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.
v63.0.3 [Oct 24, 2018]
- Moved the build infrastructure of Firefox on Windows to the Clang toolchain, bringing important performance gains.
- Firefox theme now matches the Windows 10 OS Dark and Light modes.
- Added content blocking, a collection of Firefox settings that offer users greater control over technology that can track them around the web. In 63, users can opt to block third-party tracking cookies or block all trackers and create exceptions for trusted sites that don’t work correctly with content blocking enabled.
- WebExtensions now run in their own process on Linux.
- Firefox now warns about having multiple windows and tabs open when quitting from the main menu. The Save and Quit feature has been removed. You can restore your session by ticking the box for Restore previous session in the General → Startup options or by using Restore Previous Session in the main menu.
- Firefox now recognizes the operating system accessibility setting for reducing animation.
- Added search shortcuts for Top Sites: Amazon and Google appear as Top Sites tiles on the Firefox Home (New Tab) page. When selected these tiles will change focus to the address bar to initiate a search. Currently in US only.
