Fingers crossed: Firefox 64-bit for Windows to be released when Firefox 42 comes out

Martin Brinkmann
Oct 17, 2015
Firefox
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24

While there is certainly some truth to the saying that good things take time, no one probably anticipated the drama surrounding the release of a 64-bit version of Firefox. If they would have, they would have probably not used it in this case.

So, Firefox has been available as a 64-bit version for Linux and Mac systems for a very long time. There are also 64-bit development versions of Firefox for Windows, but no stable versions yet.

Mozilla switched gears in the development process several times in the past five or so years making the 64-bit version of Windows a priority, then almost dumping it, and then a priority again.

After making the 64-bit version a priority again in 2014, Mozilla has been trying to get a stable version out but it has been delayed several times for various reasons since then. It is largely unclear why it took Mozilla that long of a time especially since Firefox spin-offs like Pale Moon or Waterfox have been available as 64-bit versions for years.

A recent discussion on the company's Bugzilla bug tracking website indicates that Mozilla may finally be ready to release a stable 64-bit version of the browser for Windows.

firefox 64-bit windows stable

Firefox 42 will be released November 3, 2015 if things go as planned. Before you start jumping up and down in joy, you should know that the release won't be pushed to the public right away.

Mozilla will only release the 64-bit version of Firefox 42 Stable to the official FTP directory but not to the download pages on the Mozilla website.

So, if you have been waiting to get your hands on a stable 64-bit version of Firefox, you need to point your current browser to the latest release directory and snag it from there.

We won't update the download page with Windows 64 builds for 42. We are waiting for some partner changes before making that public. However, the binaries will be available on the ftp for testing:

The reason for this is that Mozilla is waiting for "some partner changes" for the 64-bit version of Firefox. It is unclear who these partners are and what these changes entail though.

Mozilla announced earlier that the 64-bit version of Firefox would ship without NPAPI plugin support.

If you want to know more about the differences between 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Firefox, check out our guide that provides you with those information.

Summary
Fingers crossed: Firefox 64-bit for Windows to be released when Firefox 42 comes out
Article Name
Fingers crossed: Firefox 64-bit for Windows to be released when Firefox 42 comes out
Description
It seems that the 64-bit version of Firefox for Windows is finally going to be released by Mozilla when Firefox 42 comes out in early November 2015.
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Comments

  1. CSiegell said on November 1, 2015 at 2:32 am
    Reply

    I don’t even see a 42 beta 64-bit version for Windows, but only developers edition and nightly. Whats currently available from the beta channel at the moment just shows as version 42 (non beta version). If you look at the Firefox executable in the Windows task manager you can see that it’s still 32-bit.

    1. Sören Hentzschel said on November 1, 2015 at 10:42 am
      Reply

      > I don’t even see a 42 beta 64-bit version for Windows, but only developers edition and nightly.

      Just look on the download page for Firefox Beta, there is a 64 bit version of Firefox for Windows…

      > Whats currently available from the beta channel at the moment just shows as version 42 (non beta version).

      Because it’s a release candidate. Release canidates are built from the beta channel since almost two years.

      > If you look at the Firefox executable in the Windows task manager you can see that it’s still 32-bit.

      If you download and use a 32 bit version, sure. What else? You have to download a 64 bit version if you want to use a 64 bit version.

      1. Sören Hentzschel said on November 15, 2015 at 7:00 pm
        Reply

        If you’re using a 64 bit version of Firefox, all updates will be 64 bit versions, too. If you’re using a 32 bit version of Firefox, all updates will be 32 bit versions.

      2. CSiegell said on November 15, 2015 at 1:51 pm
        Reply

        Thanks Soren Hentzchel, I finally found the 64-bit Firefox betas on the Mozilla Ftp site.

        If you download the latest Firefox 64-bit beta from the Mozilla ftp site, will the updates that you update at “about Firefox” be 64-bit? Also, once an all new beta version is available through “about Firefox” will Firefox be updated to the 64-bit version?

  2. Dwight Stegall said on October 31, 2015 at 7:33 am
    Reply

    Firefox x64 yesterday went from 42.0 b9 to 42.0. Looks like it is ready to be released. It’s pretty stable on my computer. It’s blazingly fast compared to the 32-bit version but still not quite as fast as Chrome 64-bit.

    1. Sören Hentzschel said on October 31, 2015 at 11:31 am
      Reply

      No, it’s not yet released. If you are on the beta channel you will never get the “stable release”. It’s a release candidate, but not the official version 42. It works this way since almost two years…

      Yes, the release candidate should be identical with the stable release if there are no problems with it, but it’s important to know that it’s not yet an official stable release.

