• Firefox 71.0 – Is it safe or not?

    • This topic has 54 replies, 16 voices, and was last updated 5 years ago.
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    #2016987

    There’s been a lot of talk about the newest Firefox update 71.  Some say it’s okay, some don’t like it even though it apparently works, and at least one person said it crashed and ruined their previous FF version.  I tend to cringe when people get arrows in their backs, or even stung by BB shots.

    So, I’m still waiting to either hear some better news or see a new FF update 71.0.1 come out which will fix the problems occurring for some people.

    Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's
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    • #2017088

      ? says:

      i was wondering about the same thing, Charlie. it just showed up as a security patch for Ubuntu 18.04 and 19.04 a few minutes ago. i could not find any new information on the google just now only the link to Woody’s (G.Born) post here a few days ago.

      https://www.askwoody.com/2019/born-reported-profile-problems-with-the-newly-updated-firefox/

      borncity link within:

      https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/firefox-71-and-68-3-0-upgrade-issues/

      1 user thanked author for this post.
      • #2017136

        The profile problem occurs if you or your IT Department created a policies.json file, used to modify firefox in an enterprise environment.  The other known issue:

        Some Windows users who had previously installed and uninstalled Comodo antivirus software may not be able to start Firefox. Information on how to resolve this issue is described on support.mozilla.org or in the support knowledgebase.

        Win 11 home - 24H2
        Attitude is a choice...Choose wisely

        2 users thanked author for this post.
      • #2017846

        If you’re the same anonymous as in the “2 versions of firefox” thread I just replied to, you’ve already upgraded, but if not/for anyone else, my old profile from previous versions of Firefox works fine with 71.  I do not have a policies.json file.

        Of course, if the Firefox profile matters at all to a given user, it should be backed up!  Data that is not backed up is data that you don’t care if you lose.  I know no one wants to have to restore their profiles, but it’s a lot better than losing them.

        Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
        XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
        Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)

      • #2019916

        Have you updated to 71 yet on your Ubuntu?  I have Mint and am wondering whether to update it to 71 just yet.  Is the fact that they allowed 71 to show up as an update count as a positive?

        Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's
        • #2019922

          @Charlie – I have updated to 71 on one computer running Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and on one computer running Mint 19.2. Both are running fine and seem to have kept my preference settings. The update on each machine came through the software update manager, so presumably it was sanctioned by Ubuntu and Mint.

          FWIW, I’ve also updated to 71 two Win 7, one Win 8.1, and one High Sierra iMAC computers. All of these are also running fine and appear to have kept the previous settings.

          • This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by DrBonzo.
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    • #2017095

      I updated to 71.0 a few days back (I did say in a previous post somewhere that I was going to wait a while but I always have Macrium images to save me if something goes wrong).

      Working well with no problems so far. Windows 10 1909 64bit. Can’t imagine there is anything seriously wrong with 71 or surely they would have pulled or updated it by now?

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2017135

      One of the comments by a subscriber to the G. Born site said that 71 has problems with Win 7. I hate to think that’s the case.  I’m still holding out a bit longer.  I don’t have the luxury of a test computer to see what’s going to happen.

      Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's
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    • #2017371

      Been using 71.0 on Win 7 since it was available. No problems.

      • This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by mtman6698.
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    • #2017536

      Well, it’s sounding better as long as you don’t have a polices.json file.  I’m not seeing any reports of FF71 crashing & burning, so maybe in another day or so I’ll give it try.

      Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's
    • #2018659

      I forgot to ask how that Picture-In-Picture and that new-fangled MP3 thing is working?  Has anyone tried them?  Does anyone really need them?  Just wondering.

      I almost gave in to the temptation to update today but decided against it.  I’m going out shopping and I want to stay in a good mood.

      Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's
    • #2018664

      Win7X64, home premium, AMD.   No problems with it so far.

      2 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2019149

      ? says:

      Firefox 71 works but they changed “about config,” by moving away from UXL to HTML and JavaScript.

      see:

      https://www.ghacks.net/2019/11/11/firefox-71-new-aboutconfig-interface-lands/

      includes a chrome work-a-round in the article…

      2 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2019601

      Okay, I just bit the bullet and updated to FF 71.  So far things look the same and it’s running fine.  I don’t use the “about config” function much so that’s not a problem for now.  Thanks to all for your help and replies.    🙂

      Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's
      1 user thanked author for this post.
      • #2019671

        Okay, I just bit the bullet and updated to FF 71. So far things look the same and it’s running fine. I don’t use the “about config” function much so that’s not a problem for now. Thanks to all for your help and replies.

