> We’re rolling out the Firefox Multi-Account Containers extension with Mozilla VPN integration. This lets you use a different server location for each container.<p>This is really cool. I wonder how difficult it would be to allow users to wire this up to arbitrary user-specified VPNs e.g. through WireGuard.
I recently switched from Chrome back to Firefox after the news about Google forcing people to stay logged-in to Chrome for tracking purposes. I’ve switched in the past but always ended up switching back for one reason or another. This time I’ve actually been very happy with it and don’t think I’ll switch back soon.<p><i>Better in Firefox:</i><p>* Ctrl+Tab cycles through tabs in recently-used order. Just like Cmd+Tab. This feature is wonderful and is easier to access than Chrome’s Shift+Cmd+A.<p>* In Firefox the two-finger swipe forward/back works much better. Three-finger swipe works well in both.<p>* Built-in reader mode that’s instantaneous and works well. In Chrome you need an add-on.<p><i>Better in Chrome:</i><p>* Has tab groups. There doesn’t seem to be a tab group add-on for Firefox that works like Chrome’s tab groups.<p>* Google Docs dictation works. But I never use that.<p>* Printing lets you scale up past the page size (useful for printing my AYSO team’s lineup).
Heads up, you may lose your tabs when you update. It seems normal tab restoring procedures apply, but if you collect many like me, it means an initial shock of reloading all of them.<p>"I lost my tabs after the update — What can I do?<p>You may notice that after updating Firefox to version 94, the tabs from your previous session were closed. To learn how to restore a previous session, visit How do I restore my tabs from last time? Alternatively, following the prompts in the Open previous tabs? one-time notification that will appear after the update will also allow you to restore the tabs from your previous session. "<p><a href="https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-configure-close-tab-warnings-firefox" rel="nofollow">https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-configure-close-tab...</a>
> On Windows, there will now be fewer interruptions because Firefox won’t prompt you for updates. Instead, a background agent will download and install updates even if Firefox is closed.<p>I rather they didn't.<p>EDIT: Ah good, they have an option in the General Settings to disable the background updater.
My daily driver is a 2014 MacBook Pro and I just recently switched to Firefox from Safari. It's so much faster it's not even a fair comparison – I feel like I've gotten a whole new computer. Even compared to Chrome it loads pages so much faster on old hardware. Props to Mozilla!!!
I wish they'd just give me an ability to delete address bar suggestions/favorites like in the old days. One of their worst old bugs if you upgraded from a previous release.
It wasn't mentioned in the release notes but for Linux users EGL is enabled by default now.<p>I've been manually turning this feature on so this is a welcome improvement.<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29047339" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29047339</a>
I am typing this from Firefox, which I switched back to right after Quantum.<p>I don't want to give an impression that I'm a shill, but I'm getting more and more intrigued by Brave every day. I think they made the right call by focusing on crypto, their search indexing technique is very unique (and it works!), as is their BAT attention token. They are _trying_ to doing something different, Firefox is not.<p>What I instead get from Firefox for trying to support their monetization, is seductive-looking spammy ads on their New Tab page that come back even after I dismiss them. Brave ads vs Firefox ads would be a tough comparison - the former is more annoying and intrusive, but I definitely think I prefer them. And long term, I think I would bet on Brave _over_ Firefox, unless something changes.
