Firefox 97 Review 2022

Mozilla released Firefox 97 on February 8, 2022. This is the second major browser update in 2022.

This is the ninth update for the new Proton user-interface which was first released in June 2021.

In this blog post, I cover some of the notable changes in this new browser update.

In the past couple of years, Mozilla has been releasing updates almost on a monthly basis for the Firefox web browser. However, not all of their updates include major changes and new features.

In this new Firefox 97 release, there is not much to report in terms of new features, but I will cover one notable change in this blog post.

First of all, as usual there were a few security fixes implemented. Secondly, one of the notable changes in Firefox 97 is the expiration of the Colorways theme colors feature.

This was a limited-time temporary feature that was implemented in version 94 of Firefox. Colorways can be accessed via the Add-on page and if you enabled one of the options, you will be able to keep it as long as it remains enabled.

If you’re on Windows 11, Firefox now supports and displays the new style of scrollbars. So that was pretty much it terms of updates in Firefox 97. You can check the list of detailed changes in the Release Notes.

In terms of the Browsermark Benchmark test results, the overall performance of Firefox remained steady compared to the earlier version. On the other hand, Google Chrome continues to outperform. Hope you found this brief review helpful and thanks for stopping by!

CREDITS: Browser Benchmark Tests Performed Using Browsermark from Basemark: http://web.basemark.com/ | Firefox information and logos used under Creative Commons License Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) | Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks, or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries | Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission | Images and graphics used are public domain via Pixabay unless otherwise mentioned | Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Firefox 88 Review 2021

Mozilla released Firefox 88 on April 19, 2021. This is the fourth major browser update in 2021. Mozilla continues to roll out new browser updates every month this year, as it did in the year 2020.

There was not much in terms of major updates in this new release, but I’ll cover a couple of notable changes in this Firefox Review.

The key changes that I'll cover in this new browser update include: protection against privacy leaks; a small change in Firefox Screenshots; and JavaScript support in PDF forms. So now let's dive right in...

First up, Mozilla has introduced a new protection against privacy leaks on the web. Trackers are no longer able to abuse the “window.name” property to track users across websites. In Firefox 88, Window.name data is limited to the website that created it, in order to protect against cross-site privacy leaks. I won’t get too technical about this but you can read more about it in this detailed blog post.

Next up, a little change in Firefox Screenshots. The Take Screenshot option is no longer listed under Page Actions. Firefox users can right-click on a page and then select Take Screenshot. Alternatively, if you go to the Customize Menu (in the top-right corner of the browser) and choose Customize Toolbar. Here you will see a Take Screenshot button which you can drag and drop to the Firefox toolbar.

And finally, Firefox 88 now supports JavaScript embedded in PDF files. This was included because some PDF forms use JavaScript for validation and other interactive features. So these were some of the notable changes in Firefox 88.

You can check the list of detailed changes in the Release Notes, you’ll find the links below. In terms of the Browsermark Benchmark test results, the overall performance of Firefox remained steady compared to the earlier version. On the other hand, Google Chrome has continued to outperform. Well, that's it for now, until next time, thanks for stopping by!

CREDITS: Browser Benchmark Tests Performed Using Browsermark from Basemark | Firefox information and logos used under Creative Commons License Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) | Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks, or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries | Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission | Images and graphics used are public domain via Pixabay unless otherwise mentioned | Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Firefox Browser Review 2013

Firefox 23 is the latest Rapid Release version of Mozilla’s internet browser which was released in August 2013. Mozilla has been releasing these web browser updates approximately once every six weeks. 

In 2013, they have released seven upgrades so far, and I’ve used every one of them. In most of these upgrades, we see several fixes to bugs, including security vulnerabilities. Some of the notable new Firefox browser features and changes implemented in 2013, are discussed below: 

Mixed Content Browsing is a security feature introduced in FF23 to protect users when using HTTPS pages. Some of these HTTPS sites include mixed content which are essentially unencrypted HTTP through which hackers can get access to sensitive information when visiting such sites. A warning signal will be displayed to users when such sites are visited and mixed content is blocked. 