        That is true… it would be unusual for someone to spend more than a tiny percentage of time in about:config.  Still, the removal of the direct links to prefs feature is a fairly big loss, particularly for new users, who don’t really “get” the whole searching for a pref thing.  Lots of sites used that to direct people to the exact pref they needed to change with no muss and no fuss.  I guess no one mentioned that Chrome has direct links to flags (“Chrome does it that way” usually being the magic words to make Mozilla do whatever it is that is being mentioned).

        I know that the aim is to remove the XUL from Firefox completely, but that doesn’t imply changing the UI to be less useful.  They could recreate the old UI with the new code just as easily as they created the new UI.  They’re following the abominable recent trend of minimalism, both in information presented and in functionality (the most egregious example of which of which I know being GNOME 3 in the Linux world).  This is a fad that needs to fade into oblivion right now.

        Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
        XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
        Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)

        2 users thanked author for this post.
        • #2019852

          Ten four on the minimalism.  They’re rapidly going from the good looking 3D icons, etc. to 2D with more and more plain black, grey, and white.  Thank goodness I can still get my Windows  7 colors to show.  At least for now that is.

          Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's
          2 users thanked author for this post.
          • #2019974

            Charlie, I saw in your other message that you also have a Mint installation, in addition to the Windows 7 one.  In all of the desktop environments I’ve tried in Linux, you’re able to change the icon theme as easily as the other kinds of themes, and while some of them follow the trend of monochromatic wire-frames, you can switch it to something more suitable.  I am currently using the KDE Oxygen icon theme, which can be used with other desktop environments too.

            The minimalistic, flat look is “in” right now,  but humans are still adapted to dealing with 3d objects in 3d space, since that’s the way of the world we (and scores of generations before us) live(d) in outside of computer screens, which we’ve only been using for a very small bit of human history.  Our minds are still biologically adapted to identifying and interacting with 3d objects, which means that working with skeuomorphic UI elements is hardware accelerated in our brains, in a manner of speaking, while more abstract, flat UI elements are all decoded in software.  There was a study that was cited in The Register that showed that there was a significant speed advantage using skeuomorphic UI elements over their allegedly more stylish and modern counterparts.

            That, of course, does not mean skeuomorphism has to be taken to the ridiculous degree that it was in the latter part of the 1990s, with programs imitating leather-bound books on a shelf, that when opened would feature simulations of dog-eared, aged paper or parchment pages.  There only has to be enough to engage the parts of our brains that recognize 3d objects (like buttons in a dialog box) as immediately being of importance.  The goal is not to fool ourselves into thinking we’re actually using the metaphoric objects represented… just to use the illusion of a third dimension (that’s 50% more dimensions than a strictly flat-styled page!) to convey useful information to the user.  That’s what a UI is for, and things like trends or style or “looking beautiful” take a back seat to functonality… or at least they should. 

            Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
            XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
            Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)

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            • #2232235

              Big Grin=> do you use this word in normal conversation? I am in awe of your word-smithing.

              D

    • #2037345

      well Charlie the year 2019 is nearly over and it does not look like a Firefox 71.0.1 release will be made

      next scheduled Firefox release is 72 coming on Jan. 7, 2020

      • #2037429

        OH JOY. . . and Version 71 has been working great on both my main Win 7 desktop and Linux Mint laptop.  See my post above, it’s #2019601.  Yes, it sure looks like monthly updates for FF.

        Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's
        • #2051730

          um Firefox 72 just came out on January 7, 2020 and then a 72.0.1 release followed on January 8

    • #2191075

      About 4 or 5 days ago they came out with FF 74.  Has anyone had any problems with it?  As usual, I’m waiting to see what happens.

      Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's
      • #2191090

        No problems at all, just upgraded this past Wednesday the 11th via the built-in upgrader. FF74 on Win 7 SP1 x64 Pro. Soon to be, ulp, Win 10 1909 x64 Pro by the time I get new hardware.

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    • #2191089

      I’ve been running FF 74 since March 10th.  No observed issues.

