Mozilla is working on an AI kill switch for the Firefox open-source web browser to let users completely disable all AI features.
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Mozilla's new CEO confirms Firefox will become an "AI browser", with opt-out features. The aim is to raise money. But what does this pivot means for users?
You're reading Mozilla’s New CEO Confirms Firefox Will Become an “AI Browser”, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.
Firefox 146 is out with fractional scaling on Wayland, local backups on Windows, and new tab weather widget rollout. A quiet but solid update for all platforms.
You're reading Firefox 146 Brings Full Fractional Scaling Support on Wayland, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.
After a month of beta development, Firefox 146.0 is available to download for Linux, Windows, and macOS users.
The new release of this web browser finally added native support for fractional scaling on Linux with Wayland session (e.g., Ubuntu 22.04+ and Fedora Workstation).
Mozilla Firefox merged Wayland fractional-scale-v1 support more than 2 years ago. The feature was however disabled by default due to bugs.
Now with Firefox 146.0, Wayland fractional scaling is natively supported and enabled by default, thus text, icons, and UI elements will render more effective on HiDPI displays with 125%, 150% etc scaling.
For user in the EU and some other countries, there is a New Tab Weather opt-in workflow available. And, user can choose whether to enable location detection or manually search for a location.
When type in search bar, Firefox 146.0 can now show you the direct results in the drop-down suggestions box. Though, this is a progressive roll-out feature that’s only available for small percentages of users.
image from mozilla.org
For Windows, the new version introduced a scheduled backup feature, that automatically backup the passwords, bookmarks, and browsing data daily, and save them on local device.
The backup can be encrypted with a password and used to restore a fresh install of Firefox on any operating system to the status where you left off. Though, this is also a progressive roll-out feature so far only works in Windows, and will be coming to other operating systems soon.
Also for Windows, the Direct2D hardware accelerated 2D graphics rendering support has been removed! For those who still require this feature, it’s recommended to switch to Firefox ESR 140.0 or higher.
And for macOS, Firefox now has a dedicated GPU process by default. It includes WebGPU, WebGL, and Firefox’s own WebRender. With it, fatal errors in graphics code will no longer crash the browser, instead transparently restart the GPU process.
Other changes in Firefox 146.0 include:
Logincontrast-color() CSS function.-webkit-fill-available keyword for CSS width and height properties.<input type=\"time\"> and <input type=\"datetime-local\">.This post is written according to the Github release-note, while the official announcement and download link will be available soon via the link below:
If you can’t wait, then go to this page to get Firefox 146.0.
Firefox 146 open-source web browser is now available for download with various new features and improvements. Here's what's new!
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Want Firefox to dynamically match website colours? This free add-on changes toolbars based on page colours for Vivaldi-style theming. Works on all platforms.
You're reading This Add-On Brings Adaptive UI Colour to Firefox, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.
Firefox introduced AI chatbot, AI powered link preview, and search images with Google Lens etc AI powered features in the past releases.
According to the Firefox Privacy Notice, it does NOT have access to the AI conversations or what user input, but do collect technical and interaction data, such as how often a chatbot provider or suggested prompts are used, and the length of selected text.
AI chatbot in Firefox sidebar
If you don’t like the AI chatbot feature, you can hide them from side-bar settings page, or remove the shortcut from the context menu of a text selection.
Hide AI chatbot
While, in this tutorial I’m going to show you how to disable them so that they will disappear along with the settings option, link preview, and image search with Google Lens.
No AI chatbot, no configure options, and no Google Lens image search
NOTE: This tutorial is tested in Ubuntu 24.04 with Firefox 145. As time go on, Firefox will release new versions and may add, remove, or change the AI related preference keys.
For current profile only, type about:config in address bar and hit Enter, then click the blue “Accept the Risk and Continue” button to access the advanced configuration page.
Next, search following preference names and set them to “false” one by one:
browser.ml.enablebrowser.ml.chat.enabledbrowser.ml.chat.menubrowser.ml.chat.pagebrowser.ml.chat.page.footerBadgebrowser.ml.chat.page.menuBadgebrowser.ml.linkPreview.enabledbrowser.ml.pageAssist.enabledbrowser.tabs.groups.smart.enabledbrowser.tabs.groups.smart.userEnabledextensions.ml.enabledbrowser.search.visualSearch.featureGateAnd, it should apply the changes immediately after you set them all to false.
If you have multiple user profiles for Firefox, and you want to disable AI for them all, then it’s better to add user.js config file instead of configuring the preference keys one by one.
First, type about:profiles in address bar and hit Enter to access the profile management page.
Then, click “Open Directory” button to open the Root Directory of the target user profile.
In the opened folder, create user.js file if it does not exist. Finally, edit the file and write following content into it.
user_pref("browser.ml.enable", false);
user_pref("browser.ml.chat.enabled", false);
user_pref("browser.ml.chat.menu", false);
user_pref("browser.ml.chat.page", false);
user_pref("browser.ml.chat.page.footerBadge", false);
user_pref("browser.ml.chat.page.menuBadge", false);
user_pref("browser.ml.linkPreview.enabled", false);
user_pref("browser.ml.pageAssist.enabled", false);
user_pref("browser.tabs.groups.smart.enabled", false);
user_pref("browser.tabs.groups.smart.userEnabled", false);
user_pref("extensions.ml.enabled", false);
user_pref("browser.search.visualSearch.featureGate", false);
After that, you may click “Launch profile in new browser” button to open Firefox window with that profile and see if it works. And, copy the user.js file to root directories for other profiles if need.
