Firefox is a free open source web (and file) browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation.[1] Versions are available for Android, Chrome OS, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows. Extensions or themes can be developed and integrated into the application according to the user's preferences.
Description[]
History[]
After Netscape was acquired by AOL, the Netscape Navigator browser was discontinued and the source code was released to the Mozilla Organization, which began development of Firefox under the codename Phoenix in 2002.[1] The first public beta, codenamed "Pescadero", was seeded on September 23, 2002.[2][3] Version 1.0 for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows 98 to XP was released on November 9, 2004.[4] PowerPC support was dropped during the beta development cycler of version 4.0 in 2010, leading to the forking of the TenFourFox browser for legacy Mac users.[5]
Plug-ins such as Flash Player were deemed a security issue and deprecated in 2017, then phased out by the end of 2020.[6][7]
System requirements[]
As of May 2022, the minimum requirements are:[8]
- iOS 13 or later
- iPadOS 13 or later
- macOS 10.12 (Sierra) or later
- (some older versions can be installed, but may not offer the same level of security)
Forks[]
- Arctic Fox, a fork of Firefox for Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
- TenFourFox, a fork of Firefox for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
- InterWeb, forks of Firefox for obsolete PowerPC or 32-bit Intel Macs.
- Classilla, a fork of Mozilla for Mac OS 9
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Firefox at the Free On-Line Dictionary Of Computing. 2005-01-26.
- ↑ Phoenix 0.1 (Pescadero) Release Notes and FAQ, Mozilla Foundation. 2002-09-23.
- ↑ Milestone: Phoenix 0.1 released, first version of Firefox, Mozilla Foundation. 2013-05-13.
- ↑ Firefox Release Notes, Mozilla Foundation. 2004-11-09.
- ↑ The end of TenFourFox and what I've learned from it by Cameron Kaiser, TenFourFox Development, Blogger. 2021-03-29.
- ↑ Google and Mozilla pull the plug on Adobe Flash: Tech giants disable the program on browsers following 'critical' security flaw by Victoria Woollaston, Daily Mail. 2015-07-14.
- ↑ Adobe Launches Animate CC, Previously Known As Flash Professional by Frederic Lardinois, TechCrunch. 2016-02-08.
- ↑ Firefox System Requirements: Firefox 101.0, Mozilla Foundation. 2022-05-31.
External links[]
- Firefox official website
- Firefox: Private, Safe Browser at the Apple App Store
- Firefox Focus: Privacy browser (with always-on ad blocking)
- Firefox at Wikipedia