      Win 11 home - 24H2
      Attitude is a choice...Choose wisely

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2191119

      I’ve installed FF 74 on 3 Mint 19.2 installations, one Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, and one Win 7. All seems normal. Will probably do another Win 7 today along with a Win 8.1, a Mac High Sierra and a Mac Mojave today or tomorrow.

      2 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2191130

      I’m running Firefox 75.0b3 with no problems.

      On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
      offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
      offline▸ Acer TravelMate P215-52 RAM8GB Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1265 x64 i5-10210U SSD Firefox106.0 MicrosoftDefender
      online▸ Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1992 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox116.0b3 MicrosoftDefender
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      • #2231984

        Installed Firefox ver75.0 today

        “Firefox now tells Mozilla what your default browser is every day” by Lawrence Abrams, bleepingcomputer.com

        The instructions on how to defeat this revealed no such tasks scheduled. The security settings I have been using did not change. Curious. Maybe the changes will appear later….

        • This reply was modified 5 years ago by DriftyDonN.
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        • #2232002

          “Firefox now tells Mozilla what your default browser is every day” by Lawrence Abrams, bleepingcomputer.com

          I wish the authors of those headlines on various sites like bleepingcomputer.com would include the OS where it is pertinent… no, Firefox does not tell Mozilla what my default browser is every day, because that is only for Windows, not Linux or Mac.  I know it’s a Windows oriented site, but it wouldn’t hurt to have the headline describe the actual situation regardless.

          That said, I find it interesting that there is a new executable that will be used to collect this info, along with the aforementioned task in Task Scheduler.  Why is this necessary?  Does Firefox not already have a place where you can go see the default browser status right there in the settings?  Serious question.  I wonder if the changes that MS made to not allow programs to set themselves (possibly without the consent of the user) as the defaults for certain things has made this particular statistic less accurate than it would have been for, say, Windows 7?  If that is the case, would it not have been prudent to make the necessary changes to make sure that Firefox is respecting the user’s wishes about the default browser?

          Since each browser is ostensibly able to know whether or not it is the default browser, and they typically are set to check this each time the browser is run, I would like to know why an actual standalone executable and a scheduled task are necessary, rather than simply making it a part of Firefox’s existing telemetry set from within the program itself.  Presumably, this would have been one of the things collected right from the start.

          I don’t find it to be worrying that Mozilla would want this info.  As I have mentioned before, I had telemetry on (using the minimal setting) in Firefox when that was my primary browser, because I wanted Mozilla to know things like what addons I was using, how many tabs I had open, what OS I was using, and so on.  Their decision to remove the ability to use classic addons was, in part, decided using telemetry data, which they say showed them that most people prior to Quantum used two or less addons, and that the ones they used had webextensions versions.

          I do not agree with the decision they made regarding classic addons, of course, but it makes me wonder whether there were not a lot more “power” users who did use a lot of addons, including those (like Tab Mix Plus, Classic Theme Restorer, Status-4-Evar) that could not be replicated in the weaker Webextensions.  Those users would be a lot more likely to know that there was a telemetry option to turn it off, which (if true) would have the effect of letting the more basic users cast the votes on future browser development on their behalf.  That was why I had it on!

          If you had telemetry off before this change, it will remain off now, and this change will not affect you, if my understanding is correct.  It is bad optics, though, to be installing a standalone program and a scheduled task for the purpose of collecting telemetry in a time when telemetry has become a dirty word.  A lot of people interpret Mozilla’s telemetry as being akin to Google’s data mining or Microsoft’s “you can’t turn this completely off” telemetry (which I would not have a problem with if it could be disabled as easily and completely as in Firefox), and I don’t see that as being true at all.  Still, I know a lot of people paint Firefox with the same brush as Edge and Chrome because of the telemetry, and since Mozilla has chosen to make their better privacy the sole selling point of Firefox (rather than, say, having better features, more customizability, or in any way having a better product than the others), it’s a bit risky to invite that comparison, no matter how invalid it may be.

          Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
          XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
          Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)

          2 users thanked author for this post.
          • #2232023

            I pretty much agree. Bleeping computer IS basically a windows site(not entirely tho) as is Askwoody. I use windows so I didn’t get upset bout that lil leave off the headline. Since I posted thst,

            I DL the portable ver75.o and that executable IS present just n0t where the installed version is …and it takes all the telemetry it can get! I reset under options and they get nada so life goes on. Perhaps this info will help someone. Ive been using mozilla since Netscape- yea I disliked ms even then. I am tired of mozilla patching every other week tho!! Its going to be as big and klunky as win 10 pretty soon!

