, 2022, an issue with Firefox's HTTP/3 implementation resulted in a widespread outage for several hours. On September 26, 2023, Firefox 118.0 introduced on-device translation of web page content. On January 23, 2024, along with
4386-423: The developer tools for testing purposes. Beginning with Firefox 48, all extensions must be signed by Mozilla to be used in release and beta versions of Firefox. Firefox 43 blocked unsigned extensions but allowed enforcement of extension signing to be disabled. All extensions must be submitted to Mozilla Add-ons and be subject to code analysis in order to be signed, although extensions do not have to be listed on
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#17328768521174472-427: The download history on exit is not enabled by default, as per a licensing agreement with Mozilla . Personal settings, bookmarks , and any installed extensions and themes are stored on the flash drive along with Firefox Portable. This allows the user to move from computer to computer without losing application settings. Plugins such as Flash Player and Shockwave Player cannot be installed to Portable Firefox in
4558-484: The end of extended support. This means that support ended on April 8, 2019. When software is no longer sold or supported, the product is said to have reached end-of-life, to be discontinued, retired, deprecated, abandoned, or obsolete, but user loyalty may continue its existence for some time, even long after its platform is obsolete—e.g., the Common Desktop Environment and Sinclair ZX Spectrum . After
4644-464: The end user to verify the integrity and authenticity of the software purchase. A copy of the RTM build known as the " gold master " or GM is sent for mass duplication or disc replication if applicable. The terminology is taken from the audio record-making industry, specifically the process of mastering . RTM precedes general availability (GA) when the product is released to the public. A golden master build (GM)
4730-422: The end-of-life date, the developer will usually not implement any new features, fix existing defects, bugs, or vulnerabilities (whether known before that date or not), or provide any support for the product. If the developer wishes, they may release the source code, so the platform will live again, and be maintained by volunteers, and if not, it may be reverse-engineered later when it becomes abandonware . Usage of
4816-611: The final version. Open betas serve the dual purpose of demonstrating a product to potential consumers, and testing among a wide user base is likely to bring to light obscure errors that a much smaller testing team might not find. A release candidate ( RC ), also known as gamma testing or "going silver", is a beta version with the potential to be a stable product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge. In this stage of product stabilization, all product features have been designed, coded, and tested through one or more beta cycles with no known showstopper-class bugs. A release
4902-474: The following: Firefox 1.0 was released for Windows 95 , as well as Windows NT 4.0 or later. Some users reported the 1.x builds were operable (but not installable) on Windows NT 3.51 . The version 42.0 release includes the first x64 build. It required Windows 7 or Server 2008 R2 . Starting from version 49.0, Firefox for Windows requires and uses the SSE2 instruction set. In September 2013, Mozilla released
4988-557: The in-house Pontoon localization platform. The first official release in November 2004 was available in 24 different languages and for 28 locales . In 2019, Mozilla released Project Fluent a localization system that allows translators to be more flexible with their translation than to be constrained in one-to-one translation of strings. As of November 2024 the supported versions of Firefox are available in 97 locales (88 languages). There are desktop versions of Firefox for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux, while Firefox for Android
5074-399: The internet and technology industries, is released in a perpetual beta state, meaning that it is continuously being updated and improved, and is never considered to be a fully completed product. This approach allows for a more agile development process and enables the software to be released and used by users earlier in the development cycle. Pre-alpha refers to all activities performed during
5160-412: The old version 2.0.0.20 is compatible with Windows 98 , Me , and PE XP and 2000. Firefox Portable retains all of Mozilla Firefox's abilities such as extensions and automatic updating. Modifications to reduce the number of writes to the flash drive have also been added. The web cache and browser history were previously disabled under the release of 2.0. Firefox Portable's ability to delete cookies and
5246-627: The operating system, was considered a safer alternative since it was less likely to have issues that could completely compromise a computer. This led to a significant increase in Firefox's popularity during the early 2000s as a more secure alternative. Moreover, Firefox was considered to have fewer actively exploitable security vulnerabilities compared to its competitors. In 2006, The Washington Post reported that exploit code for known security vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer were available for 284 days compared to only nine days for Firefox before
