The new version of Firefox 93 has already been released along with an update for versions with a long support period: 78.15.0 and 91.2.0.
Of the main innovations that stand out in this new version of the browser we can find the compatibility enabled by default for the AVIF image format (AV1 image format), which uses intra-frame compression technologies from the AV1 video coding format.
It supports color spaces with a limited and full color gamut, as well as transform operations (rotate and mirror).
Another of the changes that stands out in this new version is that has been moved to the mandatory WebRender engine category, which is written in the Rust language and allows to achieve a significant increase in the rendering speed and reduce the load on the CPU due to the transfer of the rendering operations of the page content to the side of the GPU, which are implemented through of shaders running on the GPU.
It is also highlighted that in this new version added a layer that solves problems with the clipboard in environments based on the Wayland protocol. It also includes changes to eliminate flickering when moving the window to the edge of the screen when using Wayland in multi-monitor setups.
Integrated PDF viewer implements the ability to open documents with forms Interactive XFAs, which are generally used in electronic forms from various banks and government agencies.
Also protection against downloading of files sent over HTTP without encryption was enabled, but started from pages opened via HTTPS. Such downloads are not protected against identity theft as a result of control over traffic traffic, but since they are made when changing pages opened by the user via HTTPS, a false impression of their security may arise. If an attempt is made to load such data, the user will be shown a warning allowing them to release the lock if they wish.
Additionally, file downloads from isolated iframes that do not explicitly specify the allow-downloads attribute are now prohibited and will be silently blocked.
Another important change is the iImproved implementation of the SmartBlock mechanism, designed to solve problems on sites that arise from blocking external scripts in private browsing mode or by activating the enhanced blocking of unwanted content (strict).
SmartBlock automatically replaces the scripts used for tracking with stubs to ensure proper site loading. Stubs have been prepared for some of the popular user tracking scripts featured in Disconnect. The new version includes adaptive blocking of Google Analytics scripts, Google ad network scripts, and Optimizely, Criteo and Amazon TAM service widgets.
In private browsing and strict blocking of unwanted content (strict) modes, additional protection of the HTTP "Referer" header is enabled.
For Windows, support for automatic memory tab download was implemented, if the level of free memory in the system reaches a critically low value. First, the most memory-consuming tabs that the user has not accessed for a long time are downloaded. When you switch to a downloaded tab, its content is automatically reloaded.
On Linux, it is promised to add the specified functionality in one of the next versions.
Of the other changes that stand out of this new version:
- The download panel style has been adjusted to the general visual style of Firefox.
- In compact mode, indents between main menu items, add-on menu, bookmarks, and browsing history have been reduced.
- SHA-256 has been added to the number of algorithms that can be used to organize authentication (HTTP authentication) (previously only MD5 was supported).
- Disabled by the default TLS ciphers that use the 3DES algorithm. For example, the TLS_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA cipher suite is susceptible to the Sweet32 attack.
- The return of 3DES support is possible with explicit permission in the TLS older version settings.
- On the macOS platform, the problem of losing sessions when Firefox starts from a mounted ".dmg" file has been resolved.
How to install the new version of Firefox 93 on Linux?
Ubuntu users, Linux Mint or some other derivative of Ubuntu, They can install or update to this new version with the help of the browser's PPA.
This can be added to the system by opening a terminal and executing the following command in it:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-security/ppa -y
sudo apt-get update
Done this now they just have to install with:
sudo apt install firefox
For Arch Linux users and derivatives, just run in a terminal:
sudo pacman -S firefox
Now for those who are Fedora users or any other distribution derived from it:
sudo dnf install firefox
Finally if they are openSUSE usersThey can rely on community repositories, from which they can add Mozilla's to their system.
This can be done with a terminal and in it by typing:
su -
zypper ar -f http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/mozilla/openSUSE_Leap_15.1/ mozilla
zypper ref
zypper dup --from mozilla
For all other Linux distributions can download the binary packages from the following link.