Mozilla throttles rollout of Firefox 82 update
Mozilla launched Firefox 82 Stable this week; the new version of the web browser introduced new features and improvements such as language packs that sync with browser updates, performance improvements, or accessibility improvements.
The update has been throttled by Mozilla because of several reported bugs and issues. According to Mozilla, Firefox users may experience crashes when using the new version, may get logged out of sites, and may experience printing issues.
It is still possible to update to the new stable version of Firefox, but it is probably better to wait for the next update as it will address most or all of the reported issues.
Firefox 82 Stable may crash and it looks as if this is related to third-party software running on the system Firefox is run on. Mozilla is still investigating and trying to reproduce the issues that were reported. At least some of the reported issues related to crashes are caused by antivirus and security software such as Trend Micro Deep Security Agent, Digital Guardian or Symantec Endpoint Protect.
Some of the companies that produce these products have released updates already that fix the reported issue. Most of the time, it appears to be related to the antivirus software injecting itself into Firefox.
Mozilla is not the only browser developer that is dealing with crashes and related issues caused by security software; it is quite common that security software may interfere with browsers and cause issues such as crashes.
Firefox users who have enabled the purging of trackers or Redirect Tracking Protection enabled may notice that they get signed out of sites after a short period of time, e.g. one day. It appears to be limited to a specific user configuration and as such should not be widespread according to Mozilla.
The user who reported the issue had "Clear history when Firefox closes" enabled; this removes the browsing history from the web browser. Firefox uses the information of the history to determine interactions with sites, and that is linked to the purging feature which removes cookies if no interaction is recorded. If the history gets cleared, interaction looks as if it did not happen, and Firefox proceeds with the purging.
The main setting needs to be enabled by Firefox users under about:preferences#privacy. There they need to select "Use custom settings for history" under History, and check the "clear history when Firefox closes" option.
Affected users may set the preference privacy.purge_trackers.enabled on about:config to FALSE to mitigate the issue for the time being.
A similar issue affected Chrome users on Windows 10 version 2004 recently as they got signed out of sites as well in that configuration.
The third type of issues that has been reported to Mozilla affects printing. According to reports, it is no longer possible to print to receipt prints after the update to Firefox 82. The preview of the printout is blank, and Firefox will print a blank page instead of the actual content of the page. Mozilla created a patch for the issue already.
The second printing related issue affects printouts of PDF documents. These are misaligned and clipped. The cause for the issue has been identified and a patch is already available.
Closing Words
Most issues have been identified and fixed; the crashes caused by third-party security software may require updates from the companies that create the solutions. Some updates that address the crashes are already available.
Now You: did you experience any of the issues described in this article? (via Techdows)
Firefox 82.0 broke my login to washingtonpost.com. Temporarily changing uBlock Origin from Advanced
user back to Basic fixed the problem.
The first time I launched Firefox after upgrading to 82.0 I had one problem.
I was using a few tabs, but then later I was unable to access them.
A quit and restart fixed the problem, and it hasn’t reoccurred yet.
No issues here. Then again I run stock Windows 10 (as in no settings changed from how Microsoft ships it), and stock Firefox (again as in no settings changed from how Mozilla ships it).
I once worked in an IT department where we tech savvy people had an office pool to bet on how many days it would take for the XX.0.1 to show up.
I’ve been using the Mozilla browser since it was called Phoenix. About 10-12 years ago, along with countless others, I concluded never to update to XX.0 and simply wait for XX.0.1 which, with extremely rare excpetions, shows up in 2-10 days.
Anyhow, thanks to al those who test the XX.0 releases for lots of us. Because Firefox IS ” last stop before absolute domination of WWW by Google Chrome monopoly.”
Of course, kudos to Martin and the ghacks crew!
It is ok, humans make mistakes.
You tech savvy people should cheer for Mozilla to win, no matter what.
Firefox is the last stop before absolute domination of WWW by Google Chrome monopoly.
I once worked in an IT department where we tech savvy people had an office pool to bet on how many days it would take for the XX.0.1 to show up.
I’ve been using the Mozilla browser since it was called Phoenix. About 10-12 years ago, along with countless others, I concluded never to update to XX.0 and simply wait for XX.0.1 which, with extremely rare exceptions, shows up in 2-10 days.
Anyhow, thanks to all those who test the XX.0 releases for lots of us. Because Firefox IS the “last stop before absolute domination of (the) Google … monopoly.”
Of course, kudos to Martin and the ghacks dot net crew!
This is true and yea Google is probably worse, but since they’ve become outwardly political I find I care less for Mozilla’s well-being.
As long as chromium is open source, there will always be at least a few decent alternate versions available.
@TacoT
Yes, Google is infinitely worse due to their size and monopoly especially considering numerous former Google engineers who have come forward exposing the bias in their search algorithm which affects what people see. Now add other big tech such as Facebook and Twitter into the mix with their bias and we are virtually living in Orwell’s 1984! :( As to Chromium, despite being open source Google still maintains majority control over it so it’s probably good to have a healthy skepticism toward other chromium based products.