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#17328768521175332-405: The playback of video content protected by HTML5 Encrypted Media Extensions (EME), since version 38. For security and privacy reasons, EME is implemented within a wrapper of open-source code that allows execution of a proprietary DRM module by Adobe Systems —Adobe Primetime Content Decryption Module (CDM). CDM runs within a " sandbox " environment to limit its access to the system and provide it
5418-476: The problem was fixed. A Symantec study around the same period showed that even though Firefox had a higher number of vulnerabilities, on average vulnerabilities were fixed faster in Firefox than in other browsers during that period. During this period, Firefox used a monolithic architecture , like most browsers at the time. This meant all browser components ran in a single process with access to all system resources . This setup had multiple security issues. If
5504-485: The product they test, discounts on the release version, or other incentives. Some software is kept in so-called perpetual beta , where new features are continually added to the software without establishing a final "stable" release. As the Internet has facilitated the rapid and inexpensive distribution of software, companies have begun to take a looser approach to the use of the word beta . Developers may release either
5590-548: The product. As software became a significant part of IBM's offerings, the alpha test terminology was used to denote the pre-announcement test and the beta test was used to show product readiness for general availability. Martin Belsky, a manager on some of IBM's earlier software projects claimed to have invented the terminology. IBM dropped the alpha/beta terminology during the 1960s, but by then it had received fairly wide notice. The usage of "beta test" to refer to testing done by customers
5676-510: The production level. It noted that Gmail and Google News , for example, had been in beta for a long time although widely used; Google News left beta in January 2006, followed by Google Apps (now named Google Workspace ), including Gmail, in July 2009. Since the introduction of Windows 8 , Microsoft has called pre-release software a preview rather than beta . All pre-release builds released through
5762-474: The related hardware end user computers or machines. The term does not define the delivery mechanism or volume; it only states that the quality is sufficient for mass distribution. The deliverable from the engineering organization is frequently in the form of a golden master media used for duplication or to produce the image for the web. General availability ( GA ) is the marketing stage at which all necessary commercialization activities have been completed and
5848-435: The release of Firefox 122.0, Mozilla introduced an official APT repository for Debian -based Linux distributions . Features of the desktop edition include tabbed browsing , full-screen mode, spell checking , incremental search , smart bookmarks , bookmarking and downloading through drag and drop , a download manager , user profile management, private browsing , bookmark tags, bookmark exporting , offline mode,
5934-479: The rendering component in its own sandbox. Firefox released this rewrite in to beta in August 2016, noting a 10–20% increase in memory usage, which was lower than Chrome's at the time. However, the rewrite caused issues with their legacy extension API, which was not designed to work cross-process and required shim code to function correctly. After over a year in beta, the rewrite was enabled by default all users of Firefox in November 2017. In 2012, Mozilla launched
6020-405: The roll-out of a fix shortly thereafter, using their Mozilla Studies component. Support for Adobe Flash was dropped on January 6, 2021, with the release of Firefox 85. On June 1, 2021, Firefox's 'Proton' redesign was offered through its stable release channel after being made available in the beta builds. While users were initially allowed to revert to the old design through about:config ,
6106-551: The same process. While Chrome uses separate processes for each loaded tab, Firefox distributes tabs over four processes by default (since Quantum), in order to balance memory consumption and performance. The process count can be adjusted, where more processes increase performance at the cost of memory, therefore suitable for computers with larger RAM capacity. On May 3, 2019, the expiry of an intermediate signing certificate on Mozilla servers caused Firefox to automatically disable and lock all browser extensions (add-ons). Mozilla began
6192-542: The security of existing components. Additionally, the older incompatible extension API was removed in favour of a WebExtension API that more closely resembled Google Chrome's extension system. This broke compatibility with older extensions but resulted in lesser vulnerabilities and a much more maintainable extension system. While the Servo project was intended to replace more parts of the Gecko Engine, this plan never came to fruition. In 2020, Mozilla laid off all developers on
6278-581: The service to be signed. On May 2, 2019, Mozilla announced that it would be strengthening the signature enforcement with methods that included the retroactive disabling of old extensions now deemed to be insecure. Since version 60 Firefox includes the option to use DNS over HTTPS (DoH), which causes DNS lookup requests to be sent encrypted over the HTTPS protocol. To use this feature the user must set certain preferences beginning with "network.trr" (Trusted Recursive Resolver) in about:config : if network.trr.mode
