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Mozilla Firefox

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Mozilla Firefox (branded and simply known as Firefox) is a free and open source[15] web browser that is made by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It works on common operating systems, such as Windows, macOS, Linux and Android. With Firefox, browsing features can be added or removed and users can customize Firefox to fit their needs. This was done to make Firefox safe and simple to use.

Mozilla Firefox
Firefox logo and wordmark (horizontal), 2019.svg
Firefox 89 screenshot.png
Firefox on the English Wikipedia.
Developer(s)
Initial releaseSeptember 23, 2002; 21 years ago (2002-09-23)
Written inC++, JavaScript, HTML, C, Rust[1]
Operating system
Included withVarious Unix-like operating systems
Size
  • Android, ARM: 38.37 MB[5]
  • Android, ARM64: 38.26 MB[6]
  • Android, x86: 39.46 MB[7]
  • iOS: 101.9 MB[8]
  • Linux, IA-32 (32-bit): 53.6 MB[9]
  • Linux, x64 (64-bit): 51.6 MB[10]
  • macOS: 53 MB[11]
  • Windows, IA-32: 34.8 MB[12]
  • Windows, x64: 37.5 MB[13]
Available in90 languages
TypeWeb browser, feed reader
LicenseMPL 2.0[14]
Websitewww.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/
Standard(s)HTML5, CSS3, RSS, Atom

On most operating systems, Firefox uses the Gecko layout engine to load web pages, which uses up-to-date web standards.[16] However, Firefox for iOS, which was released in late 2015, does not use Gecko due to Apple's restrictions which only allow third-party web browsers to use the WebKit-based layout engine that is built into iOS.

Firefox was created in 2002, under the name "Phoenix" by the Mozilla community members who wanted a standalone browser rather than a bundle of different Mozilla applications. Even in its beta phase, Firefox proved to be popular with its testers and was praised for its speed, security, and add-ons compared to Microsoft's then-popular Internet Explorer 6. Firefox was released in November 2004[17] and was highly successful with 60 million downloads within nine months, marking the first time that Internet Explorer's popularity was being challenged.[18] Firefox is considered the spiritual successor of Netscape Navigator[19] since the Mozilla community was created by Netscape in 1998.

Firefox 3.0

 
Usage share of web browsers according to StatCounter.

Firefox 3.0, while it was being made, was given the name Gran Paradiso.[20] Like other Firefox development names, "Gran Paradiso" is an actual place; in this case, it is the second-highest mountain group in the Graian Alps.

In 2006, the development team asked people who used Firefox to submit ideas for features in Firefox 3.[21]

NetApplications says that the use of Firefox 3 had been going up quickly to a usage share of 23.75% in September 2009. They believe that this means that Firefox 3 is stable and that users are making it their main browser.[22]

Guinness World record

The date for the launch of Firefox 3 was June 17, 2008, named "Download Day 2008." Firefox was aiming to set the record for most Firefox downloads in 24 hours. As of June 18, 2008, more than 6.88 million people have downloaded Firefox 3.[23]

Many people tried going to the Mozilla website on June 17, making it unavailable for at least a few hours. The site was not updated for the download of Firefox 3 until 12:00 PDT.[24][25] "Download Day" ended at 11:16 AM PDT June 18.[26] Firefox 3 has been downloaded 28,340,281 different times.[27]

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,[28] and an integrated search system.

Add-ons

Extensions

Extensions let a user add new things to the browser or change how it does something. They are created by other users. Because extensions are able to access all parts of the computer that Firefox can, extensions that can harm a computer could be made. However, the extension can only change system settings if you have administrator privileges.

Themes

Firefox also has themes or skinning which change the way the browser looks to the user. Some themes that can make Firefox look like other browsers, such as Internet Explorer and Netscape.

Tabs

Tabbed browsing is a feature used in the browser where many webpages can be opened in one window, with labeled tabs on top to select the webpage. To make a new empty tab, type control-T.

Searching

There is a search box in Firefox that can be seen in the top right corner of the window. When someone using Mozilla Firefox types something in the search box and presses enter, the browser will search the Internet using a search engine like Google or Yahoo!. There are "search suggestions" in Firefox 2. When words are typed in the search box, suggested words will appear. For example, if "wiki" is typed, the browser will suggest "Wikipedia".

Spell checking

Firefox can use spell checking, if a word is typed badly into a text box, like the one where someone changes a Wikipedia page, the program will underline the word that is spelled wrong with a red line. If you scroll over that word and right click, Mozilla Firefox will list words which use the right spelling. For example: the wrong word "chekc" will have "check" as a suggestion.