  3. Chris said on October 30, 2015 at 1:27 pm
    Reply

    Firefox 42 AKA Firefox x64 stable version was released October 28, 2015

    1. Sören Hentzschel said on October 30, 2015 at 2:33 pm
      Reply

      No. Firefox 42 will be released on Tuesday, Nov 3. The creation of candidate builds is not the same as a official relase. ;)

  4. Chris said on October 20, 2015 at 8:26 pm
    Reply

    64 Chrome has been working just fine :p

  5. Ben said on October 18, 2015 at 9:52 pm
    Reply

    Using x64 for a long time on Windows. Never had any problems with x64, all addons work perfectly (as expected) and the only plugin you need (flash) also works since a long time.

  6. CHEF-KOCH said on October 17, 2015 at 2:35 pm
    Reply

    The fork Cyberfox already supports x64 native since several years, I think the real import change is only the e10 stuff because I doubt that any addon/plugin uses more as 4 Gb actually, not even with WebGL. If it uses that much ram there seems something bugged or memory leaked.

    I’m excited if native chrome apps can run into Firefox, because I’m not sure how good this will work, but we will see.

    1. Neal said on October 18, 2015 at 5:42 am
      Reply

      It is a lot more involved than that.

      https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=471090

      Most of the support was completed throughout the years by Mozilla already so anybody who recompiled the source code would have a functional 64 build if they wanted.

      The most recent priority block on 64 builds was putting 64 bit flash in a sandbox by Firefox itself because Adobe’s sandbox (Adobe’s protected mode) only worked for 32 bit flash and Mozilla engineers were not willing to expose users to that security risk considering Flash’s abysmal security record even with Adobe’s sandbox.

      https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1185532#c14

      “[User impact if declined]: 64-bit Flash does not have its own sandbox (Adobe’s Flash Protected Mode), so 64-bit Firefox users are currently running an unsandboxed Flash unless we uplift this patch……….Even with these known regressions, blassey and bsmedberg think we should uplift this patch to determine how widespread the problem might be. The sandbox regressions only affect 64-bit Firefox users. We won’t ship 64-bit Firefox until the sandbox works, so we won’t be shipping 64-bit with Firefox 41 anyways.”

  7. XenoSilvano said on October 17, 2015 at 12:20 pm
    Reply

    “Good things come to those who wait”

  8. Yuliya said on October 17, 2015 at 12:02 pm
    Reply

    “the 64-bit version of Firefox would ship without NPAPI plugin support”
    “There is one exception to the rule and that is Adobe Flash” (from link)

    So will Flash work on that? It’s the only one I have installed and I need it working. The last time I tried Nightly 64, Flash worked fine. I expect that such a change would make its presence gradually, so Fx 42 should be working just as on Nightly.

    1. Sophist said on October 17, 2015 at 3:23 pm
      Reply

      Just FYI to Martin & Everybody,

      2 days ago Adobe released their monthly update for Flash.
      1 day ago they announced there is a critical security flaw that can allow someone to hijack your computer.

      here’s the news link i got the info from:
      http://www.techspot.com/news/62453-adobe-confirms-critical-vulnerability-affecting-flash-across-all.html

      A patch is expected within the next week.

      I wish the internet would just kill Flash already. I’m so sick of this antiquated piece of crap I have to keep updating.

      1. Someone asdf said on October 20, 2015 at 1:39 am
        Reply

        You realize that that’s what hackers do, right? If they know a patch is coming, they’ll hold off an exploit until right after.

        Also, $1000 says that once Flash is removed per your desires, browser vulnerabilities will come into full force… and there’s no plugin container to mitigate.

      2. Neal said on October 17, 2015 at 5:24 pm
        Reply

        A new version is out already.

      3. not_black said on October 17, 2015 at 4:44 pm
        Reply

        Just uninstall flash and use websites that absolutely require it in Chrome.

    2. Sören Hentzschel said on October 17, 2015 at 2:40 pm
      Reply

      Yes, Flash will work.

  9. IgHive said on October 17, 2015 at 10:59 am
    Reply

    What about e10?

    1. Sören Hentzschel said on October 17, 2015 at 2:39 pm
      Reply

      e10s is enabled per default on Firefox Nightly and Developer Edition. It should be enabled per default for a few users in Firefox 43 beta (telemetry experiment and/or funnelcake build), but not enabled per default for all users. The first stable Firefox version with e10s enabled is still to be determined.

  10. Earl said on October 17, 2015 at 10:55 am
    Reply

    Irrelevant things take [a long] time, too.

  11. lolfox said on October 17, 2015 at 10:50 am
    Reply

    Firefox Browser is totally crap beacuse Gecko engine is totally crap.

  12. Dwight Stegall said on October 17, 2015 at 10:26 am
    Reply

    Firefox 42b7 is working pretty good. I had to stop using Firefox about 5 years ago. The 32-bit version on a 64-bit Windows computer lags very badly. Since then I was forced to use Cyberfox & Waterfox. I’ll still keep Chrome as my default browser since it is still faster. But now I can use Firefox again for things I can’t do on Chrome or things that Chrome makes difficult.

    Mozilla probably stopped working on 64-bit to focus on Firefox OS and other projects. I’m happy they are finally finishing it. Cyberfox no longer works with Mozbackup.

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