Mozilla had introduced a sharing / social API feature in Firefox 17. This feature enabled to integrate social media platforms like Facebook directly in any website, on the right sidebar. This feature was enhanced and made available to all developers. Social sites like Facebook, msnNOW, Mixi, and Cliqz are currently available via this social API. 

Through WebRTC (Real-Time Communication) Firefox users can now effectively communicate via video, voice, and text without requiring to install add-ons to do so. Essentially, all the 3 components (getUserMedia, PeerConnection and DataChannels) of WebRTC have now been enabled by default. 

The Do Not Track (DNT) feature was implemented in May 2013. This DNT feature allows enables FF users to opt-out from being tracked from a behavourial ad tracking perspective. Users can choose from one of three options in terms of controlling how websites track their browser usage behaviour. 

We’ve seen some performance enhancements too. For example, enabling “asm.js optimization” module, via OdinMonkey has optimized JavaScript performance. In Firefox 21, we saw the introduction of the Firefox Health Report to help track and enhance browser performance. 

Some others new features that were implemented were Private Browsing per window through which users can browse privately on one window, while still browsing regularly through another window. Also, Firefox simplified how downloads are managed without having to open a new window. For a detailed look at changes that were implemented on each of these Rapid Release versions, visit Firefox Reviews 2013. You can check the YouTube video review of the latest Firefox 23 browser below:

Firefox is definitely one of my favourite browsers, but Google Chrome has come to the forefront in the past year or so and taken over from Internet Explorer and Firefox, in terms of Global Usage share. As you can see from the Top Internet Browsers chart below, courtesy StatCounter as at August 2013:

From the results of the latest Peacekeeper Browser Benchmark tests that I ran, you can see below that Google Chrome continues to outperform Firefox in terms of overall performance:

Image Credit: Firefox Logo Used Under Creative Commons CC Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Firefox 18 Review

Mozilla released Firefox 18, its latest Rapid Release internet browser version on January 8, 2013.

I’ve been using Firefox web browser for several years now and it’s been my favourite browser, but since I’ve been tried Google Chrome, I’ve definitely found a great alternative. In fact, Google Chrome which was behind Internet Explorer and Firefox, in terms of global usage, has now caught on with Internet Explorer and left Firefox behind.

With the new Rapid Releases being implemented approximately every 6 weeks, Firefox has been making improvements to their internet browser, but still lag behind. Let’s review some of the improvements implemented in Firefox in the last few Rapid Release versions starting with Firefox 18:

First off, there were over 2,900 bug fixes implemented in Firefox 18 including some security fixes. One of the major improvements in Firefox 18 was the faster performance in JavaScript via the new IonMonkey JavaScript engine. For Mac users, Firefox provides full support for OS X 10.7 (and up) high-resolution retina displays. Web Developers will see improvements in terms of support for new DOM property window.devicePixelRatio; improvement in startup time through smart handling of signed extension certificates; and support for W3C touch events implemented, taking the place of MozTouch events. As per the Peacekeeper browser benchmark test results, Firefox performed better than previous Firefox browser versions. However, Google Chrome continues to outperform Firefox, as you can see from the browser benchmark results below:

In Firefox 17, there were over 2,300 bug fixes implemented, though there were no noticeable new features implemented. Firefox 17 upgrade included Social API support which helps integrate social media sites in your browsing experience as well as support for Facebook Messenger in the Firefox sidebar. Another enhancement included were larger icons in the Firefox Awesome Bar which makes it easier to navigate through. The Peacekeeper browser benchmark test results showed no improvement over the previous version Firefox 16. As usual, Google Chrome outperformed Firefox as you can see from the results below:

In Firefox 16, there were over 1,900 bug fixes implemented including a couple of critical security fixes. Firefox 16 included Web Apps support for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems, and improvement in JavaScript responsiveness. Web Developers were treated to a new Developer Toolbar which includes buttons providing quick access to tools, error count for the Web Console, and a new command line for quick keyboard access. When I ran the Peacekeeper browser benchmark test, the results showed a slight drop in overall performance and Google Chrome continued to outperform:

Other significant improvements made in Firefox, in previous updates, were: optimization of memory usage for add-ons; silent background updates, which is similar to Google Chrome, if you have your browser set for automatic updates; new Pointer Lock API which helps better control the mouse; full screen support for Mac OS X Lion to enhance browsing experience; and new API which stops the screen from sleeping. Overall, Firefox still remains my browser of choice, though Google Chrome is soon becoming one of my favourites. For more detailed information on Firefox Rapid Release updates, visit Firefox Reviews.

