Tag Archives: Mozilla Firefox

Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Firefox 106 Update: What’s New and Improved

On October 18, 2022, Firefox 106 Stable and Firefox 102.4 ESR were released to the public.

New features

A new Colorways theme, Firefox view, PDF editing, text recognition, and extraction on macOS are all included in the most recent Firefox Stable release.

While Firefox 106 introduces several brand-new features, the version also resolves security concerns. Mozilla corrected six unique vulnerabilities in Firefox 106 and four vulnerabilities in Firefox 102.4 ESR.

Firefox view

One of the most notable new features is Firefox view. The accessibility of previously opened tabs in the web browser is improved with Firefox view. However, Firefox view also enables users to access tabs from desktop or Android Firefox browsers. This distinct feature will allow users to switch between devices, making it a more convenient browsing experience. Firefox View has three sections: Tab pickup, Recently closed, and Independent voices. However, if consumers are not interested in Firefox View, it is simple to disable it. Users can right-click the Firefox symbol in the browser’s upper left corner and select “Remove from Toolbar.”

Tab Pickup

A Firefox account is necessary to use the tab pickup function. Mozilla uses Firefox Sync to display recently visited pages on other devices within this section. The title, favicon, URL, time stamp, and name of the device the user used to view the tab are all displayed. Additionally, a context menu is visible by right-clicking on a tab. This capability also imports tabs from previous versions of Firefox on the same device. This unique feature allows users to pick up where they left off reading from their phone, tablet, or computer.

Recently Closed

The recently closed section displays the most recent tabs that have been closed in the current window. Details about the closed tab are shown here, such as its title, URL, favicon, and timestamp. Unfortunately, there is no ability to conceal specific closed tabs. However, the arrow button allows you to collapse the recently closed tabs section.

Users can also recover closed tabs by left-clicking. This functionality is helpful if users mistakenly close a tab. However, because recently closed tabs are not synced between devices, Firefox will only show the tabs that were closed in the current browser. Therefore, when users close a tab and exit the browser, the tab is not recoverable through the recently closed section.

Colorways

Firefox users can alter themes, set intensity, and apply themes with one click by enabling Colorways to provide a customizable browsing experience. There are eighteen new themes currently available through January 16, 2023.

PDF Viewer

Firefox’s built-in PDF viewer supports basic PDF editing with version 106 Stable. In addition, the integrated options allow users to write, draw, and add signatures to PDF documents opened in Firefox.

Features for macOS

Users of macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later can benefit from text recognition and extraction. Unfortunately, the feature currently only supports English on macOS 10.15. However, macOS 11.0 (Big Sur) or later support a more comprehensive range of languages. Users can right-click the image and select “Copy Text from Image.”

Following the text recognition prompt, a modal box with a loading animation will analyze the text in the image and automatically copy the text. Additionally, VoiceOver is also compatible with text recognition.

Developers

In the 106 release, Mozilla made sure to include improvements for developers.

Developers can expect several new features, including improvements to the WebRTC platform and manifest key properties. In addition, the upgrade improves screen sharing on Windows and Linux Wayland, lowers CPU usage, and increases macOS screen capture FPS.

Update

Most versions of Firefox will update automatically. However, users can see what version of Firefox they are using by going to the menu and selecting Help > About Firefox and manually upgrade. As of right now, the release date for Firefox 107 Stable is November 11, 2022.

Overall, Firefox 106 adds a slew of new features and enhancements for all users. Whether you’re a casual user or a developer, this update has something for everyone. Check out all of the new features that Firefox has to offer.

 

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Firefox 105.0 Update, The End of Low Memory Crashes and Other Features

The most recent version of Firefox, version 105, was made available for download on September 20, 2022. This version is a minor update that does not offer as many new features as previous versions.

However, the most striking improvement in Firefox 105 is that Mozilla has drastically decreased the number of out-of-memory browser crashes the Windows and Linux users experience.

When the system’s memory becomes low, the improved protection guarantees that the browser’s primary process is not disrupted. In addition, to free up RAM, Firefox 105 will stop content processes in pages that have not been used for an extended period. When the content processes are terminated, only the webpage, rather than the entire browser, becomes unresponsive.

Mozilla’s software developers have also improved the browser’s performance in several ways. Firefox 105 supports multi-finger gestures that allow users to quickly and easily switch between touchpad platforms. There have also been enhancements made to the touchpad scrolling experience on macOS. A new printing option has been added that enables users to print directly from the current page without printing excessive irrelevant information.

Mozilla offers some developer-focused improvements, including optimizing searching in large arrays. This enhancement, along with others in Firefox 105, is aimed at increasing the functionality and efficiency of developers. Furthermore, Firefox 105 Stable resolves seven security concerns classified by Firefox as high vulnerabilities.

On September 23, 2022, Mozilla released an update, Firefox 105.0.1, which addresses a bug reported in the original 105 version. In most circumstances, Firefox will update automatically. However, you can manually verify that you have the most updated version by selecting Menu > Help > About Firefox to perform a manual check for the update.