            Im finding Mint to be interesting…a bit hard on the eyes tho- the resolution is high I guess so everything is teeny tiny!! Think I saw a fix for that somewhere…..off subject again..sorry mods.

            Be safe

            • #2232036

              @DriftyDonN – System Settings—> Font Selection might help. You can change fonts and font sizes

            • #2232239

              I think you are referring to Mint? Fonts are small and I thank you fro that but EVERYTHING is small!

              Thanks- I’ll try the font change soo as I can- broke my pool motor and have been going nuts trying to get it disassembled w/ one hand!! Have to get it running or I’ll be able to walk across it by next week! oops off topic again…darn me!

            • #2232249

              Yes, Mint. Might also try System Settings —> General —> Desktop Scaling. There is probably an “Auto”, “Normal”, and “Double (Hi-dpi)”. Just remember what your original setting is so you can go back to it if needed. Also if you change one of these, sit tight for a few seconds, while the change is made. The Double option should make everything look bigger (you’ll have to do more scrolling, though).

            • #2232261

              I think you are referring to Mint? Fonts are small and I thank you fro that but EVERYTHING is small!

              DriftyDonN, your complaint is one that is shared with @OscarCP, who has the same issue.

              In the desktop environment I use, KDE Plasma, there is fractional scaling, so it is possible to scale all of the UI elements up with a simple slider.  As far as I know, none of the Mint desktop versions (Cinnamon, Mate, Xfce) have this, as the GTK+ toolkit they all use to draw the UI was not designed with that feature in mind.  The Qt toolkit that is used to draw the UI in KDE does have it, and the KDE devs have implemented it.

              That’s one option, though it would require you to install KDE Plasma from the repo yourself or to leave the Mint family, as KDE Mint was discontinued some time ago.  That was the path I took, as I previously used Mint Cinnamon, but when I wanted to switch to Plasma, I wanted to use a distro that had that as the standard desktop rather than trying to create my own KDE Mint version.  I first tried Kubuntu, but its LTS version was so far behind on the bug fixes that KDE has been rolling out that I ended up switching again to Neon, KDE’s own distro (which they say is not really a distro, but the difference is only philosophical: It’s a distro in every way that matters).

              Another option is to change the fonts and see how that goes.  Before Plasma had fractional scaling, I found the appearance of onscreen elements on my 13.3″ display Acer Swift (1920×1080) to be smaller than I would like, but when I increased the font size, the problem was solved… scaling up the fonts also had the effect of scaling up elements that had text areas within them, so it sort of acted like a fractional scaling feature in itself.  It worked so well that when actual fractional scaling was rolled out, I didn’t feel the need to use it on the Swift; everything was already as I wanted.

              If you do this, remember that you can change the icon sizes in the file explorer and on the desktop after you’ve made the font change.  While scaling up the fonts should not directly increase the icon sizes, it quite possibly could increase the size of the caption box for the icon (the space reserved for the text caption next to each icon) enough to where the OS puts in a larger icon on its own.  If it does and you find that unsuitable, you can reduce the size of the icon.

              Another option is to find another GTK+ theme that uses larger UI elements.  Those elements are controlled by the theme, and some theme author out there quite possibly may have thought the same that you do.

              Of course, there is also the option that others have mentioned regarding the hi-dpi option.  Oscar found it unsuitable, but opinions (and monitor resolutions) vary.

              If you would like to discuss this, we should take it over to the Linux forum rather than discuss it further here.

              Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
              XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
              Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)

            • #2232268

              I should have specified I’m using the Cinnamon desktop with Mint 19.2. You can change the fonts and the font size to almost anything you want. As far as icon sizes it’s pretty much double or nothing, to the best of my knowledge.

    • #2199826

      I let the 74 update install itself and all seems to be okay.  No noticeable problems right now.

      Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's
    • #2232004

      I have Waterfox as my default browser in the Mac, the Win 7 PC and the Linux Mint installed on the PC in dual-boot.  I have FireFox 74 in the Mac, so far the latest version offered there, that I have installed quite recently (so far, without problems); I use FF very occasionally, because it is somewhat better than Waterfox for a few things I do occasionally. I also have Chrome, although I have had only a very limited need to use it, so far.

