Waterfox 56.2.7 released
The developer of the Waterfox web browser, Alex Kontos, released Waterfox 56.2.7 (and 56.2.7.1) to the public recently.
Waterfox 56.2.7 is the first release of the browser in 2019. Existing users of it can run a manual check for updates to have it picked up and installed on their devices.
Just select Menu > ? > About Waterfox to do so. The browser checks for updates when you select the about option and will download and install the new browser version automatically afterward.
Waterfox is also available as a direct download from the official Waterfox Project website.
Waterfox 56.2.7
The changelog of Waterfox 56.2.7 is relatively short. The developer integrated all security patches that Mozilla integrated in Firefox earlier in the new Firefox browser released at the end of January.
To be more precise, the security vulnerability fixes of Firefox ESR 60.5 were integrated in the new Waterfox version. Several of the vulnerabilities were rated critical, the highest severity rating used to classify browser vulnerabilities.
You can check out the vulnerabilities on the Mozilla Foundation Security Advisories website.
The new version of Waterfox includes a bug fix for video playback issues on sites that use DRM. Videos on Amazon Prime are mentioned explicitly, but other sites and services that use DRM for HMTL5 video playback should work as intended again as well in the new version.
Waterfox users who use extensions may use the Classic add-on Archive extension to browse all classic add-ons for the Firefox browser. Waterfox supports classic Firefox extensions, and all are mirrored on the Waterfox CDN to make sure that users can download and install those in the browser.
Waterfox 56.2.7.1 was released to fix several issues. The update fixes issues with the bookmark manager, search icons, and an issue on Mac OS X devices that caused the browser to freeze when selecting files in modal dialogues. A new user agent is introduced next to that which should improve website compatibility.
Now You: Do you use Waterfox? What is your take on the browser?
Cant use waterfox on old mac os 10.8.5 on amazon prime or netflix w widevine and drm enabled. Worked until most recent update that “fixed” DRM issues. How can i roll back?
Waterfox has a problem I can not live with! WF needs to deal with the `NEW TAB’ issue. Firefox came up with the stupid thing, but they made it possible to work around the problem but in Waterfox it will drive you nuts!!!!
WoW! Thanks for your reply…Very Interesting.
Ok For those of you worried about how “insecure” this browser is….
I suggest maybe its your OS…?
Does it need Anti-Virus..?
Mine doesnt..in fact there is a debate whether an Anti-virus makes Linux less safe.
It allows an additional attack surface & penetrates deep into the OS.
I dunno….above my pay grade….
But You Can protect any FFx deriviative browser with NoScript,Ublock Origins & uMatrix(?).
Thusly protecting your Puny OS.
Also learn About:config & Pants user.js both can be used awesomely.
There is info on ghacks for both.
Some lil snot wrote”so is Linux safe because of its 3% share on the net.”
Startpage is your friend….but Google is not.
I could safely run ANY FFx derivative that has a Linux flavor.ANY!
I would NOT run Chome or Chromium …even Vivaldi cant save that hot mess.
Because all the Spyware & the Evil Goodness is Baked right in.
Damn, I wish I had Clairvaux’s Ability to type a snappy one-liner.
I went back a full year on Martin’s posts about chrome.
Trace Block, Privacy Possum, & AdBlock 3 extensions mentioned to harden/privatize Chrome.
Kinda Paltry…Chrome Doesnt WANT you to be Private or Safe apparently.
Tor chose Linux & Firefox not Chromium to make their privacy package,
They know more than i do.
So If your sittin there with W10 & Chrome….Acting all smug…*shrug*
Damn …I promised I would be Nicer….
Never gonna Do THaT Again.
{{Ponders Changing Handle to XENA: Warrior Princess}}
Umm ….Okay……
Security on the Internet is NOT a popularity contest.
A Wise man will go another way as the fools go to the slaughter.
@supergirl: “.in fact there is a debate whether an Anti-virus makes Linux less safe.
It allows an additional attack surface & penetrates deep into the OS.
