Mozilla has officially announced the release of Firefox 146A new version of its web browser has been released, accompanied by updates for the extended support branches (140.6.0 and 115.31.0). The new version focuses on improving productivity with new visualization tools, optimizing graphics performance on Linux, and strengthening security against future threats with post-quantum cryptography.
In addition to the new visible features, Firefox 146 fixes 17 security vulnerabilities, of which twelve are related to memory management.
Main new features of Firefox 146
In this new version of Firefox 146, a dAmong its most striking features, Although experimental, it is the iIntroduction to "Split View" mode. And is that It is now possible to view two tabs side-by-side within the same window, facilitating document comparison or multitasking without the need to manage multiple operating system windows.
Since this feature is still being refined, it is disabled by defaultTo try it, you need to access about: config and enable the option browser.tabs.splitView.enabledOnce activated, right-clicking on a tab will display the option to split the view, allowing you to resize areas by dragging a central separator bar.
Another new feature in Firefox 146 is for Linux users, as it...Support for fractional scaling has been implemented in Wayland environmentsThis dramatically improves the sharpness and efficiency of rendering on high-density (HiDPI) displays. Furthermore, the Skia graphics library has been updated, optimizing 2D GPU rendering performance.
In addition to that, another major addition in this version is the new ability to automatically back up user dataNow, users (initially on Windows 10) can protect their passwords, bookmarks, and browsing data by enabling this feature in settings.
And that's because the browser It saves this information daily on the device, even allowing you to encrypt the backup file with a password. For added security. The great advantage of this is portability: by installing Firefox from scratch on any operating system, whether on a new computer or after formatting, you can restore your data and pick up exactly where you left off. Although the rollout has begun on Windows, Mozilla has confirmed that it will soon be available on other operating systems.
Quantum security and Firefox Labs
In the security section, WebRTC now implements the ability to encrypt traffic using the ML-KEM algorithm, a cryptography standard resistant to attacks by quantum computers, ensuring that today's communications are protected against tomorrow's computing power.
Another interesting new feature is that now All users have access to the "Firefox Labs" section in the settings, an area where features under development can be tested without needing to enable telemetry or enroll in specific testing programs.
Mozilla has also introduced support for the Local Network Access (LNA) specification. And that's because This function allows you to restrict browser access to local IP addresses (such as 192.168.xx) when browsing public sites, a crucial measure to prevent CSRF attacks targeting home routers or corporate printers.
For web developers, CSS tools continue to evolve:
- @scope rule: It allows you to limit styles to a specific section of the DOM without complex selectors.
- contrast-color() function: Automatically returns the color (white or black) that best contrasts with a given background.
- text-decoration-inset property: It offers precise control over where underlining or striking through begins and ends.
Finally, if you're interested in seeing the full list of technical changes, you can check the details in the official release notes. The link is this.
How to install or update to Firefox 146
If you already have Firefox installed, the update should arrive automatically through your distribution's package manager in the next few days. However, if you want Get version 146 immediately without waiting for the official repositoriesThe best option is to use the official binary provided by Mozilla.
To install it from the binary on any Linux distribution (Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, etc.), you can follow these steps in your terminal:
wget -O firefox.tar.bz2 "https://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-latest&os=linux64&lang=es-ES" sudo tar xjf firefox.tar.bz2 -C /opt/ sudo ln -sf /opt/firefox/firefox /usr/bin/firefox
If you prefer to use the packages Snap (common in Ubuntu), you can force the update with:
Sudo Snap Refresh Firefox
For users who prefer Flatpak And on Flathub, the update can be performed by running:
flatpak update org.mozilla.firefox
For Ubuntu, Linux Mint and other derivatives users from Ubuntu, too It is possible to update Firefox through the official PPATo do this, open a terminal and enter the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-security/ppa -y sudo apt-get update sudo apt install firefox
Finally, if you prefer to wait for it to arrive in your distribution's native repositories (DNF, Pacman), you just need to run your system's usual update command, although keep in mind that this can take anywhere from a few hours (on Arch) to several days (on Debian/Ubuntu).