goinggreek.info
The Agora => UK & World News => Going Geek info => Topic started by: Maik on Thursday, 09 November, 2017 @ 12:57:39
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Firefox 57 due for release on 14/11/17, reputedly faster and uses less memory. However, some extensions (add-ons) may no longer work:
Here's What You Need to Know About Mozilla's New Firefox Browser Coming Next Week
Currently, only about 6,000 of Firefox's estimated 20,000 add-ons have been ported to the new API, meaning some hardcore users will be left out in the cold without an alternative for their current add-ons.
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/software/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-mozillas-new-firefox-browser-coming-next-week/
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I've already disabled automatic updates in advance of this. If you do get FF and don't like it you should be able to hunt down a previous version and install that.
Tony
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The downside is you'll turn off Firefox security updates. Might be better to investigate a Firefox 'fork off' such as Pale Moon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Moon_(web_browser)). I don't use many add-ons so I'll give the next version of Firefox a try.
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The downside is you'll turn off Firefox security updates. Might be better to investigate a Firefox 'fork off' such as Pale Moon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Moon_(web_browser)). I don't use many add-ons so I'll give the next version of Firefox a try.
I use loads of add-ons. Slows it down something wicked! :blink:
Tony
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A lot more info on the many changes: Firefox 57 release overview (https://www.ghacks.net/2017/11/13/firefox-57-release-overview/)
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On ghacks.net: How to move Firefox legacy extensions to another browser (https://www.ghacks.net/2017/11/14/how-to-move-firefox-legacy-extensions-to-another-browser/)
Firefox 57 now available to download from: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/
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FF57 would be a disaster for me, particularly in terms of security. All my "legacy" add-ons are shaded yellow in the list in FF56. Includes Better Privacy and Norton Security. Also my my much used Send to Reader so web pages can go to my Kindle. And even Live Mailer which deals with mailto links in browser as I no longer have have a stand alone mail client on my PC since Windows abandoned Live Mail.
This will cause a lot of people a lot of trouble. Not upgrading until alternatives emerge.
Tony
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Hm, yes, Mozilla do seem to have a habit of upsetting their users, hence people have forked off to produce variations such as Pale Moon and Waterfox. Flash is on its way out so the need for BetterPrivacy may not be so great as it was. However, Flash keeps popping up on websites and I'm not sure if BP is being re-written to work with v57+. However, there's a few tools we can use instead of BP.
Might be worth having a look at the various tabs (and reading through the info underneath) on the Flash Player Help Page (http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager02.html). And/or, you can remove Flash cookies with CCleaner (https://www.piriform.com/docs/ccleaner/ccleaner-settings/cleaning-flash-cookies) or BleachBit (https://www.bleachbit.org/).
This page might be useful:
Find a Compatible Alternative to your Firefox Legacy Extension (https://mozilla.github.io/extension-finder/)
It suggests Clear Flash Cookies (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/clear-flash-cookies/) as a possible replacement for Better Privacy (spell it as two words if you want to check it out). Looks as though it's very new and only a few users so far, might be worth reading the (only) review (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/clear-flash-cookies/reviews/?src=api).
HTML5, which is making Flash redundant, uses DOM storage not Flash cookies. It's possible to block DOM storage but that can 'break' some websites from displaying properly:
1. Enter about:config in the address bar
2. Accept the risk to "Here be dragons!"
3. Enter dom.storage.enabled in the search bar
4. Double-click dom.storage.enabled to change the value from “True” to “False”
5. Close tab
Not sure if CCleaner clears out DOM storage but BleachBit can. You can chose the option to run BleachBit on start up, in effect pretty much the same as deleting on exit. Or you can just ignore it.
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The PaleMoon project have rolled out Basilisk browser for those who don't like Firefox 57. From what I can make out, it's based on a more recent version of Firefox than PaleMoon is. It still supports the old extensions. According to basilisk-browser.org (https://www.basilisk-browser.org/) it's a work in progress with no guarantees it will work properly.