      I use the browsers to do searches for information, news, or find articles relevant to my work; visit sites such as Woody’s; shop online in well-known sites (Amazon, for example). Access my bank account, make some payments.

      Generally speaking, I have not experienced any significant problems with the browsers, used as just outlined. Telemetry may be a significant concern with Chrome, I gather reading comments in AskWoody; with WF and FF, probably not enough for me to worry about.

      Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

      MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
      Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
      macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

      • #2232024

        Did you read the article? Sounds like Mozilla is in direct competition with MS for all the info they can steal!

        • #2232046

          DriftyDonN: You mean if I have read some bleepincomputer article on FF 74? No, partly because, as I already explained, I hardly use FF, partly because I have a Mac and also Linux in the old Win 7 PC (along with Win 7, but I no longer use any of the browsers there, FF included.) And, if I have understood correctly, according to Ascaris, who usually knows what he is talking about, there is a problem, but only for users of FF in Windows. So, sorry to hear that Windows users that browse with FF may have a problem with the name of their default browser being sent to the Mozilla Mothership — if I have also understood this correctly — but it does not seem to be a problem for non-Windows Web FF users.

          I wrote my comment only to let people know that, same as others here, I have installed recently version 74.0.1 and have not noticed any problems, so far, in case someone with FF in a Mac or in a Linux PC is wondering whether there might be some nasty, but not malignant, bugs in FF version 74. So all I can say is: non-Windows people, such does not seem to be the case, so you might rest easy. Maybe.

          Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

          MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
          Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
          macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

    • #2232047

      The instructions on how to defeat this revealed no such tasks scheduled. The security settings I have been using did not change. Curious. Maybe the changes will appear later….

      Like you, I have Firefox 75 installed and searched in vain for both the C:Program FilesMozilla Firefoxdefault-browser-agent.exe and the Firefox Default Browser Agent scheduled task mentioned in the BleepingComputer article.

      I use Sordum‘s Firewall App Blocker (FAB) so it was just a matter of right-clicking on the pingsender.exe uploader to block it using FAB’s context menu entry:

      firefox75-telemetry-uploader

      This immediately created the outgoing rule in the Windows Firewall to block pingsender.exe:

      firefox75-telemetry-uploader-blocked

      However, just bear in mind that this could be nothing more ‘evil’ than Mozilla’s response to the news that Edge has overtaken it as the no. 2 favourite browser, i.e. checking whether MS are being sneaky by changing people’s preferred default browser for them.

      I’ve removed the Windows Firewall block on pingsender.exe now because I have no problem with Mozilla having info. I just wanted to show how easy it is to stop it if people are really worried about it.

      Hope this helps…

      2 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2232129

      For those that may not be happy with the FF 75 “new and improved” address bar, here is some help:

      From:   https://lifehacker.com/how-to-disable-firefox-75s-new-address-bar-1842728031

      browser.urlbar.openViewOnFocus
      browser.urlbar.update1
      browser.urlbar.update1.interventions
      browser.urlbar.update1.searchTips

      You’ll want to type about:config into Firefox’s address bar and then search for all four of these. Double-click them to change their values from “true” to “false,” and restart your browser. Now, when you click on the address bar, you won’t get a giant pop-down menu. You’ll still see some helpful suggestions when you start typing—that bit is unavoidable—but at least you won’t have to stare at your top sites or open tabs each and every time you click the address bar throughout the day.

      And if there are certain sites you frequent that you might not want others to know about, if they’re borrowing your computer for a second, turning off this feature feels almost mandatory.

      I have not installed FF 75 yet but there are some security fixes so I guess I’ll have to eventually.  Man, what a pain in the ….

      Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's
      • This reply was modified 5 years ago by Charlie. Reason: Added last sentence
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      • #2232164

        I gave up and went back to the ESR version (68.7) while I figure out where I go from here. I kept with the latest version just so I’d be very familiar with what many of my clients run but have had enough with the stupid changes for the sake of change. Not a big chromium fan but I may as well switch to Edge with the direction Firefox is going!

        • #2232350

          Not a big chromium fan but I may as well switch to Edge with the direction Firefox is going!

          I know what you mean.

