Firefox offers protection against tracking in private mode

With Firefox 42, Mozilla introduces its first official 64bit browser for Windows. It is also now possible to prevent websites from installing tracking cookies in privacy mode, which in practice means blocking banners.

Users with Windows and the 64-bit version of Firefox 42 will have to do without support for Java and Silverlight. Mozilla recently announced that it would end support for npapi plugins in all versions of the browser by the end of 2016. It is not possible to upgrade a 32-bit version to a 64-bit version. The latter will have to be downloaded directly and installed separately.

Private browsing has also been addressed. It is now possible to check ‘Protection against tracking users in private windows’ when browsing in privacy mode. The other ‘Ask websites not to follow’ option is the old ‘Tell websites I don’t want to be followed’ option. The difference is that the last option asks not to track, in other words: the ‘do not track’ function. Tracking protection, on the other hand, uses a list provided by the anti-tracking organization Disconnect to identify and block trackers. When the feature is used, a shield icon appears in the address bar to the left of the Internet address.

The built-in password manager can now also import data and passwords from Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer and Chrome, making switching easier. Just like in Chrome, the sound of tabs can now also be muted individually and the source code of a page is no longer opened in a separate window, but in a separate tab. WebRTC has also received some improvements, such as ipv6 support. In the field of personalization it is now possible to add a photo or other image to the users. The full list of changes can be found on the Mozilla website.

Privacy options in Firefox 41 and Firefox 42