Firefox 13 Review

Firefox 13, the latest Rapid Release version of Mozilla's browser was released on June 5, 2012. Having upgraded to this latest version and running the Peacekeeper Browser Benchmark test, it's a much better version than the earlier Firefox 12.

In fact, the last Firefox 12 version was one of their worst, as far as I'm concerned. It crashed frequently, especially during the first few days, though it got better later. I reported all the crashes to Firefox with strong critiques and details that they required to fix that issue.

Anyway, lest I digress, Firefox 13 comes with over 1,300 bug fixes, is much smoother, and faster overall. So what did Mozilla do to get Firefox 13 to run better than its previous version? Well, for starters they enabled smooth browsing by default.

The restored tabs that run in the background do not load by default, rather only the current open tab. Once you click on the other restored tabs, they start to load. This increases the start-up time and in the process less memory is used.

SPDY is also now enabled by default. SPDY is a networking protocol, similar to HTTP, which increases browser security and increases web page load time. This feature only affects those websites that use SPDY protocol like Google Search, Twitter, Gmail.

There are a couple of new features in Firefox 13. One of them is the New Tab and the other one is the redesigned Home Page. The New Tab now displays large icons of the most visited and most recent tabs. These icons can be customized by dragging them to different places on the page as well as pinning or deleting them. Web developers will see some improvements as well in Firefox 13.

The new redesigned Home Page now displays your default search engine as well as some menu options as icons like Downloads, Bookmarks, History, Add-ons, Sync, and Settings. If you haven't customized your Home Page, you can click "Home" icon. If not, you can type "about:home" in the browser URL bar to display the default Home Page.

Below are the results of the Peacekeeper Browser Benchmark test that I ran on Firefox 13 and Google Chrome 19. Overall, Firefox 13 did much better than Firefox 12 in all areas, however, Google Chrome still continues to outperform Firefox.

Below is an interesting Global Browser Usage chart which compares the top internet browsers year-over-year as at June 2012. As you can see, Firefox which was in second place has been overtaken by Google Chrome.

Source: StatCounter Global Stats - Browser Market Share

Firefox 12 Review

Mozilla released Firefox 12, its newest web browser upgrade on April 24, 2012. In keeping with their Rapid Release upgrades, since March 2011, this is the tenth Firefox rapid release version. We will continue to see new Firefox updates every six weeks or so.

During these rapid release updates, Firefox has changed tremendously. In some of the updates, we saw many new features, cosmetic changes, faster performance, and many new tools for Web Developers. Also, during these updates, thousands of bug fixes and security vulnerabilities have been implemented, making Firefox a better browser, in most cases.

Firefox got a cleaner and uncluttered look, tab groups, faster speed, and some cool features for Web Developers like HTML5, WebGL, and Web Console with Firefox 4. In subsequent updates, we saw the introduction of the "Do Not Track" feature which enabled users to opt out of tracking behavioural type advertising. In Firefox 5, there were improvements in CSS animation, improved canvas, memory and JavaScript.

In Firefox 7, Telemetry was introduced which allowed anonymous and accurate opt-in tool. This update also made significant improvements in the way Firefox managed memory, for a speedy browser experience. In Firefox 8 and 9, we continued seeing bug fixes, security and stability improvements, including the introduction of Type Interface (TI) to improve JavaScript performance.

In Firefox 10, some improvements were made in terms of minimizing the issues due to add-ons incompatibility, as well as the introduction of Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release). There were several enhancements for Web Developers like anti-aliasing for WebGL, support for CSS 3D Transforms, and full screen API support.