          I still consider Mozilla the good guys in all of this… sometimes misguided, prone to making what I consider to be foolish decisions, remarkably tone-deaf at times, but still the good guys, imperfect as they may be.  I make my (frequent) criticisms of their actions with the forlorn hope that they will wise up, not to tear them down.  But man, they really do make it hard sometimes.  They have been copying Chrome’s every move for years, and their market share has been in freefall the whole time.  It’s not working! Trying to win over Chrome users by being more like Chrome is a demonstrable, objective failurePlease, for the love of [whatever you love], try something else!

          I never had any interest in seriously trying any other browser outside of the Netscape family, from Netscape Navigator 2.0 onward.  Not when IE 6 was king, not when Chrome displaced IE as the most popular browser, not when Firefox was at its slowest, most memory-leaking state.  Within the past year, though, I’ve been giving some serious consideration to Vivaldi and other Chromium derivatives, including Chromium itself.  I didn’t find Chromium to my liking, but Vivaldi is getting pretty good, and Firefox’s entire existence on my PC hangs by a thread called userChrome.css, and Mozilla loves to use its scissors.

          Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
          XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
          Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)

    • #2232139

      I currently have FF 74.0.1 which fixed some “critical” vulnerabilities.

      Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's
    • #2232172

      Now, when you click on the address bar, you won’t get a giant pop-down menu.

      Thank you! That was just SO annoying in the few minutes I used it before turning it off.

      I hope Mozilla notes how many users turn this nonsense off (and/or just gives us an on/off toggle instead of their horrible about:config schema).

      NOTE: This is such a useful tip that IMO it needs its own Firefox 75 thread. Who is going to search for it in a Firefox 71 thread? I mean… Firefox 71 was 4 full versions ago. Why are posts still being tacked on?

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      • #2232183

        Yes, I agree with you about having all the FF 75 posts under their own new topic.  Maybe the wizards here at AskWoody can do this?

        Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's
        • #2232242

          I posted re: ver 75 in response to #2191130 which mentions ver 75 in early beta but ver 75 none the less. So This time Im not off topic…someone else started it and went unnoticed. GRIN

      • #2232187

        From Rick Corbet

        IMO it needs its own Firefox 75 thread.

        Then start one. Charlie started a topic titled to reflect the original question. Several months later with other contributions the content no longer follows the topic. Easily fixed by anyone willing to start an appropriately named topic. You are correct, it will make finding pertinent information easier.

        1 user thanked author for this post.
        b
        • #2232233

          I was hoping it would be possible to transfer the FF 75 posts in this topic over to a new Firefox 75 topic.  I don’t know how to do that and it should probably be done by an MVP with access to the website.  If I need to do anything, like create the new topic, just let me know.

          Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's
          • #2232236

            Yes, I was noting Rick’s credential as compared to yours or mine. Perhaps you are also gently hinting on those lines.

            AskWoody makes it possible for even I, an anonymous guest, to start a topic at any time. (Though mine would have to pass moderation before publishing.) An MVP could do the same without asking, then leave a reference link here and there to acknowledge both. moving content may require the more restricted credential Da Boss.

    • #2232263

      Perhaps one of you can start your own new topic regarding Firefox 75.0

      On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
      offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
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      • This reply was modified 5 years ago by geekdom.
      • This reply was modified 5 years ago by geekdom.
      • #2232269

        As the one who posted re: ff 75 and article on bleepingcomputer, I dont see any real content for it anyway. No one seems particularly interested…well, 1 or 2 maybe….just let it fade away……..

        • #2232297

          I think you’re right. This topic has many posts about Firefox 75 already and this has probably drawn attention.  I was going to start a new topic for Firefox 75 but before doing that I did a search to see if there was anything already on here.  I was shown this topic so I just added mine to it.

          Edit:  A new topic has been created.

          Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's
          • This reply was modified 5 years ago by Charlie.
    • #2232304

      Man, what a pain in the ….

      Indeed.  Thank you!

      More Programmers, less Marketing, please, Mozilla.

      Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit, Dell Latitude E6330 ("The Tank"), Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", 12GB RAM, Group "0Patch", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations. Linux Mint Newbie
      --
      "The more kinks you put in the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the pipes." -Scotty

      2 users thanked author for this post.
    • #2232414

      Not a big chromium fan but I may as well switch to Edge

      Why ChrEdge and not Brave or better still unGoogled-Chromium

      https://github.com/Eloston/ungoogled-chromium

       

       

      • This reply was modified 5 years ago by Alex5723.
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