Unbranded Firefox comes without add-on signature enforcement

Mozilla today released unbranded Firefox versions. These are special builds of the browser which have no Firefox branding and do not come with the add-ons digital signature enforcement.


The main purpose of these builds is to support add-on developers. Using these unbranded builds, developers can properly test their add-ons in the regular Firefox release without limitations. You will be able to install and use any desired add-on, installed from any source.

The reason why Mozilla released these special unbranded builds is to improve the organization's reputation. They care about users' security but also fear that if the user installs a malicious add-on, he or she will blame the browser and this can negatively affect the organization's image.

If you want to try unbranded builds, you need to know what the difference is versus the regular builds :

• The only locale they are built for is en-US.
• These builds come without the Firefox logo and name.
• Currently, due to a bug, an unbranded build, if installed, will be automatically updated to the branded release once a new version of Firefox becomes available. You need to disable the preference app.update.enabled in about:config. Set it to false.

The first stable unbranded release of Firefox is expected on August 2, 2016. As of this writing, only Beta unbranded builds are available.

Download unbranded Firefox builds

Let me remind you again that with Firefox 48, the about:config option xpinstall.signatures.required will be removed. The user will no longer be able to disable the add-on digital signature enforcement.

So, there will only be two options left to use unsigned add-ons:

1. Use the special unbranded build.
2. Load the add-on temporarily as described here: Firefox will get Load Temporary add-ons feature

What do you think about this move from Mozilla? Do you welcome it?

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