I dunno….above my pay grade….”
It’s not above mine, though! :)
Debates about whether AV makes systems less safe on the whole (it’s not an argument limited to Linux) are generally emotional rather than rational and can generally be ignored. Here’s why — yes, the more software (and the more intrusive the software — and there is very little software that is more intrusive than AV) the greater the attack surface and the less secure the system is. However, AV software does objectively give a measure of protection that balances that out.
The debate over this is too simplistic. All security is a tradeoff, and AV software is no different. In the case of AV software, the tradeoff is not a binary “safe/not safe” thing. AV software increases your security against viruses. The increased attack surface increases your vulnerability to other (non-virus) sorts of attacks. So, in a sense, you’re shifting where your vulnerabilities lie.
With a strict security eye, the tradeoff that AV software presents is a reasonable one, as the vulnerabilities that it increases happen to be vulnerabilities that are easier for other countermeasures (such as a firewall, etc.) to address. And if AV software is your only defense, then you’re already pretty hosed from a security point of view even if AV software were itself perfectly secure.
In my opinion, the larger issue with AV software is that it’s intrusive and tends to cause system malfunctions. That’s why I, personally, only use it for on-demand scanning of specific files. I don’t use it as a system-level service that is always running. I make up for the lack of AV protection by being more secure in other ways.
it doesnt matter much if a browser if uptodate or not, since there are enough (unknown) 0days that exoploit even the most patched browsers, not to talk about the plugins – flash kills even the safest browser,,,
If youre really so concerned, use the browser in a VM or a Sandbox, then just use the browser that fits you best. ok, it doesnt say much and its not statistical sufficient, but i havent had even 1 virus/trojan so far. and im not using any av software. just brain and addons to reduce scripting on minimum. (thats a must mho) (and browsing untrusted sites security >> convenience) When i dl stuff from untrusted sources, ill check it then with a on demand av or VT.
of that no recipe for everyone, just a possible suggestion.
In doing some follow-up on this topic, trying to compare browser, etc. I found a website that claims to have evaluated various browsers, search engines and related for “spyware.” It’s interesting to say the least, though I cannot vouch for accuracy. It’s called Spyware Watchdog and has a url of https://spyware.neocities.org/articles/
It’s very interesting indeed, although I’m very skeptical towards what is being said about Waterfox and other browsers. Mostly because they completely disregard the ability to customize and tweak Firefox, which is something that pretty much anyone bothering to read halfway the first article will know (they even have a full article where they rant out about Mozilla and call it “devil incarnate”).
They also don’t provide any actual data and is not so clear how they run the test (but then again I guess this is the point: don’t trust what we say, see for yourself). I had to read a couple of articles before I found about their methodology:
https://digdeeper.neocities.org/ghost/liftingtheveil.html
I found the article on email providers particularly interesting, too. Definitely thought provoking and worth reading at least the reviews for the major providers. Unfortunately, while it does make some good points, there are also some very obvious flaws in the arguments they use such as:
1. Contradicts itself praising one of the providers for exactly the same thing is criticizing in others: collaborate with the FBI by handling data and comply with a gag order. And continues with: “So, it’s up to you to trust them (or not) after this fiasco.”
2. Praise a service provider that has no privacy policy at all.
3. Makes arbitrary arguments based on emotions and ideologies:
a) “If you’re not convinced – well, try reading […] and tell me some of the quotes don’t move you emotionally.” What??
b) “But this time, these claims are actually true. If you read their essay on their About Us page(…)” How do you know??
c) “Hmm, can we trust this? If it’s truly for the “development of better systems of communication” then I guess it’s not that bad. At least it’s not to improve the user’s experience.” How is the former different from the latter??
It is a long article so I should mention that their entire argument is built around each of the provider’s privacy policy, and very little evidence beyond that.
So basically they praise some providers for pretty much the exact same reasons they criticize others with, again, very little evidence provided. Note that most links refer to internal articles or the service provider itself (which of course praises itself as well). They make a huge deal out of trusting what it is written in their privacy policies but have no trouble at all ignoring the fact that these policies may very well be ignored also by the companies their recommend; in particular those who don’t even have to lie since they never released an official privacy policy.