Firefox 146 open-source web browser is now available for public beta testing with various new features and improvements. Here’s what to expect!
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AI browsing mode is coming to the Firefox web browser, Mozilla announce. Interested users can join a waiting list to get invite-only early access. Details inside.
You're reading Firefox is Getting a New AI Browsing Mode, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.
Mozilla Firefox 145 released with new shaped tabs, password manager sidebar, the ability to add and edit comments in PDF files, and other new features.
You're reading Firefox 145 Brings Rounder Tabs, New PDF Edit Tools + More, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.
After 9 Beta releases, Mozilla Firefox 145.0 is finally available to download.
The new browser version introduced new phase of privacy protections. For Private Browsing or when using Enhanced Tracking Protection set to Strict, the amount of Firefox users track-able by fingerprinters is reduced by half. See this page for more details.
In addition, Enhanced Bounce Tracking Protection stateless mode is now enabled by default in ETP Strict, blocking more advanced tracking techniques based on redirection.
Firefox 145.0 improved PDF editing by adding comment support. By selecting the desired text or area in your PDF content, it will show a small pop-up menu with option to add, remove, or edit comment. And, a comment/message icon is added to tool-bar with ability to view all the comments.
The release also improved tab group support. For the collapsed tab groups, simply hover over a tab group name will show a preview of the tabs inside without opening it.
The built-in password manager now can be accessed from the sidebar. Simply open settings from the side-bar, then enable “Passwords” option under Firefox tools, you can finally access and manage your saved passwords without opening a new tab or window.
Access and manage passwords from sidebar
For most Windows users, a small desktop launcher program is introduced to replace the existing desktop shortcut. If Firefox is installed, the desktop launcher will launch it. If not, it will prompt the user to install Firefox.
In General settings page, a new “Open links from apps next to your active tab” option is added. With it enabled, links from other applications will open next to your active tab in Firefox instead of at the end of the tab strip.
Other changes include:
Atomics.waitAsync proposal.Integrity-Policy header for enforcing sub-resource integrity for scripts.text-autospace property support.The official release note for Firefox 145.0 as well as the download link will be available soon in the link below:
At the moment, you may go to this ftp.mozilla.org page to download it.
Firefox 145 open-source web browser is now available for download as the first release to drop 32-bit support on Linux systems. Here’s what else is new!
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Firefox has a new mascot called Kit. Mozilla say the vibrant vulpine character embodies its vision for privacy and openness on the modern web.
You're reading Mozilla Unveils Kit, a (Cute) New Mascot for Firefox, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.
Firefox 145 open-source web browser is now available for public beta testing as the first release to drop 32-bit support on Linux systems. Here's what else is new!
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Firefox 144.0, the October release of Mozilla’s web browser, is available to download today!
The new browser release continues improving the tab group feature support. It now supports dragging a tab into a collapsed tab group without automatically expanding it.
The profile management is now available to all users globally. You can now name profiles and customize them with avatars and color themes, then quickly switch between them while keeping bookmarks, tabs, and browsing history completely separate.
The picture-in-picture (aka pop-out video) now supports Shift + Click on the close button or use Shift + Esc shortcut key to exit (meaning merge back browser window) while keeping playback uninterrupted.
video playback in Picture-in-picture mode
Firefox 144.0 now includes Perplexity AI search for desktop users, allowing to get AI-powered conversational answers directly from the address bar via the unified search button.
The AI search engine seems to be disabled by default, at least in my case, as I can’t find the option and the about:config page shows the “browser.urlbar.perplexity.hasBeeninSearchMode” key set to false.
Besides that, it added new “Search Image with Google Lens” option when you right-clicking on any image in browser. Which, allows to quickly find similar products, places, or objects, copy, translate, or search text from images. Though, you need to set Google as default search engine for being able to use the feature.
image from mozilla.org
For security reason, the passwords stored in Firefox are now encrypted on disk using AES-256-CBC algorithm, while logins synced through Firefox Sync already use AES-256-GCM. The new encryption algorithm is much faster and secure than the older 3DES-CBC, which is deprecated.
Other changes in Firefox 144.0 include:
They are as well many changes for web developers:
math-shift compact.command and commandfor attributes.lock() and unlock() methods of ScreenOrientation interface on Windows tablets and Android devices.resizeMode getUserMedia constraint, allowing to crop and downscale video captured from a camera.CSS2Properties to CSSStyleProperties.var() function in style rules.The official release note as well as the download link will be soon available in Firefox website via the link below:
While the source code, and installers for Linux, Windows, and macOS are available to download at this page.
Mozilla has released Firefox 145.0 beta, marking a significant transition for Linux users as the browser officially discontinues 32-bit (x86) Linux support. The move aligns Firefox with the modern hardware ecosystem and other browsers that have already phased out legacy architectures. The Firefox 145 beta release introduces several new features and developer-focused improvements while formally […]
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Mozilla Firefox 144 released with Google Lens image search and Perplexity AI integration, tab group and translation improvements, and other new features.
You're reading Firefox 144 Adds Google Lens Support, Profile Manager + More, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.