Mozilla Firefox
Template:About Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox web browser
Mozilla Firefox (known simply as Firefox) is a free and open-source<ref name="lwn_trademark">Template:Cite web</ref> web browser developed for Windows, OS X, and Linux, with a mobile version for Android, by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. Firefox uses the Gecko layout engine to render web pages, which implements current and anticipated web standards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:As of, Firefox has between 12% and 22% of worldwide usage, making it, per different sources, the third most popular web browser.<ref name="w3counter1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="gs.statcounter.com">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="getclicky1">Template:Cite web</ref> According to Mozilla, Firefox counts over 450 million users around the world.<ref name="At a Glance">Template:Cite web</ref> The browser has had particular success in Indonesia, Iran, Germany, and Poland, where it is the most popular browser with 55%,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 46%,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 43%,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and 41%<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> of the market share, respectively.
History
The Firefox project began as an experimental branch of the Mozilla project by Dave Hyatt, Joe Hewitt and Blake Ross. They believed the commercial requirements of Netscape's sponsorship and developer-driven feature creep compromised the utility of the Mozilla browser.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> To combat what they saw as the Mozilla Suite's software bloat, they created a stand-alone browser, with which they intended to replace the Mozilla Suite.<ref name="secrets">Template:Cite book</ref> On April 3, 2003, the Mozilla Organization announced that they planned to change their focus from the Mozilla Suite to Firefox and Thunderbird.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Firefox project has undergone several name changes. Originally titled Phoenix, it was renamed due to trademark issues with Phoenix Technologies. The replacement name, Firebird, provoked an intense response from the Firebird database software project.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>*****o</ref> In response, the Mozilla Foundation stated that the browser would always bear the name Mozilla Firebird to avoid confusion. After further pressure, on February 9, 2004, Mozilla Firebird became Mozilla Firefox.<ref>*****o</ref> Mozilla prefers the Firefox abbreviation Fx or fx, though it is often abbreviated as FF.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Firefox project went through many versions before version 1.0 was released on November 9, 2004.
Features
Features include tabbed browsing, spell checking, incremental find, live bookmarking, Smart Bookmarks, a download manager, private browsing, location-aware browsing (also known as "geolocation") based on a Google service<ref name="mozgeo">Template:Cite web (section "What information is being sent, and to whom? (...)")</ref> and an integrated search system that uses Google by default in most localizations. Functions can be added through extensions, created by third-party developers,<ref name="mozilla1">Template:Cite web</ref> of which there is a wide selection, a feature that has attracted many of Firefox's users.
Additionally, Firefox provides an environment for web developers in which they can use built-in tools, such as the Error Console or the DOM Inspector, or extensions, such as Firebug.
Standards
Firefox implements many web standards, including HTML4 (partial HTML5), XML, XHTML, MathML, SVG 1.1 (partial),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> CSS (with extensions),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> ECMAScript (JavaScript), DOM, XSLT, XPath, and APNG (Animated PNG) images with alpha transparency.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Firefox also implements standards proposals created by the WHATWG such as client-side storage,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and canvas element.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Firefox has passed the Acid2 standards-compliance test since version 3.0.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Mozilla had originally stated that they did not intend for Firefox to pass the Acid3 test fully because they believed that the SVG fonts part of the test had become outdated and irrelevant, due to WOFF being agreed upon as a standard by all major browser makers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Because the SVG font tests were removed from the Acid3 test in September 2011, Firefox 4 and greater scored 100/100.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=acid3updated>Bombus<ref name="xeps-dnock">Template:Citation</ref></ref>
Firefox also implements<ref name="mozcomphishff3">Template:Cite web</ref> a proprietary protocol<ref name="googsb2prot">Template:Cite web</ref> from Google called "Safe Browsing", used to exchange data related with phishing and malware protection.