6364-459: The software development phase following alpha. A beta phase generally begins when the software is feature-complete but likely to contain several known or unknown bugs. Software in the beta phase will generally have many more bugs in it than completed software and speed or performance issues, and may still cause crashes or data loss. The focus of beta testing is reducing impacts on users, often incorporating usability testing . The process of delivering
6450-608: The software has "gone live". Release to the Web ( RTW ) or Web release is a means of software delivery that utilizes the Internet for distribution. No physical media are produced in this type of release mechanism by the manufacturer. Web releases have become more common as Internet usage grew. During its supported lifetime, the software is sometimes subjected to service releases, patches or service packs , sometimes also called "interim releases" or "maintenance releases" (MR). For example, Microsoft released three major service packs for
6536-399: The software project before formal testing. These activities can include requirements analysis , software design , software development , and unit testing . In typical open source development, there are several types of pre-alpha versions. Milestone versions include specific sets of functions and are released as soon as the feature is complete. The alpha phase of the release life cycle
6622-447: The standard same-origin policy permission model that is followed by most modern browsers which disallows scripts from accessing any privileged data including data about other websites. It uses TLS to protect communications with web servers using strong cryptography when using the HTTPS protocol. The freely available HTTPS Everywhere add-on enforces HTTPS, even if a regular HTTP URL
6708-418: The used system, language, or underlying libraries. Once released, the software is generally known as a "stable release". The formal term often depends on the method of release: physical media, online release, or a web application. The term "release to manufacturing" (RTM), also known as "going gold", is a term used when a software product is ready to be delivered. This build may be digitally signed, allowing
6794-535: The usual sense, but the plug in files can be copied from a local installation to the appropriate portable folder. Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation . It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current and anticipated web standards. Firefox
6880-427: The websites users visit. Also known as state partitioning or "total cookie protection", SmartBlock works via a feature in the browser that isolates data from each site visited by the user to ensure that cross-site scripting is very difficult if not impossible. The feature also isolates local storage, service workers and other common ways for sites to store data. Firefox is a widely localized web browser. Mozilla uses
6966-485: Was made due to the fact the JavaScript was being used across a majority of websites on the web and disabling JavaScript could potentially have untoward repercussions on inexperienced users who are unaware of its impact. Firefox also cited the fact that extensions like NoScript , that can disable JavaScript in a more controlled fashion, were widely available. The following release added the ability to disable JavaScript through
7052-566: Was not done in IBM. Rather, IBM used the term "field test". Major public betas developed afterward, with early customers having purchased a "pioneer edition" of the WordVision word processor for the IBM PC for $ 49.95. In 1984, Stephen Manes wrote that "in a brilliant marketing coup, Bruce and James Program Publishers managed to get people to pay for the privilege of testing the product." In September 2000,
7138-407: Was originally named Phoenix, after the mythical bird that rose triumphantly from the ashes of its dead predecessor (in this case, from the "ashes" of Netscape Navigator , after it was sidelined by Microsoft Internet Explorer in the " First Browser War "). Phoenix was renamed in 2003 due to a trademark claim from Phoenix Technologies . The replacement name, Firebird, provoked an intense response from
7224-459: Was positioned as a security-focused browser. At the time, Internet Explorer , the dominant browser, was facing a security crisis. Multiple vulnerabilities had been found, and malware like Download.Ject could be installed simply by visiting a compromised website. The situation was so bad that the US Government issued a warning against using Internet Explorer. Firefox, being less integrated with
7310-742: Was released on November 9, 2004. This was followed by version 1.5 in November 2005, version 2.0 in October 2006, version 3.0 in June 2008, version 3.5 in June 2009, version 3.6 in January 2010, and version 4.0 in March 2011. From version 5 onwards, the development and release model changed into a "rapid" one; by the end of 2011 the stable release was version 9, and by the end of 2012 it reached version 17. Major redesigns of its graphical user interface occurred on versions 4.0 ( Strata ) in March 2011, 29.0 ( Australis ) in April 2014, 57.0 ( Photon ) in November 2017, and 89.0 ( Proton ) in June 2021. In 2016, Mozilla announced
7396-453: Was updated to include the ability to block scripts that used a computer's CPU to mine cryptocurrency without a user's permission, in Firefox version 67.0. The update also allowed users to block known fingerprinting scripts that track their activity across the web, however it does not resist fingerprinting on its own. In March 2021, Firefox launched SmartBlock in version 87 to offer protection against cross-site tracking , without breaking
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