Global usage

Firefox's international usage grew to 32% by the end of 2009.[29] After the release of Google Chrome, Firefox's popularity began to decline.[29] As of January 2016, Firefox has between 9% and 16% of worldwide usage as a desktop browser, making it the second most-popular web browser.[30][31][32][33][34] Firefox continues to be the most popular browser in Cuba, Eritrea, and Germany, with 85.93%,[35] 79.39%,[36][37] and 38.36%[38][39] of the market share, respectively. According to Mozilla, there were 170 million Firefox users around the world in December 2017.[40] With Internet Explorer declining, Firefox has reached second place in April 2018 as a desktop browser, behind Google Chrome.[41]

Awards

Mozilla Firefox has been given a number of awards by many organizations. These awards include:

  • CNET Editors' Choice, June 2008[42]
  • Webware 100 winner, April 2008[43]
  • Webware 100 winner, June 2007[44]
  • PC World 100 Best Products of 2007, May 2007[45]
  • PC Magazine Editors' Choice, October 2006[46]
  • CNET Editors' Choice, October 2006[47]
  • PC World's 100 Best Products of 2006, July 2006[48]
  • PC Magazine Technical Excellence Award, Software and Development Tools category, January 2006[49]
  • PC Magazine Best of the Year Award, December 27, 2005[50]
  • PC Pro Real World Award (Mozilla Foundation), December 8, 2005[51]
  • CNET Editors' Choice, November 2005[52]
  • UK Usability Professionals' Association Award Best Software Application 2005, November 2005[53]
  • Macworld Editor's Choice with a 4.5 Mice Rating, November 2005[54]
  • Softpedia User's Choice Award, September 2005[55]
  • TUX 2005 Readers' Choice Award, September 2005[56]
  • PC World Product of the Year, June 2005[57]
  • Forbes Best of the Web, May 2005[58]
  • PC Magazine Editor's Choice Award, May 2005[59]

Mozilla Firefox Media

  • Firefox120Windows11.png

    Firefox v120 on Windows 11 with the default dark theme.