Anyway it is an interesting reading so I’m welcoming comments on this one :)
Have never liked Firefox or similars. I do like Whale browser, found it only recently. Never heard of it up to now. S. Korean. Some features though don’t work unless you create an account with them.
“…selecting files in modal dialogues.” “Dialog” – according to Mirriam-Webster, a “dialogue” is a conversation; you’re referring to a “dialog box” here. :)
Is Waterfox updated and better then Palemoon? Its like a lot of knock off Chrome browsers, they seem to lag a lot in security updates. I know some still cling to the old Firefox days, but in my opinion I am not willing to risk lagging updates for nostalgia. Not the biggest fan of Chrome or Firefox but at least both seem committed to keeping everything updated frequently.
@John IL:
Yes, Waterfox and Pale Moon do security updates. Yes, those updates are usually implemented later than they occur in the big browsers. If that’s a dealbreaker for you, then you should use the big browsers. Personally, this lag doesn’t bother me even a little.
Im a very satisfied user of WF. All the addons that are important to me work flawlessly now. Sure, had to do some research first to find the right/patched versions, but once done, its fine. And no problem with any websites so far.
I dont see any privacy and /or security related problems, like some users pointed out with outdated material. Firewall nor DNS is showing any unwanted traffic, and if there are requests you dont like, you block them or remove them via about:config.
its maybe not the browser for the noob user, but perfectly suited for any poweruser. And i prefer it way over PM.
Those who call Waterfox and Pale Moon outdated are nothing but sheeple. Bahhh…..
WF is my main browser, but problems w/ it for quite a while. This may be a result of semi-compatible add-ons; I am not tech-savvy retroactively to diagnose these things. I keep hoping updates will fix the glitches but so far, no go.
I like this, but I wish it was part of the official software in Ubuntu.
Not this AGAIN! Rolls eyes!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN38LugFJ0U
These browsers are dinosaurs…
Stan (Is this stan Laurel from Laurel and Hardy who is doing the talking?) All five food groups do not seem to me to be present in it! Waterfox has at least four out of five present! :-)
May I ask what you recommend instead, Stan?
I recommend not feeding the usual PM trolls who show up everywhere that POC is mentioned….
@Stan the only trolls are the people who bring up PM just to crap on it on articles that have nothing to do with it.
@Stan: “These browsers are dinosaurs…”
Even if this is true — so what?
I have been using it for a fair amount of time. But Firefox in itself is not already the most safe browser and Waterfox lagging behind in security updates, did me decide to abandon. Alas.
Waterfox reminds me of Palemoon and Basilisk. In regards that it sticks to one old build and keeps trying to build upon it until it becomes so outdated that it stops making any sense to keep using it.
Like what happened with Palemoon – it became so incompatible with many websites that it’s a hinderance to use it and actually Internet Explorer 11 is more web-compatible.
I don’t have an idea how long the Waterfox team will keep up building upon version 56, but I feel after time it will backfire on them.
@Weilan: “it became so incompatible with many websites that it’s a hinderance to use it ”
That hasn’t been my experience. Waterfox works well for every website I go to. Even if it didn’t, though, I’d still use it as there aren’t a lot of alternatives that work for me.
@John Fenderson
I never told anyone what to use and what not to use, I shared my experience with Palemoon and why I don’t want to use Waterfox myself. If people think an unpopular opinion is trolling, they must be pretty bigoted and retarded.
This has been mine experience with Palemoon – I can’t use CTRL+V on imgur.com, if others can, good for them, but since it doesn’t work for me, my experience isn’t positive as I’ve seen the browser fail to work with other websites too, hence the reason I don’t use it.
On the other hand, while score on html5test.com isn’t defining how good a browser is doing, I still believe that using an outdated build like Firefox 27 for Palemoon will eventually stop working and they will have to use a newer build.