In Firefox 11, a feature for importing of bookmarks, history, and cookies from Google Chrome was introduced. As well as users were able to synch add-ons across all devices. We also saw the introduction of Page Inspector 3D View allowing developers to get a 3-dimentional view of web pages.

And finally, in Firefox 12, over 1,800 bug fixes were implemented. Though there were no new features, other than the simplification of one step in the upgrade process, there were several improvements for developers in areas like Page Inspector, Web Console, Scratchpad, Style Editor.

I've used all of the above mentioned Firefox Rapid Release versions. Overall, I've found positive improvements in terms of performance and speed. I ran browser benchmark tests on many of these Firefox upgrades and saw improvements. However, Firefox has been losing ground to Google Chrome which is better in terms of overall performance based on my experience and results from the browser benchmark tests. Also, since upgrading to this latest version, I've experienced several Firefox crashes which I've seldom experienced before. I've reported this to Mozilla, so hopefully they can resolve this issue.

You can check my detailed Firefox Reviews on each of the above Rapid Release updates. This last Firefox 12 update is not the best one that I've seen. Based on the Peacekeeper Benchmark test results (see below), it fell short when compared to the performance of Firefox 11 and lacks compared to the performance of Google Chrome.

Firefox 9 Review

Firefox has been a popular internet browser for several years and Mozilla has been striving to enhance the web browser these past few years. In early 2011, Mozilla started releasing Rapid Release updates of their browser starting with Firefox 3.6.

Since then we've seen several Firefox updates with the current stable release, Firefox 9.0.1. I've beta tested a few of the rapid release updates and am currently using the latest version of Firefox. Personally, Firefox has been my favourite internet browser, but the past couple of upgrades have not been their best.

Overall, I've enjoyed the enhancements, new features, security and safety upgrades, however, since upgrading to Firefox 8 and Firefox 9, my internet browser seems to have become sluggish running some websites. I've tested the same websites on other browsers like Internet Explorer and Google Chrome, and they seem to run fine.

Especially, my Hotmail got really sluggish with the upgrade to Firefox 8. The problem seemed to have gotten better with the Firefox 9 upgrade, but it's still not up to par. Running Firefox in Safe Mode seems to better the performance of the browser, but then I can't use any of the add-ons.

Check my Firefox 9.0 Review, for a more detailed look at what's new including platform improvements, bug fixes, and Firefox release notes. Also, I ran a PeaceKeeper browser benchmark test (see below) on Firefox and Google Chrome, the latter still outperforms overall. I find Google Chrome much speedier and less prone to hangups.

See which internet browser is leading in terms of World Wide Usage.

Firefox 7.0 Review

The new version Firefox 7.0 was released on September 27, 2011. This new version and release is part of Mozilla's rapid releases which started in March 2011.

Overall, there have been improvements and several thousand bug fixes since Mozilla started their rapid releases. This new version Firefox 7.0 boasts drastic improvements in terms of memory usage thereby providing speedier web browsing.

I've been using the new version Firefox 7.0 for a couple of weeks and have conducted some performance benchmark tests on Firefox 7.0 as well as Google Chrome.

Based on the tests, Firefox 7.0 performs better than its predecessor versions, however, it's still not comparable to Google Chrome's overall performance. The results of the peacekeeper tests are listed below. Please note that these benchmark performance test results will vary depending on various factors. 

Google Chrome Review

Google Chrome is Google’s open source internet browser which was launched 3 years ago. Since its launch, Google Chrome has risen rapidly in comparison to its rivals, Internet Explorer and Firefox. In terms of overall usage share of the 3 web browsers, IE remain at the top, followed by Firefox, with Chrome gradually inching its way up.

I’ve used Internet, Firefox and Google Chrome extensively and have to admit that Chrome is very impressive mainly because of its speed. I’ve pretty much dumped IE, though still use Firefox for most of my web browsing. However, I’m starting to use Chrome more and more.