  • The result of the Acid3 test on Firefox 17

  • Firefox 57 on macOS High Sierra

  • Opening Wikipedia main page with Mozilla Firefox 99 on Ubuntu 20.04

  • Logo used for Iceweasel

  • Firefox mascot at the FISL 16 (2015), Brazil

  • Logo of "Phoenix" and "Firebird" before being renamed as Firefox

References

  1. ↑ Yegulalp, Serdar (February 3, 2017). "Mozilla binds Firefox's fate to the Rust language". InfoWorld. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Firefox 115.0 System Requirements". mozilla.org. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  3. ↑ "FreeBSD ports". Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  4. ↑ "OpenBSD ports". Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Firefox 60.0 (arm) (Android 4.1+)". APKMirror. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Firefox 60.0 (arm64) (Android 5.0+)". APKMirror. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Firefox 60.0 (x86) (Android 4.1+)". APKMirror. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Firefox Web Browser in App Store". Apple Inc.
  9. ↑ "Latest Firefox Linux installer". Mozilla. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Latest Firefox Linux 64-bit installer". Mozilla. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Latest Firefox OS X installer". Mozilla. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Latest Firefox Windows installer". Mozilla. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Latest Firefox Windows 64-bit installer". Mozilla. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Mozilla". Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Debian and Mozilla – a study in trademarks". LWN.net. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  16. ↑ "Gecko Layout Engine". download-firefox.org. July 17, 2008. Archived from the original on November 28, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
  17. ↑ Firefox browser takes on Microsoft. BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3993959.stm. 
  18. ↑ Business – The assault on software giant Microsoft. BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4508897.stm. 
  19. ↑ Jay, Paul (August 6, 2010). Curtains for Netscape – Tech Bytes. CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/technology/technology-blog/2008/02/curtains-for-netscape.html. 
  20. ↑ Vukicevic, Vladimir (June 2, 2006). "Gecko 1.9/Firefox 3 ("Gran Paradiso") Planning Meeting, Wednesday Jun 7, 11:00 am". Google Groups: mozilla.dev.planning. Retrieved August 18, 2008.
  21. ↑ Reimer, Jeremy (October 13, 2006). "Firefox accepting feature suggestions for version 3". Arstechnica.com. Retrieved August 18, 2008.
  22. ↑ "Firefox 3.0 BETA Gaining Market Share". NetApplications. Retrieved April 20, 2008.
  23. ↑ "Live Firefox Download Counter". June 18, 2008. Archived from the original on June 21, 2008. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
  24. ↑ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/17/firefox_3_debuts/ Firefox 3 Download Day falls flat on face
  25. ↑ Shapiro, Melissa. "Firefox 3 coming soon!". The Mozilla Blog.
  26. ↑ Colvig, Mary. "Download Day is here!". The Mozilla Blog.
  27. ↑ Firefox 3 sets new Download World Record Archived 2008-06-29 at the Wayback Machine, I4U News
  28. ↑ "Location-Aware Browsing". Mozilla Foundation. Retrieved July 5, 2009. (section "What information is being sent, and to whom? (...)")
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 StatCounter. "StatCounter Global Stats - Browser, OS, Search Engine including Mobile Usage Share". gs.statcounter.com. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
  30. ↑ "Top 5 Desktop Browsers from Aug 2012 to Feb 2016". StatCounter Global Stats. StatCounter. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  31. ↑ "StatCounter Global Stats - Browser, OS, Search Engine including Mobile Usage Share". statcounter.com. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  32. ↑ "Web Browser Market Share Trends". W3Counter. Awio Web Services LLC. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  33. ↑ "Desktop Browser Market Share". Net Applications. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  34. ↑ "Web browsers (Global marketshare)". Clicky. Roxr Software Ltd. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  35. ↑ "StatCounter Global Stats - Browser, OS, Search Engine including Mobile Usage Share". statcounter.com. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  36. ↑ "StatCounter Global Stats - Browser, OS, Search Engine including Mobile Usage Share". statcounter.com. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  37. ↑ "StatCounter Global Stats - Browser, OS, Search Engine including Mobile Usage Share". statcounter.com. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  38. ↑ "Top 9 Browsers in Germany from Jan 2015 to Feb 2016". StatCounter Global Stats. StatCounter. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  39. ↑ "StatCounter Global Stats - Browser, OS, Search Engine including Mobile Usage Share". statcounter.com. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  40. ↑ "Firefox Quantum: 170 million installs so far, as more Chrome users jump ship". ZDNet. December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  41. ↑ "StatCounter Global Stats - Browser, OS, Search Engine including Mobile Usage Share". statcounter.com. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  42. ↑ "Firefox 3 Browser reviews - CNET Reviews". Retrieved August 18, 2008.
  43. ↑ "Webware 100 Award Winner Firefox". Retrieved April 25, 2008.[dead link]
  44. ↑ "Webware 100 Award Winner Firefox". Retrieved October 22, 2007.[dead link]
  45. ↑ "The 100 Best Products of 2007". Archived from the original on February 19, 2012. Retrieved October 22, 2007.
  46. ↑ "Firefox 2.0 Review". Archived from the original on August 9, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2008.
  47. ↑ "Firefox 2 CNET Editor's Review". Retrieved August 18, 2008.
  48. ↑ "The 100 Best Products of 2006". Archived from the original on July 3, 2008. Retrieved October 22, 2007.
  49. ↑ "Mozilla Firefox & Altiris SVS". Archived from the original on November 15, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2008.
  50. ↑ "Best of the Year, Software: Home, Firefox". Archived from the original on June 30, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2008.
  51. ↑ "PC Pro Awards 2005 - the winners". Retrieved August 18, 2008.
  52. ↑ "Firefox 1.5, CNET editors' review". Retrieved October 22, 2007.
  53. ↑ "First UK UPA Awards commend Firefox, Flickr, Google, Apple, John Lewis and BA". Archived from the original on January 25, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2008.
  54. ↑ "Web browser roundup". Archived from the original on May 30, 2012. Retrieved October 22, 2007.
  55. ↑ "Firefox Receives Softpedia User's Choice Award". Archived from the original on May 30, 2012. Retrieved August 18, 2008.
  56. ↑ "UX 2005 Readers' Choice Award Winners Announced". Archived from the original on May 23, 2012. Retrieved August 18, 2008.
  57. ↑ "The 100 Best Products of 2005". Archived from the original on May 30, 2012. Retrieved October 22, 2007.
  58. ↑ "Best of the Web, BOW Directory, Look It Up, Web Browsers, Firefox". Forbes. Archived from the original on May 30, 2012. Retrieved August 18, 2008.
  59. ↑ "Firefox 1.0.3". Archived from the original on June 25, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2008.

Further reading

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