> Firefox no longer warns you by default when you exit the browser or close a window using a menu, button, or three-key command. This should cut back on unwelcome notifications which is always nice--however, if you prefer a bit of notice, you’ll still have full control over the quit/close modal behavior. All warnings can be managed within Firefox Settings.<p>I'm going to re-enable that. I appreciate choice, but just because I use three-key commands, doesn't mean I'm infallible. That dialog has saved me several times from having the wrong window in focus and accidentally trying to kill the whole browser.<p>One could argue the only controversial decision here was changing existing user's settings without post-update warning. Since in the previous version this warning was always "on" and now it is "off" after update, and you aren't notified of this unless you're in the demographic that reads Firefox release notes.<p>In general though still appreciate more choice/control.<p>[0] <a href="https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-configure-close-tab-warnings-firefox" rel="nofollow">https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-configure-close-tab...</a>
Does this release actually enable Fission (process separation) by default? [1] I see it's still turned off in about:config<p>[1]: <a href="https://hacks.mozilla.org/2021/05/introducing-firefox-new-site-isolation-security-architecture/" rel="nofollow">https://hacks.mozilla.org/2021/05/introducing-firefox-new-si...</a>
Quick question (and a bit of an aside): let's say I'm interested in a specific feature being implemented (profile switcher like in chrome, built in feature as in [1], not an add-on as in [2]). How do I go about getting more attention to potentially have this prioritized?<p>Making an account in their bug tracker and spamming the threads sounds annoying, I'd personally get upset if someone did that to my repos or issue trackers so I don't want to do it to others. Also I'm not capable of contributing that feature myself so I'm kind of stuck.<p>Still, version after version of Firefox gets released and posted here, highlighting new things that get developed, and I see no progress there and the more time goes by it gets frustrating. I am using the profile functionality right now, it does work, and does what it's supposed to, just wish it was exposed to me via the same UX as in chrome and from the basic, default install, without needing extra add-ons or config.<p>[1] <a href="https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1542189" rel="nofollow">https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1542189</a><p>[2] <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/profile-switcher/" rel="nofollow">https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/profile-switc...</a>
> And on Linux, we’ve improved WebGL performance and reduced power consumption for many users.<p>All right!<p>> Users of the proprietary Nvidia driver will need to wait a little bit longer as the currently released drivers lack an important extension. [1]<p>Oh no :(<p>[1]: <a href="https://mozillagfx.wordpress.com/2021/10/30/switching-the-linux-graphics-stack-from-glx-to-egl/" rel="nofollow">https://mozillagfx.wordpress.com/2021/10/30/switching-the-li...</a>
I'm still waiting for Touch ID support on Macs<p><a href="https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1536482" rel="nofollow">https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1536482</a>
> Firefox no longer warns you by default when you exit the browser or close a window using a menu, button, or three-key command.<p>Why would anyone want this? On macOS it is infuriantingly easy to press CMD + Q by accident. Why would you not want to confirm that you actually want to close ALL your tabs?
I'm not enthusiastic these days. Which aspect of the UI will they change this time? Is there an about:config hack to get it back? And how long is that gonna work?<p>I think i'll have to ship a userchrome.css with my dotfiles soon.
So, uh, how do I undo my colorways selection? On opening after the new update it gave me a little panel to choose from, and I picked one, but I don't like it now... but I can't see anything in the settings to revert, or to try a different one? I don't see anything about it in the "Colors" section of the Settings, and searching at the top for "colorways" doesn't return anything.<p>edit: Found it! In the settings on the bottom left you can choose "Extension & Themes", and then you click "Themes" in the new sidebar, and scroll down a bit.
I am wondering what it would take to seriously fork Firefox (like the MySQL/MariaDB fork), if there is so much discontent with Firefox in the HN community?
> With 94, you’ll find a selection of six fun seasonal Colorways (available for a limited time only).<p>For a limited time only? What the heck? Feels like Starbucks.<p>Otherwise great release of course.
> Instead, a background agent will download and install updates even if Firefox is closed.<p>I hope that can be disabled. If I kill Firefox, I want it to be completely dead. I deplore background "download agents".<p>> Plus, closing devtools now reclaims more memory than ever before.<p>Perhaps reducing devtools memory usage might have been more useful; more than once it has brought my machine to a standstill, and forced me to reboot.
As always, it's available in portable format for folks who'd like to try it out on Windows without installing: <a href="https://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable" rel="nofollow">https://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable</a>
> With this release, power users can use about:unloads to release system resources by manually unloading tabs without closing them.<p>That should be nice, I'm looking forward to poking around in there.
It's nice to see that there's supposed to be some performance improvements. I still miss support for FTP though. And playback of flac files with id3 headers.
>On Windows, there will now be fewer interruptions because Firefox won’t prompt you for updates. Instead, a background agent will download and install updates even if Firefox is closed.<p>How considerate of them, I felt I didn't have enough auto-updating background agents yet.
It has made me really sad that I have had to quite using Firefox, as I've enjoyed the technical improvements they have been making, but the new ads in the address bar thing is just non negotiable, I will not be a part of that.
Firefox: the last remaining mostly independent, maintained and reasonably popular browser.<p>Even if it were inferior in any aspect to other options, I'd still use it for the above mentioned reasons.
My God, this thread turned into a cesspool of whining, bitching and utter negativity to what seems like a great update.<p>How about we praise the positives as well? They listed a slew of performance improvements and a battery usage improvement on macOS.<p>Firefox team: keep it up.