Some of the key reasons I like Google Chrome are as follows:

Speed: given that I do a lot of work online including blogging and building Squidoo web pages, I need a browser that is fast. I found Firefox quite sluggish in the past little while so turned to Chrome and I haven’t been disappointed with its performance.

Simplicity: I like my browser to be clutter-free and Google Chrome’s simple interface provides just that. In fact, when browsing web pages, you won’t even notice that you’re running Chrome. If you’re an Internet Explorer user, it may take a little while to get used to not seeing the menu items at the top.

Add-ons and Extensions: when Google Chrome first launched, they didn’t support any add-ons and that’s where Firefox had a huge advantage. However, that has now changed with thousands of Chrome extensions, though it may still take some getting used to if you switch from Firefox.

Tabbed Browsing: in Chrome is designed to withstand crashes. That is, if one tab hangs up or slows down, it will not drag the whole browser down, that because each tab is run independently of the other. However, this feature takes up more memory so if you have a slower computer it may not work as effectively.

Other Features: like the Omnibox allows you to use the browser address bar as a search box. Chrome allows private browsing, ability to translate web pages to over 50 different languages, cool tools for web developers and much more.

To get more detailed information on Google Chrome and video instructions on how to download Google Chrome, feel free to check my Squidoo web page on Google Chrome: Pros and Cons.

Firefox 6.0 Release

Mozilla released its latest Firefox 6.0 version of their internet web browser on August 16, 2011. Since early 2011, Mozilla has been making rapid releases to keep with the competition mainly Internet Explorer and Google Chrome.

With the new Firefox 6.0, you won't find much in terms of cosmetic changes, though they have enhanced the start-up speed in Panorama (Tab Groups). There were over 1,400 bug fixes from the earlier version, as well as some security and stability issues resolved.

Web developers will find the new Firefox version a little more appealing with additions like a ScratchPad, latest version of WebSockets, a new Web Developer menu item, to name a few, as well as improved usability of the WebConsole.

You can check all the Firefox Release Notes for the detailed listing of changes.

Firefox 4 Internet Browser Release Candidate

Mozilla Firefox has been beta testing its version 4 for many months and finally after running 12 beta tests on it, they released Firefox 4 Release Candidate on March 9, 2011.

When compared to Firefox 3.6 and the first beta, they have made significant improvements with over 7,000 bug fixes, faster speed and better stability, crash protection, better “look & feel”, and some cool features for developers as well, like HTML5, WebGL, Web console.

I’ve had the chance to do some beta testing on Firefox 4 beta 12 and was happy with the improvements that they’ve made, especially in term of speed and overall stability. However, I still prefer Google Chrome for its speed. Also, I ran a Peacekeeper Browser Benchmark test to do a comparison and Google Chrome did better overall compared to Firefox 4.

Having said so, I still prefer Firefox over Google Chrome due to its overall versatility and have hope that will continue to improve. I’ve written an in-depth SQUIDOO LENS which covers all the above in more detail, and includes video overviews and the Peacekeeper Browser Benchmark results.

Google Chrome Review: User Perspective

Google Chrome seems to be climbing up fast to be one of the most popular internet browsers. It was introduced in late 2008 and since then has gone through a lot of beta testing.

One of the main reasons most users like Google Chrome is because of its speed. There have been a lot of tests that have been done to compare Chrome’s speed with rivals, Internet Explorer and Firefox. Personally, I’ve found the performance of Google Chrome very impressive in most cases.

Given that I do a considerable amount of blogging as well as create Squidoo web pages, I find Chrome, especially outperforming Internet Explorer and FireFox in terms of speed. I still use Internet Explorer and FireFox as my browsers depending on what I’m doing. I’ve written a separate article on the Benefits of Using Multiple Browsers and you can feel free to chime in.

Though, I use Chrome for some of my online work, FireFox still remains my favourite browser so far because of its overall functionality. However, that may soon change given that Google is consistently improving it, including the introduction of a decent gallery of extensions (or add-ons).

I’ve written an extensive Squidoo web page on the Pros and Cons of Google Chrome, so feel free to check it out and provide your feedback and thoughts on using Chrome as your browser.