Mozilla Firefox 63 is the newest update to this popular open-source web browser, providing fast and flexible browsing experiences.
Tracking Protection has been enhanced to block more ad trackers, not only during Private Browsing sessions. Furthermore, this release adds search shortcuts for Google and Amazon as Top Sites tiles on the New Tab page (U.S. users only). Clicking any one of these icons shifts focus back onto the address bar to start searches directly from there.
Features
Mozilla Firefox 63 is rolling out to users with an upgraded Tracking Protection feature, expanding on previous efforts that only blocked ads during Private Browsing sessions. Now, this protection covers tracking cookies and storage access by third parties – as well as fingerprinting (identifying users based on device properties) and in-browser cryptocurrency-mining services that are harmful.
Additionally, the browser now recognizes and utilizes the operating system accessibility setting for reducing animation by default when possible. This change was in response to user feedback. Furthermore, when closing, there will now be warnings if multiple windows or tabs remain open as well as support for Android’s Picture-in-Picture mode. Furthermore, Windows builds have now moved over to Clang toolchain, yielding performance gains; themes now align with Windows 10 dark/light themes while WebExtensions now run in their own processes on Linux systems.
Firefox 63 introduces search shortcuts for Top Sites. Amazon and Google tiles on the Firefox Home (New Tab) page now launch searches when clicked, in addition to existing functionality such as searching in the address bar using one of many keywords supported by the browser (currently only available in US).
Mozilla has taken steps to enhance user privacy with the introduction of ProtonVPN VPN service in the US. ProtonVPN hails from Switzerland and promises not to track or sell user data. You can download Firefox 63 from Mozilla website.
Other features include an enhanced Password Manager, a revamped Bookmarks menu, and numerous security improvements including CVE-2018-12401 (DOS Attack Through Special Resource Uri Parsing) and CVE-2018-12402 (mixed Content Warning When Loading an HTTPS Page Over HTTP). In addition, Firefox now includes support for the AV1 video codec, an alternative free alternative to H.264/VP9 Video Compression Standards; for more details refer to Mozilla blog post for details. The update should arrive automatically but users can manually check for updates in Settings menu if they wish.
Changes
Mozilla Firefox 63 was just released with significant upgrades that affect both its interface and security, with manual download available directly from Mozilla website or software updates mechanisms. These updates include bug fixes and other improvements designed to enhance browser stability; new content blocking feature that blocks third-party tracking scripts similar to what Chrome and Opera offer as default settings has also been included in these changes.
Firefox 63 can reduce the amount of animation displayed in browser pages, helping users conserve battery life and computer performance. This update also supports Windows 10’s dark and light mode features and displays a warning when multiple tabs or windows are open simultaneously. Furthermore, Mozilla now utilizes accessibility settings on operating systems to reduce animation if these settings have been set.
Other notable changes include support for W3C draft spec APIs for clipboard operations and improvements to the Theming API for theming Firefox new tab pages. WebExtensions will now run in their own processes on Linux which should help mitigate add-on errors impacting browser stability, and Dev Tools accessibility inspector is enabled by default, providing information about what content can be seen by assistive technologies on any website.
Firefox Quantum users on both stable and beta channels have received the latest update, which will automatically download and install itself if enabled in its Settings menu; otherwise users will be prompted to install it when restarting their browsers. Users who wish to opt out can do so by changing their Firefox Options UI setting “Check for updates but let me choose whether to install them”. It should reach all users in six to eight weeks; for more details please see Mozilla Firefox 63’s release notes.
Requirements
The latest version of Mozilla Firefox brings with it numerous upgrades that should enhance stability and user privacy. Optimized for Windows 10, this version now matches its dark theme while giving more control to technology that tracks them online. Furthermore, this is the first time Firefox will run extensions as individual processes on Linux systems for improved performance and security benefits.
Disconnect has created a policy to restrict storage access for domains classified as trackers, to stop content from loading in the background and remove cross-site identifiers that link browsing activity across websites. If successful, beta users will test this feature in September; then all users will see it implemented into Firefox 63 by October.
Other features include search shortcuts for Amazon and Google that appear as tiles on Firefox Home (New Tab) pages and can be activated by clicking their icons. In addition, Firefox recognizes operating system accessibility settings to reduce animation and supports picture-in-picture mode on Android devices.
Users can access Firefox 63 via its official website, or utilize its automatic update mechanism that either prompts them to install it immediately or checks for it automatically on restart depending on their Firefox settings. Users can manually check for updates by accessing Menu > Help > Check for Updates.
Mozilla Firefox is a lightweight web browser with a minimalist interface that is user-friendly. It supports numerous add-ons that enable users to personalize the look and feel of their browser; plus it’s available across platforms including Windows, Mac OS and Linux and supports various languages.
This browser is free and open source, featuring a global community of developers that contribute to its creation. Millions of people around the world rely on Opera for mobile browsing; its use ranks amongst mobile phone browsers’ top 10. It competes against Internet Explorer and Google Chrome but has seen its market share decline due to compatibility issues in recent years.
Installation
Mozilla recently unveiled a new version of Firefox designed to improve users’ web browsing experiences. Available to download for Windows, macOS and Linux operating systems alike, Firefox 63 features tabbed browsing, spell checking, incremental find, Smart Bookmarks download manager private browsing location-aware browsing as well as Tracking Protection which now blocks third-party cookies and prevents tracking when in Private Browsing mode and also supports system accessibility settings that reduce animation – providing a better browsing experience and making browsing less straining on eyes.
This update addresses several bugs, such as one which prevented the address bar from filling in bookmarked URLs under certain circumstances, and an issue related to using USB flash drives as media devices. Furthermore, Firefox 63 marks its debut release running WebExtensions separately on Linux systems, providing greater stability for add-ons while decreasing the chance that any single crash would take down the entire browser.
Mozilla also made enhancements in graphics rendering for Windows users without accelerated hardware, via Parallel-Off-Main-Thread Painting and CSS Variable Fonts (OpenType Font Variations) support. These should result in richer web page layouts and improved scrolling performance, with faster page load times over Wi-Fi connections by loading from network cache if disk performance slows. Finally, Firefox 63 offers faster page loads if disk access slows.
Apart from these features, this release also boasts an improved Tracking Protection that now blocks ad trackers throughout all browser sessions instead of only Private Browsing sessions. Furthermore, more sites associated with social buttons, analytics services, fingerprinting attempts or cryptocurrency mining services have also been blocked by Tracking Protection.
The new version also allows for a smoother transition to dark modes on operating systems that use them by default, making this an essential upgrade for all Firefox users as older versions leave you vulnerable to attacks and scams.
