Browse the Internet using multiple tabs, bookmark your favorite pages and use the private mode to stop websites from tracking you. Synchronize your data and your current browsing activity across all your devices.
With nearly a nine percent of the browser market share worldwide, Firefox is – as of today – the third most used Internet desktop browser, and it remains a solid alternative to the its sole open-source competitor, Chrome. Its exquisite care for the user’s privacy and security together with its highly customizable look and feel make it an excellent choice for anyone tired of being sold to advertisers every time they visit their favorite sites.
Not everything is nice and dandy with Firefox, though. It is known for being an avid resource consumer, which makes it a less suitable option for those with old or low-range computers. Likewise, you may find problems when trying to display certain pages, as not all websites are fully compatible with this browser. However, other renowned browsers are also famous for their memory hunger, but their many users do not seem to care.
What I do care about, though, and at least nearly ten percent of Internet users in the world, is privacy. And here Firefox has a lot to say. If you are not a Firefox user, just give it a try, and you’ll find that most (if not all) of those ads that seem to appear out of nowhere while browsing the Web will disappear. This browser takes the upmost care in not sending your private data to anyone you don’t want to.
Its privacy and security policies are strictly enforced – actually, unless you turn them off voluntarily, they’ll be there working for you by default since the moment you add Firefox to your desktop. Its protection against social media trackers, cross-site tracking cookies, cryptominers, and fingerprinters (among others) make your browsing time a seamless and gratifying experience, not to mention the increase that a no-ad policy adds to your browsing speed. Not exclusive to Firefox though yet useful and worth mentioning, this browser comes with a Private Browsing option that leaves no trace behind, of any kind.
Firefox is also famous for its high level of customization. Its tabbed interface can be tweaked and transformed until it looks just the way you want it. You can tell it display (or hide) a side menu and a useful Overflow Menu where you can add all those functions and settings you click on more often. Besides, its support for add-ons and extensions will let you bring in to your browser countless other features and apps.
Firefox can definitely change the way you’ve navigated the Web so far, and it will convince you that another Internet experience is possible – it may take some more memory than expected, but many other apps and programs do and we don’t take rid of them. Because we need them, because we trust them, or both. That is why so many users are so into Firefox.
v32.0.3 [Jul 23, 2014]
What’s New
New
Add the search field to the new tab page
New
Support of Prefer:Safe http header for parental control (learn more)
New
mozilla::pkix as default certificate verifier (learn more)
New
Block malware from downloaded files (learn more)
New
Partial implementation of the OpenType MATH table (section 6.3.6) see documentation about mathematical fonts and the MathML Torture Test for details
New
audio/video .ogg and .pdf files handled by Firefox if no application specified (Windows only)
New
Upper Sorbian [hsb] locale added
Changed
Removal of the CAPS infrastructure for specifying site-specific permissions (via capability.policy.* preferences). Most notably, attempts to use this functionality to grant access to the clipboard will no longer work. The sole exception is the checkloaduri permission, which may still be used as before to allow sites to load file:// URIs.
HTML5
WebVTT implemented and enabled (learn more)
HTML5
CSS3 variables implemented (learn more)
Developer
Developer Tools: Add-on Debugger (learn more)
Developer
Developer Tools: Canvas Debugger (learn more)
Developer
New Array built-in: Array.prototype.fill() (learn more)
Developer
New Object built-in: Object.setPrototypeOf() (learn more)
Developer
CSP 1.1 nonce-source and hash-source enabled by default
Developer
Developer Tools: Eyedropper tool added to the color picker (learn more)
Developer
Developer Tools: Editable Box Model (learn more)
Developer
Developer Tools: Code Editor improvements (learn more)
Developer
Developer Tools: Console stack traces (learn more)
Developer
Developer Tools: Copy as cURL (learn more)
Developer
Developer Tools: Styled console logs (learn more)
Developer
navigator.sendBeacon enabled by default (learn more)
Developer
Dialogs spawned from the onbeforeunload event no longer block access to the rest of the browser
Fixed
Search for partially selected link text from context menu (985824)
Fixed
Various security fixes
Known Issues
unresolved
Slow shut downs lead to 'Firefox is already running' warning (see 966469 and 985655)
unresolved
PDF.js: With some fonts, some characters might not be displayed. Affects a very small number of PDF (1028735)
unresolved
Mac OS X and Windows: Citrix Receiver no longer works. As a workaround, mark the plugin as Always Enable in the addon manager (1025627)
unresolved
GNU/Linux and Windows XP: Google Maps Street View displays a black screen (1034593)
Resolved in v32.0a2
unresolved
Mac OS X: cmd-L no longer opens a new window when no window is available (1008793)
Resolved in v32.0a2