Security
Firefox uses a sandbox security model,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and limits scripts from accessing data from other web sites based on the same-origin policy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It uses SSL/TLS to protect communications with web servers using strong cryptography when using the HTTPS protocol.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It also provides support for web applications to use smartcards for authentication purposes.<ref>Developer documentation on using PKCS#11 modules (primarily smart cards) for cryptographic purposes</ref>
The Mozilla Foundation offers a "bug bounty" (up to 3000 USD cash reward and a Mozilla T-shirt) to researchers who discover severe security holes in Firefox.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Official guidelines for handling security vulnerabilities discourage early disclosure of vulnerabilities so as not to give potential attackers an advantage in creating exploits.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Because Firefox generally has fewer publicly known unpatched security vulnerabilities than Internet Explorer (see Comparison of web browsers), improved security is often cited as a reason to switch from Internet Explorer to Firefox.<ref name="WSJHowTo">*****o</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>*****oTemplate:Dead link</ref><ref>*****o</ref> The Washington Post reported that exploit code for known critical unpatched security vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer was available for 284 days in 2006. In comparison, exploit code for known, critical security vulnerabilities in Firefox was available for nine days before Mozilla issued a patch to remedy the problem.<ref>*****o</ref>
A 2006 Symantec study showed that, although Firefox had surpassed other browsers in the number of vendor-confirmed vulnerabilities that year through September, these vulnerabilities were patched far more quickly than those found in other browsersTemplate:Snd Firefox's vulnerabilities were fixed on average one day after the exploit code was made available, as compared to nine days for Internet Explorer.<ref>*****o</ref> Symantec later clarified their statement, saying that Firefox still had fewer security vulnerabilities than Internet Explorer, as counted by security researchers.<ref>*****o</ref>
In 2010 a study of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) based on data compiled from the National Vulnerability Database (NVD), Firefox was listed as the fifth most vulnerable desktop software, with Internet Explorer as the eighth, and Google Chrome as the first.<ref>*****o</ref>
InfoWorld has cited security experts saying that, as Firefox becomes more popular, more vulnerabilities will be found,<ref>*****o</ref> a claim that Mitchell Baker, president of the Mozilla Foundation, has denied. "There is this idea that market share alone will make you have more vulnerabilities. It is not relational at all," she said.<ref name="popularity-insecure">Template:Cite web</ref>
In October 2009, Microsoft's security engineers acknowledged that Firefox was vulnerable to a security issue found in the 'Windows Presentation Foundation' browser plug-in since February of that year. A .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Windows Update had silently installed the vulnerable plug-in into Firefox.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This vulnerability has since been patched by Microsoft.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
As of February 11, 2011, Firefox 3.6 had no known unpatched security vulnerabilities according to Secunia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Internet Explorer 8 had five unpatched security vulnerabilities, the worst being rated "Less Critical" by Secunia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Mozilla claims that all patched vulnerabilities of Mozilla products are publicly listed.<ref>Known Vulnerabilities in Mozilla Products Mozilla</ref>
On January 28, 2013, Mozilla was recognized as the most trusted internet company for privacy in 2012.<ref>https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2013/01/28/privacy-day-2013/ Mozilla Recognized as Most Trusted Internet Company for Privacy</ref> This study was performed by the Ponemon Institute and was a result of a survey from more than 100,000 consumers in the United States.
In February 2013, plans were announced for Firefox 22 to disable third-party cookies by default. However, the introduction of the feature was then delayed so Mozilla developers could "collect and analyze data on the effect of blocking some third-party cookies." Mozilla also collaborated with Stanford University's "Cookie Clearinghouse" project to develop a blacklist and whitelist of sites that will be used in the filter.<ref name="pcmag-tpcookies">*****o</ref><ref name="cw-cookieblocking">*****o</ref>
Version 23, released in August 2013, followed the lead of its competitors by blocking iframe, stylesheet, and script resources served from non-HTTPS servers embedded on HTTPS pages by default. Additionally, JavaScript could also no longer be disabled through Firefox's preferences, and JavaScript was automatically re-enabled for users who upgraded to 23 or higher with it disabled. The change was made due to its use across the majority of websites, the potential repercussions on non-experienced users who are unaware of its impact, along with the availability of extensions such as NoScript, which can disable JavaScript in a more controlled fashion. The following release added the ability to disable JavaScript through the developer tools for testing purposes.<ref name="ff23-relnotes">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>*****o</ref><ref>*****o</ref>
Telemetry
In Firefox versions prior to 7.0, an information bar appears on the browser's first start asking users whether they would like to send performance statistics, or "telemetry", to Mozilla. It is enabled by default in development versions of Firefox, but not in release versions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to Mozilla's privacy policy,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> these statistics are stored only in aggregate format, and the only personally identifiable information transmitted is the user's IP address.