And after time even Firefox 56 will become so outdated that it won’t serve a purpose… what happens then? I hate the motto “newer is better” that’s why I still use Windows 7, I’d use Palemoon too for its retro UI, which I really like, but it doesn’t serve me as well as up-to-date browser like Chrome and Firefox.
@Weilan: “And after time even Firefox 56 will become so outdated that it won’t serve a purpose… what happens then?”
(Sorry for the double-comment — I meant to include this in my other response)
I doubt that will happen in my lifetime, but if it does, and if there’s a decent browser available, I’ll switch to that. Switching browsers is trivial, after all. If there’s not a decent browser available, then I’ll just make do with the sites my old one for the sites it still works on, and ignore the rest of the web.
@John Fenderson
I agree with you. At this point, web technology is already matured mostly so Firefox 56 can serve its purpose for long time. There’re few exceptions like AV1 support but I hope someone can make plugin for that.
@Weilan: “I never told anyone what to use and what not to use, I shared my experience”
And I shared mine. Your response makes me think that you thought I was attacking you or something. I was not.
@Weilan, you have no idea what “outdated” means. It makes your entire reasoning which is based on that single word astoundingly ignorant.
@Weilan
You’re contradicting yourself, you said you hate “newer is (not always) better” but you can’t understand why people are still using the old one. People are still using old one because they can still browse their favorite sites without problem. For me, I prefer features over speed, I can wait opening a page by 3 seconds instead of 2 seconds if I can still use Flashgot.
By your logic, Windows 7 also will become so outdated that it won’t serve a purpose.
ps: Are you trolling?
@Anonymous
No offense, but are you pretending to be stupid or you really are this way?
Everything I said is perfectly clear. I like old stuff, but sometimes old stuff don’t work for me so I have to settle with new stuff. I like Windows 7 and I use it, because it works for me, I’d use Palemoon too if it worked for me, but it does not work for me.
I don’t like the new Chrome and Firefox, but sadly, I must admit they work. Firefox after Quantum has become more limited in terms of customization and it feels like it tries to mimic Chrome in every aspect, from UI to freedom of customization. I don’t like it, but I see that in terms of rending webpage speed and overall compatibility, Firefox has been doing a lot better. I liked XUL addons, they were powerful and cool, but I can also feel the speed that comes with not having support for them in the code.
Also using many such outdated things will come to bite everyone in the ass, even me. Eventually programs and games will drop support for Windows 7 and it will become harder and harder to work with it, so I will eventually be forced to move to Shitdows 8 or 10 whether I like it or not (I don’t).
What is so hard to grasp?
Waterfox and Pale Moon are quite different now, so different things cannot be directly compared. About the “incompatibilities”: I don’t have a single problem with Pale Moon 28, and there are no inherent “incompatibilities” in the way you imply (with zero examples). PM 27 is a different story and that is why it has been upgraded. Websites requiring WebRTC, will never work on PM because it is explicitly not supported. This is not an “incompatibility”.
NOT supporting webrtc may be seen as privacy enhancing too…. ?
@Anonymous, regarding privacy, that is true of course: https://www.palemoon.org/technical.shtml
Since this is an article about Waterfox though, I think that WF does support WebRTC. In general, WF is much closer to FF than PM.
@Alex,
press Print Screen button on your keyboard and go to imgur.com with Palemoon and press CTRL+V, nothing will happen. In normal, web-compatible browsers like Chrome and Firefox, it will upload your image.
There are many other such discrepancies that you will discover as you browse around. Also, the add-on situation with Palemoon right now is tragic, in order to get uBlock Origin running, you have to install another addon. In other words – install an add-on to use another add-on.
If WebRTC websites don’t work with Palemoon, IT IS an incompatibility, just like all the other things their self-righteous developers are spewing left and right – how the browser being gimped AF is actually a feature, and intended, and not a result of their ideology that using an outdated browser build will eventually bite them in the ass.
