Firefox 79 is out, a minor release with a few new features

Firefox 70 New Icon Big 256

Mozilla is releasing a new Firefox version to the stable branch. Firefox 79 is notable for having Enhanced Tracking Protection 2.0, performance improvements, and Pocket recommendations enabled for users from Germany. Firefox 79 Version AboutHere's what's new in this release.

Enhanced Tracking Protection

Firefox 79 adds protection for unwanted first-party cookies which is enabled default. The browser is using the Disconnect.me to detect cookies for trackers, and also removes them automatically daily. By default, the option is set to compatibility mode, but the user can customize it by selected one of the available options.

Export password to CSV

Mozilla has added a native option to the Firefox browser that will allow the user to export his saved logins and passwords for web sites. The data will be saved to a CSV file that can be opened with many modern apps like Microsoft Excel, LibreOffice Calc, etc, or edited with Notepad.

Clear Startup Cache

To start faster, Firefox caches some internal data related to your software and hardware configuration. Mozilla has added a new option the about:support page to rebuild that cache

If the startup cache is corrupted, Firefox may fail to start, or start silently without displaying the GUI. With Firefox 79, you can just click on click on Help > Troubleshooting information from the menu to resolve the issue. The new button will rebuild the cache for you.

Check out How to Clear the Startup Cache in Mozilla Firefox.

Performance improvements

WebRender is now enabled for more Windows users with AMD graphics cards. It is still not enabled by default on Linux.

Other changes

  • Fixed 21 vulnerabilities.
  • Firefox users from Germany will see a new Pocket recommendations section on the new tab page. This can be disabled with the browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.feeds.topsites option, and also in the GUI, under Firefox Home Content/Recommended by Pocket. You need to click on the gear icon on the new tab page to access the option.

Download Firefox 79

The browser is now available for download from its official web site.

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Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

2 thoughts on “Firefox 79 is out, a minor release with a few new features”

  1. Thank you for pointing out how to isable the awful Pocet stuff.

    I use Firefox for almost as long as it exists. I’m really fed up with Mozilla. With their recent attempt to push a boycott campaign on unsuspecting users the have completely lost it. I now only use Firefox due to all my extensions, history and me being used to the UI. I cannot recommend it anymore.

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