There's more info on ghacks.net (https://www.ghacks.net/2017/11/17/pale-moon-team-releases-first-version-of-basilisk-browser/) and some interesting comments on the message board at phoronix.com (https://www.phoronix.com/forums/forum/phoronix/latest-phoronix-articles/989866-pale-moon-project-rolls-out-the-basilisk-browser-project)
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Thanks for all this research Maik!! Bit of a headache really.
:(
Tony
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Bit of a headache really.
Yep! Now three comments re Clear Flash Cookies (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/clear-flash-cookies/reviews/?src=api). I suspect it might work just fine, unless you have a need to whitelist some sites using Flash. CCleaner/BleachBit won't, I think, have that ability. Definitely wouldn't recommend disabling DOM storage via about:config.
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Someone please tell me I'm not the only one who hasn't got a clue what you lot are on about. Feel like I've landed on the planet Zog. :wacko:
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Ah, yes, OK! Probably a good thing but by way of explanation:
Browsers such as Firefox and Google Chrome offer extensions that users can add-on to the browser to make online life a bit easier/more secure/more fun, e.g. ad-blockers such as uBlock Origin (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/) and Adblock Plus (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/adblock-plus/) are very popular (if not terribly easy to figure out).
These add-ons can be made by anyone and offered online for anyone to download. This has been exploited and a number of malicious extensions masquerading as useful add-ons were/are available to the unsuspecting public.
Mozilla decided to improve Firefox security by changing the way these add-ons are constructed, starting with the latest version of Firefox. Hence old extensions no longer work. This has upset some Firefox users.
Quite a lot of the more popular extensions have been re-written to work with Firefox 57 and later, e.g. the two mentioned above. Some haven't, and won't be re-written, e.g. Self-Destructing Cookies (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/self-destructing-cookies/). Others, such as NoScript (https://noscript.net/), are still being converted.
Often there's a (reasonably good) alternative available but not always.
Some Firefox users who haven't appreciated Mozilla's efforts to keep up-to-date have switched to Firefox 'clones' such as PaleMoon which resemble a (very) old version of Firefox.
If it's still as clear as mud here's one example of an extension, Tabby Cat (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/tabby-cat-friend/). When you open a new tab there's a cute cartoon kitten on your screen, e.g:
(http://goinggreek.info/gallery/1_19_11_17_1_00_53.jpeg)
You can get a better idea at tabbycats.club (http://tabbycats.club)
I find New Tab Override (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/new-tab-override/) much more useful but Tabby Cat is rather cute.
PS: Always best to get add-ons from the official AMO store: https://addons.mozilla.org/
Oh, and Welcome to Planet Zog!
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Really appreciate your time Maik but I am beyond help. I'm still trying to programme my VHS recorder (seriously). I'm sure it has helped others though, so thanks.
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No problem! If you're using the latest version of Firefox without any major problem that's great. Can't say v57 has caused me any real inconvenience.
As for programming your VHS recorder (or my TV)...
(http://goinggreek.info/gallery/1_19_11_17_3_23_10.png)
not a Scooby :oki:
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Am googling Firefox.....
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Netscape Navigator rulez
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Getting a bit Biblical... for the benefit of our younger readers: Netscape Navigator begat Firefox, Firefox begat...
If you're not using Firefox, HiFi, I really wouldn't try to make sense of any of it. It baffles those of us who do use it ;)
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Us Zogites sometimes forget there are other worlds/browsers out there and when we get together on nice Planet GGi we tend to go on a bit! :iroll:
The add-ons for the Firefox browser help give it a lot of extra functions to do clever things other browsers mostly don't do. As Maik said some of them - and there are many hundreds if not thousands of them altogether - have dodgy security issues and Mozilla are acting very vigorously to disable them in the latest version of FF. This includes the good as well as the bad, not to mention the seriously risky. So we're all a bit choked off at loosing things we have found very helpful surfing the good old WWW.
If you don't have Firefox and are not driven by Schadenfreude you can safely avoid this and all similar threads! :kool:
Tony