@some1
Mozilla is completely dependent on Google from a financial point of view (91% of their current income stems from the Google search deal), but opposition always implies independence, independence that Mozilla lacks. People should look less at the corporate speak and marketing talk, and instead more at how the entire operation is actually being funded.
The U.S. Department of Justice is currently bringing forward an antitrust suit directed against the Google Search monopoly. In their argumentation, they are stating that Google handing out search deals to others (and others accepting them) is how they strengthen their monopoly. They are citing Firefox as one example of such a deal:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottcleland/2012/01/06/google-firefox-search-deal-is-antitrust-red-meat/
In Mozilla’s reaction to the planned antitrust suit, you can find this gem:
“Unintended harm to smaller innovators from enforcement actions will be detrimental to the system as a whole, without any meaningful benefit to consumers — and is not how anyone will fix Big Tech.”
source: https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2020/10/20/mozilla-reaction-to-u-s-v-google/
Translation from corporate speak: Google’s vassal Mozilla fears for its lucrative Google search deal (basically their only source of income), because DOJ rightfully states that this only helps Google in maintaining their search dominance. They don’t want the state to crack down on the Google search monopoly and the business practices that support it, because this would mean their demise as well.
In a recent gHacks article, you can read that the Tor project had to remove Google Ad ID code from Firefox on Android, so that Tor Mobile could be created:
https://www.ghacks.net/2020/10/10/first-tor-browser-alpha-for-android-based-on-new-firefox-is-now-available/
Yep, Google Ad ID, like the one in Google Chrome. The Google money has to be used for something, after all. As you can see, you totally fix the spying problem by using Firefox.
Furthermore, Mozilla is also in favor of an unfree, heavily censored web:
https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/campaigns/regrets-reporter/
https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/345906-mozilla-launches-new-program-to-counter-misinformation
I hope you’ll never become a case of wrongthink, as otherwise Mozilla will help sugar daddy Google in censoring you and denying you free speech.
——
On a more technical note: Mozilla can’t influence anything based on their browser engine, even if they were not just a Google sock puppet. If Google really wanted to push a new web technology, they would just start using it on their own popular websites (Search, YouTube, Maps, Docs, GMail etc.). Mozilla will be forced to adopt this, unless they want to exclude themselves from these websites deliberately (basically suicide). They are no better off than Chromium-based browsers, the latter can also choose not to adopt this stuff or to disable this stuff by default, just like Firefox – they would face the same consequences as Firefox in this case. This is not about Gecko vs. Blink, this is about Google having a great many popular web services which they can leverage at any time, coercing anyone else into adopting their standards. You using Gecko does nothing (even if Mozilla were independent), as it doesn’t even remotely tackle the core problem. Nice Mozilla marketing claims, though.
——
Yes, this is fairly depressing, but what you’ve just read is more truthful than any cheerful gobbledegook. Why in seven hells should I support a company that…
– is fully dependent on Google and wants their search monopoly to continue and
– is about to make the web unfree the same way Google intends to do it and
– whose product does nothing to improve the health of the web because it will adopt anything Google throws their way or else suicide…
Why should I cheer this on? Might as well support Google directly, that would at least remove the hypocrisy / controlled opposition aspect of it all.
@Iron Heart – Mozilla tried to find other sources of revenue, but people kept bashing them for that too.
Just glad Mozilla doesn’t release ‘unstable’ versions.
Can you imagine how many bug fixes they’d require?
Have seen these issues last few days trying to print invoices on shopify. Ended up uninstalling Firefox and installing Brave.
I use Print Friendly add-on without problems; reviews by other users are quite the contrary–always problems.
Yes, I’ve had a few stability issues–mainly “freeze” and extension related issues–e.g. a password manager didn’t work this morning. Then it works. Slow connections. Enough of an annoyance to use Chrome where everything is working fine.
These petty annoyances aren’t new; I’ve noticed more and more my need to use Chrome to have websites load quickly and correctly even though the same, or nearly the same extensions, are in use. What is happening to my beloved Firefox?
What is happening? Google monopoly.
I still miss the old Firefox 2.x and 3.x. Sometimes I would install an old version from OldApps just to remember what it was like and it hits me right in the feelings. How amazing it was at version 3.6 and how degraded it had become since.
Too bad there is apparently no way to use the new rendering engine on the old UI. And Pale Moon doesn’t come close to serving as a modern web browser, you have to go through so much hoops and even then there’s no guarantee that everything will work. Now we’re stuck with the modern crappy Firefox and all the crap that Google is trying to push in Blink. I prefer Blink though, as it seems like Firefox’ future is uncertain to me.
Lynx browser is better choice, a bit old but still reliable, especially if you have slow connection around 300 baud.
Do those flared trousers still fit?
I’ve used Palemoon for 10 years now, the only site that gives me trouble is youtube(slow to load), go figure. What sites do you have trouble with?
Such a surprise, Firefox 3.6 portable is one of my father’s favorite programs!
It’s still available in some sites. :]
@John G.
CMD / CTRL + F and download a version that you like:
https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/
The engine of 3.6 doesn’t work anymore, if it did, I’d use it.