Mozilla Firefox. Mozilla Firefox browser is a fast, full-featured Web browser. Firefox includes pop-up blocking, tab-browsing, integrated Google search, simplified privacy controls, and much more. Last update 17 Aug. 2021 old versions Licence Free OS Support Windows Downloads Total: 15,426,297. Download firefox 4 mac for free. Internet & Network downloads - Firefox 4 by Mozilla and many more programs are available for instant and free download. Whereas Firefox Developer installs as a completely separate application alongside your existing Firefox installation, Firebox Beta will replace the stable build. Should you subsequently wish to go back to the safer version, you’ll need to manually download the stable version and install it over the top of the beta build.
Getting Firefox installed on your computer is your first step to using it. This article will show you how to install Firefox on Linux.
For other operating systems see:
Many Linux distributions include Firefox by default while most have a package management system - a preferred way to install Firefox. Package management system will:
- Ensure that you have all the required libraries
- Install Firefox optimally for your distribution
- Create shortcuts to launch Firefox
- Make Firefox available to all users of your computer
- Make removing Firefox work the same as removing any other application
Package management system has downsides:
- It may not give you the latest Firefox version
- It may give you a version without Firefox branding
You can also install Firefox through the Flatpak option.
Flatpak is a new packaging format for Linux. To setup Flatpak, visit FlatPak's setup guide and select your OS and follow the installation steps.
Once you have Flatpak installed, go to the Firefox Flathub page and click the button. Once downloaded, follow the command line instructions at the bottom of the page.
Once Firefox is installed from Flatpak, updates are automatic so no need to reinstall.
Download a specific locale version
When installing Flatpak (via the command line or via the Flathub url link), the OS locale is being checked (OS locale and not the browser accept language header) and Flathub only sends the locales that share the same prefix. So for example if LANG=en_US.UTF-8
Flatpak will send locales that have the common prefix en
which are en-CA, en-GB
etc.
To download a specific locale it can be done manually. For example, specific installation of French (fr) locale:flatpak update --subpath=/fr org.mozilla.firefox.Locale
To install Firefox using the package manager, please refer to your Linux distribution's documentation.
The support sites for some Linux distributions have complete instructions on how to install Firefox without using a package manager, although a few information may be out of date. For example:
You can also follow the instructions below to manually install on each user's account.
- Before you install Firefox, make sure that your computer has the required libraries installed. Missing libraries will cause Firefox to be inoperable.
- The installation file provided by Mozilla in .tar.bz2 format has pre-compiled binary files as opposed to sources. There is no need to compile the program from the source: simply unpack and run the binaries.
- The following instructions will install Firefox into your home directory. Only the current user will be able to run it.
- Download Firefox from the Firefox download page to your home directory.
- Open a Terminal and go to your home directory:
cd ~
- Extract the contents of the downloaded file:
tar xjf firefox-*.tar.bz2
- Close Firefox if it's open.
- To start Firefox, run the firefox script in the firefox folder:
~/firefox/firefox
- Firefox should now start. You can then create an icon on your desktop to run this command.
- There's no need to keep the installation file:
rm firefox-*.tar.bz2
libstdc++5 error
As noted above, you need to install the required libraries for Firefox to work. Many distributions don't include libstdc++5 by default.
'firefox not installed' message or wrong version of Firefox starts
If Firefox is installed following the instructions given above, it must be started (in a Terminal or in a launcher on the Desktop, for example) using the command: ~/firefox/firefox
If you try to start Firefox in a Terminal with the command: firefox
, it will either start the package-manager-installed version of Firefox or will tell you the program is not installed.
A faster, more secure and customizable Web browser.
Mozilla Firefox is a fast, light and tidy open source web browser. At its public launch in 2004 Mozilla Firefox was the first browser to challenge Microsoft Internet Explorer’s dominance. Since then, Mozilla Firefox has consistently featured in the top 3 most popular browsers globally and this is set to continue thanks to the release of Firefox 30. The key features that have made Mozilla Firefox so popular are the simple and effective UI, browser speed and strong security capabilities. The browser is particularly popular with developers thanks to its open source development and active community of advanced users.
Easier Browsing
Mozilla put of a lot of resources into creating a simple but effective UI aimed at making browsing quicker and easier. They created the tab structure that has been adopted by most other browsers. In recent years Mozilla has also focused on maximizing browsing area by simplifying toolbar controls to just a Firefox button (which contains settings and options) and back/forward buttons. The URL box features direct Google searching as well as an auto predict/history feature called Awesome Bar. On the right side of the URL box there are bookmarking, history and refresh buttons. To the right of the URL box is a search box which allows you to customize your search engine options. Outside of that a view button controls what you see below the URL. Next to that you have the download history and home buttons.
Speed
Mozilla Firefox boasts impressive page load speeds thanks to the excellent JagerMonkey JavaScript engine. Start up speed and graphics rendering are also among the quickest in the market. Firefox manages complex video and web content using layer-based Direct2D and Driect3D graphics systems. Crash protection ensures only the plugin causing the issue stops working, not the rest of the content being browsed. Reloading the page restarts any affected plugins. The tab system and Awesome Bar have been streamlined to launch/get results very quickly too.
Security
Firefox was the first browser to introduce a private browsing feature which allows you to use the internet more anonymously and securely. History, searches, passwords, downloads, cookies and cached content are all removed on shutdown. Minimizing the chances of another user stealing your identity or finding confidential information. Content security, anti-phishing technology and antivirus/antimalware integration ensures your browsing experience is as safe as possible.
Personalisation & Development
One of the best features of the Firefox UI is customization. Simply right click on the navigation toolbar to customize individual components or just drag and drop items you want to move around. The inbuilt Firefox Add-ons Manager allows you to discover and install add-ons within the browser as well as view ratings, recommendations and descriptions. Read about the top recommended add-ons for Mozilla Firefox on TechBeat. Thousands of customizable themes allow you to customize the look and feel of your browser. Site authors and developers can create advanced content and applications using Mozilla’s open source platform and enhanced API.
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