Hey at least you provided an example. However thats not functionality thats needed or missed for someone thats sticking to these other browsers. They added a little icing to firefox and chrome? ..one would hope so with how many upates and popular functionalities that they have deleted in getting to where they are now.
No Ill stick with these browsers that appreciate keeping what their users like instead of going with those that change for change sake.
@Weilan, I hope you are just a troll because if you are being serious… oh dear.
What you say about uBO is ridiculous, and the rest is not much of an improvement. uBO does not need anything to work in Pale Moon. You just install it (its ‘Legacy’ version) and that’s that. Since you fail to mention any names and only post random inaccuracies, I’ll assume you are talking about the “uBlock Origin Updater” extension, which was created to automatically UPDATE uBO when needed, and not to install uBO, let alone use it. uBO runs just fine on its own. The Updater was created because uBO does not currently support auto-update of its “Legacy” version. It has nothing to do with the browser. It is a uBO limitation so I hope you are slightly more enlightened now.
About the Imgur nonsense, I haven’t tried it but even if it doesn’t work as you describe and it is not a PM bug, let me reveal something to you: the WWW is supposed to be “compatible” with ALL browsers that support the standard protocols. If some websites decide to only work on a few browsers, it’s them that they are arbitrarily breaking the Web which by the way, was not created with copy/pasting desktop capture screenshots as its main feature. I haven’t “discovered any other such discrepancies”. If anything, Firefox crashes far more often than Pale Moon and Chrome, well… it’s Chrome from Google, enough said.
I see you are insisting about WebRTC. I guess Microsoft Word and FIFA 19 are also “incompatible with the Web”, outdated and have “bad ideology” (that’s a good one) because they also will not work with WebRTC websites. They were never supposed to to begin with, but hey: it is the Weilan logic.
@Anonymous you are right, I’ll stop feeding trolls.
@Weilan
Ctrl + V works fine on Imgur with Pale Moon 28.3.1.
Let’s not feed the troll, folks.
And it seems to have a new problem. I think that it partially breaks ublock origin. Based on the fact that I am having a rash of ads, popups and recaptchas that I didn’t before.
I haven’t noticed any issues after last update (56.2.7.1). uBlock Origin works well as ususal, moreover is reCAPTCHAs related to it?
Some of the filter lists include workarounds to suppress reCaptchas, so you don’t have to select which pictures meet the criteria for proving your “human” nature.
Oh, I wasn’t looking about that. Default filters or anyone in particular?
Never found a solution that really works well for reCAPTCHAs. Only skip some sites if possible with AdsBypasser or Universal Bypass addon.
Waterfox is NOT a privacy friendly fork of Firefox https://spyware.neocities.org/articles/waterfox.html
I’m still satisfied with GNU IceCat.
Klaus that a more than a year old article. In bits and bits computer language spoken that is an article from the lower Paleolithic time! :-)
That’s a debatable point, but even if it’s true, it’s a bit beside the point. The point is, what are people who don’t find the new Firefox a good fit for them supposed to use? Nothing?
@Klaus Palemoon is even worse because it’s built on old Firefox code and supports outdated xul addons, which aren’t maintained anymore, therefore reducing security even more. It’s a nightmare. Same goes to every hack browser based on old Firefox code and xul.
XUL is still being maintained in a fork by the Pale Moon devels. In essence, their Pale Moon browser is now a fork of a fork lol. It utilizes the Goanna powered Firefox-esque browser Basilisk which is a continuation of XUL and other technologies prematurely deprecated by Mozilla. Pale Moon is itself up to date with all relevant security patches and further security fixes added from Moonchild himself. Most vulnerabilities in newer Firefox won’t be in Pale Moon anyway because it is deemed unnecessary and removed.
@Malte
The same old imbecility repeated over and over and over again :rolledeyes:
Waterfox allows XUL extensions (and has its own, beta repository for them, since Mozilla’s killed all the extensions that Firefox no longer supports).
A totally clueless and uninformed rant against Pale Moon. You have no idea what you’re talking about.
@Malte
Obvious troll is obvious.
@Malte, you don’t know what you are talking about.