Localizations
Firefox is a widely localized web browser. The first official release in November 2004 was available in 24 different languages and for 28 locales, including British English/American English, European Spanish/Argentine Spanish and Chinese in Traditional Chinese characters/Simplified Chinese characters.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The currently supported 33.0.3 and 31.2.0esr versions are available in 89 locales (79 languages).<ref name=languages>Template:Cite web</ref>
Platform availability
Firefox for desktop is available and supported for Windows, OS X, FreeBSD, and Linux, while Firefox for mobile is available for Android. In September 2013, the Windows 8 Touch interface, optimized for touchscreen use, was introduced on the "Aurora" release channel; however, the project has since been cancelled as of March 2014, citing a lack of user adoption of the beta versions.<ref name=fx-metrocancelled>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="mozandroid-devices">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=engadget-firefoxmetro>*****o</ref>
- Firefox 31 on Arch Linux.png
Firefox 31 running on Arch Linux
- Firefox 30.0 on OS X Mavericks.png
Firefox 30 on OS X Mavericks
- Firefox Aurora 26 Windows 8 Metro.png
Firefox Aurora 26 Windows 8 Touch version on Windows 8
- Firefox 31 on Android.png
Firefox for mobile 31 on Android
Firefox has also been ported to SkyOS, and an unofficial rebranded version called Timberwolf has been available for AmigaOS 4.
Release history
Mozilla provides development builds of Firefox in distribution channels named, in order of most to least stable, "Beta", "Aurora", and "Nightly". Template:As of, Firefox 34 beta is in the "Beta" channel, Firefox 35 alpha is in the "Aurora" channel, and Firefox 36 pre-alpha is in the "Nightly" channel.<ref name = "platform support" />
Firefox for mobile
Firefox for mobile, codenamed Fennec, is a web browser for smaller non-PC devices, mobile phones and PDAs. It was first released for the Nokia Maemo operating system, specifically the Nokia N900, on January 28, 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Version 4 for Android and Maemo was released on March 29, 2011.<ref name="ff4">Template:Cite web</ref> The browser's version number was bumped from version 2 to version 4 to synchronize with all future desktop releases of Firefox since the rendering engines used in both browsers are the same.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Version 7 was the last release for Maemo on the N900.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The user interface is completely redesigned and optimized for small screens, the controls are hidden away so that only the web content is shown on screen, and it uses touchscreen interaction methods. It includes the Awesomebar, tabbed browsing, Add-on support, password manager, location-aware browsing, and the ability to synchronize with the user's computer Firefox browser using Firefox Sync.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Extended Support Release
Firefox Extended Support Release, abbreviated to Template:Dabbr, is a version of Firefox for organizations and other groups that need extended support for mass deployments. Each ESR release, based on the regular version released at the same time, is supported for approximately one year.<ref name="mozilla-esr-faq">Template:Cite web</ref> Unlike the regular ("rapid") releases, ESRs are not updated with new features and performance enhancements every six weeks, but rather are updated with only high-risk-reduction or high-impact security fixes or major stability fixes with point releases, until the end of the ESR cycle.<ref>*****o</ref> Template:As of, 31.x is the supported version of ESR, with 38.x scheduled to be released with Firefox rapid release 38 in May 2015;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> support for ESR versions 10.x, 17.x and 24.x has been discontinued.
System requirements
Firefox source code may be compiled for various operating systems; however, officially distributed binaries are provided for the following:
Windows | Linux desktop | OS X | Android<ref name = "mobile_req"/> | |
---|---|---|---|---|
*****U | Pentium 4 or newer with SSE2 | Any Intel *****U | ARMv7 *****U (ARMv6 was also supported<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>) | |
Memory (RAM) | 512 MB | 384 MB | ||
Hard disk drive free space | 200 MB | 24 MB | ||
Operating system version | XP SP2 (desktop) Server 2003 SP1 (server) or newer |
|
OS X 10.6 or newer | 2.3 or newer<ref name="mobile_req">Template:Cite web</ref> |
OS support history
Operating system | Latest stable version | Support status | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Microsoft Windows | XP SP2, Server 2003 SP1 and later | Template:Yes<ref name="sysreq"/> | 2004–present | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2000, XP (RTM, SP1) and Server 2003 RTM |
|
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