Not everyone gets by with the default browser on their computer, and when it comes to picking an alternative, Firefox is one of the most popular out there, having clawed back support from upstart rivals like Google Chrome and Opera in recent years by switching to a rapid release cycle, ensuring major new versions of the browser are released every six weeks.
It’s true to say that individual updates often fail to deliver anything substantial, but cumulatively they roll together to produce a web browser that is radically different to the one – version 4 – that marked the start of a new era back in 2011.
Some of the landmark new features we’ve seen include a per-site Permissions Manager, enhanced Sync options, tabs on demand, silent updates and add-on enhancements. We also saw the launch of specific development branches including UX, which has led to the new Australis user interface, which sees a streamlined tab, revamped menu and customisation features.
One group particularly well served by the rapid release cycle have been developers, and a plethora of tools from Javascript Scratchpad (from Firefox 6) to full-blown Developer Toolbar (from Firefox 16) have worked their way into successive builds as Firefox courts this important community of users.
And underpinning this all are a constantly evolving set of performance improvements, standards support (HTML5 and CSS3 are constantly being added to, for instance) and bug fixes.
Verdict:
Firefox 83 includes speed improvements and search enhancements
Changelog
Firefox 84 is now in the stable channel. Improvements/changes include:
- Firefox keeps getting faster as a result of significant updates to SpiderMonkey, our JavaScript engine, you will now experience improved page load performance by up to 15%, page responsiveness by up to 12%, and reduced memory usage by up to 8%.
- Firefox introduces HTTPS-Only Mode. When enabled, this new mode ensures that every connection Firefox makes to the web is secure and alerts you when a secure connection is not available. You can enable it in Firefox Preferences.
Pinch zooming will now be supported for our users with Windows touchscreen devices and touchpads on Mac devices. Firefox users may now use pinch to zoom on touch-capable devices to zoom in and out of webpages.
Picture-in-Picture now supports keyboard shortcuts for fast forwarding and rewinding videos: use the arrow keys to move forward and back 15 seconds, along with volume controls. For a list of supported commands see {{SUMO link}}
- When you are presenting your screen on a video conference in Firefox, you will see our improved user interface that makes it clearer which devices or displays are being shared.
- We’ve improved functionality and design for a number of Firefox search features.
- Firefox supports AcroForm, which will allow you to fill in, print, and save supported PDF forms and the PDF viewer also has a new fresh look.
- Our users in India on the English build of Firefox will now see Pocket recommendations in their new tab featuring some of the best stories on the web. If you don’t see them, you can turn on Pocket articles in your new tab by following these steps.
- For the recently released Apple devices built with Apple Silicon CPUs, you can use Firefox 84 and future releases without any change. This release (84) will support emulation under Apple’s Rosetta 2 that ships with macOS Big Sur. We are working toward Firefox being natively-compiled for these CPUs in a future release.
- This is a major release for WebRender as we roll out to more Firefox users on Windows 7 and 8 as well as on macOS 10.12 to 10.15.
Your Comments & Opinion
This is just another link in the puzzle to make this browser look like Chrome, and that is not good - if we wanted Chrome, we would go straight to the source.
I really don't like to always be critical, but much of the "innovation" seen in FF's last 10 or so updates have been in the wrong direction, and are offputting to the long time users of the browser.
For myself, I'd like to see more movement toward Presto-based Opera, and FAR LESS movement toward Chrome.
Check out the next version of Firefox before it's released
Check out the next version of Firefox before it's released
Check out the next version of Firefox before it's released
Check out the next version of Firefox before it's released
New commercial cross-platform email client that offers a range of professional features
New commercial cross-platform email client that offers a range of professional features
The latest stable Chrome is a rather minor update
The latest stable Chrome is a rather minor update
The latest stable Chrome is a rather minor update