The next version of Firefox, version 106 and ESR 102.4, is expected to be available for download on October 18, 2022.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Firefox Is Now A Download Option In Windows Store

If you spend a lot of time browsing the Windows Store you may have noticed something unexpected. You can now download Mozilla’s Firefox browser from that source.

Previously Mozilla was unable to upload its browser to the Windows Store because Microsoft’s policies required that all browsers on their platform had to use the engine provided by Windows.

Recently the company changed that policy and stripped out that requirement. That makes sense given that Microsoft rebuilt their own Edge browser using Chromium as a base. The Redmond Giant accepted Opera on the Windows Store back in September of this year (2021) and more recently added Firefox.

A Mozilla spokesman had this to say about the addition:

“Previously, if you were on Windows and wanted to use Firefox you had to download it from the internet and go through a clunky process from Microsoft. Now that Microsoft has changed its Store policies, choosing Firefox as your desktop browser is even more seamless – and it comes with all the latest Firefox features.”

More choice for users is always a good thing. The inclusion of Firefox on the Windows Store gives Windows users easy and convenient access to a non-Chromium-based browser. Firefox is a good alternative well worth experimenting with because Mozilla has built a number of intriguing features into their browser that its larger competitors haven’t emulated yet.

Kudos to Microsoft for expanding the selection of browsers in the Microsoft Store and to both Opera and Firefox for their additions there. With any luck we may see a few additional niche browsers included as well.

If you haven’t considered Opera or Firefox take a few minutes to download both and give them a test drive. It’s not a terribly time intensive process and you may be pleasantly surprised.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Internet Browser Firefox Will Soon Get SmartBlock Feature

There’s good news for anyone who uses the Firefox web browser. Beginning with the release of Firefox 87 which was released in March of this year (2021) Mozilla has introduced a new SmartBlock feature.

The new feature helps ensure that when users enable ‘Strict Mode’ for their Tracking Protection that it will not break websites when blocking tracking scripts.

The company had this to say about the feature:

“SmartBlock 2.0 combines a great web browsing experience with robust privacy protection, by ensuring that you can still use third-party Facebook login buttons to sign in to websites, while providing strong defenses against cross-site tracking.

Third-party Facebook scripts are blocked to prevent you from being tracked, but are now automatically loaded ‘just in time’ if you decide to ‘Log in with Facebook’ on any website.”

It may seem like a small change but it’s incredibly significant. Legions of users rely on the easy access and convenience that Facebook, Google and other login buttons provide. Until now those users had to choose between convenience and greater protection. Now there’s no need to choose. Users get the best of both worlds.

It gets better. Mozilla also announced that Total Cookie Protection will be enabled by default in private browsing windows beginning with Firefox 89. On top of that Mozilla will be rolling out an advanced Site Isolation security feature which is meant to provide greater protection against attacks launched from malicious websites.

In all Mozilla has been incredibly busy in recent months introducing nearly a hundred new features and changes to their Firefox browser.

If you find yourself increasingly dissatisfied with your current browser and are looking for a capable alternative with a number of attractive features Firefox is certainly worth giving a try. Download the latest version today.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Number Of Microsoft Edge Browser Users Are Surpassing Firefox

At long last, Microsoft has a web browser that the market seems to like. Their new Chromium-based Edge browser has enjoyed rampant growth over the past twelve months, seeing its market share increase by 1300 percent for the year. It should be noted that one year ago, Chromium-based Edge had a market share of just 0.57 percent, and their rampant growth has seen that increase to 8.03 percent.

Google’s Chrome browser, which currently holds a 67.14 percent market share is by no means in immediate danger of losing its position as the dominant browser on the web.

Even so, it would be a mistake to discount the new Edge browser’s progress. It’s essentially the same as Google’s Chrome browser in that it uses the same engine and can make use of all of Chrome’s extensions. Plus it’s got a few native features that make it unique. So it really is a good browsing option, and its recent flurry of growth has seen it surpass Mozilla’s Firefox browser, which currently holds a market share of just 7.95 percent.

To give you a more complete picture of the browser market breakdown, here are the top five contenders:

  • Google Chrome: 67.14 percent
  • Apple’s Safari: 10.11 percent
  • Chromium Edge: 8.03 percent
  • Mozilla’s Firefox: 7.95 percent
  • Edge Legacy: 0.44 percent

With a constellation of other, smaller browsers (Brave, Opera, and a handful of others) each claiming a tiny slice of the market.

When Microsoft first released their latest version of Edge, it was believed that Google’s Chrome browser would take the biggest hit, but the reality is that Google’s market share barely budged, but Firefox seems to be slowly dying.

Later this year, Microsoft will begin forcibly retiring Legacy Edge, which should see it vanish from the list entirely, and it’s likely that most of those users will stick with the new Edge browser. At this point, it’s impossible to say what the future holds for the market long term, except to say that Google’s browser should retain its title of King of the Hill for the foreseeable future.

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