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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by RyanJones (talk | contribs) at 09:43, 29 September 2011 (Acid 3 Rendering: new section). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Former featured articleFirefox is a former featured article. Please see the links under Article milestones below for its original nomination page (for older articles, check the nomination archive) and why it was removed.
Main Page trophyThis article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on November 28, 2004.
Article milestones
DateProcessResult
November 25, 2004Featured article candidatePromoted
February 10, 2007Featured article reviewKept
May 2, 2009Featured article reviewDemoted
Current status: Former featured article

Template:Notareferencedesk


Default theme please!

Again, I think we should put the default theme for Firefox screenshot, not a custom theme which can bring some negative impression. tablo (talk) 23:37, 31 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

That's not a custom theme, that the default "Tango" visual style that firefox uses on Ubuntu. If you mean why not use a Windows screenshot, Linux screenshots are used because they only contain visuals released under free licenses. A Windows screenshot contains copyrighted computer software and can be used only in the absence of a free alternative. --Chris Ssk talk 10:56, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]
But a screenshot of Firefox under Ubuntu does not accurately depict what the majority of Firefox users would see. I would argue that there isn't a free alternative depicting Firefox in it's vastly most common environment and so a Windows screenshot should be used in this case.
Get over it, and sign your posts!--Alex at kms (talk) 05:21, 2 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I added a Windows screenshot
Windows screenshot
if someone wants to change it (I don't want to, I agree with maintaining the Ubuntu sshot).--Felisbino —Preceding undated comment added 15:23, 23 March 2011 (UTC).[reply]
Up to Firefox 3.6, the operating system draws the titlebar and the window control buttons, therefore these are parts of a copyrighted software and can't be used in Wikipedia (it fails fair use rationale). In Firefox 4.0, Firefox itself draws the titlebar and the window controls, so the entire screenshot is of free software and can be used. BTW there was some vandalism made to these comments so I changed them back --Chris Ssk talk 18:44, 3 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I just thought I'd share my 2 cents and say, "It took big balls to change that Linux screenshot to a Windows one". I figured the Linux fanboys would have jumped all over the Windows fanboy nuts for changing that screenshot. To my dismay, it appears that a rationale was given to justify changing the screenshot (Firefox now draws the titlebar and window controls therefore making the entire screenshot free). This is the saddest, loosest excuse and it would be hilarious to see it hold up. In fact, I'm surprised it hasn't been challenged yet. Who cares if the Window controls are drawn by Firefox and not the OS? It's simulating the Windows 7 theme almost pixel perfect. Isn't that grounds for something? There are hundreds of Wikipedia articles with screenshots of proprietary OS specific software elements when there are Linux versions available, and those don't get removed! Point is, there isn't a single good reason why the Linux screenshot remained for as long as it did aside from some very self conscious Linux fanboys trying to remain significant in an imaginary OS war. The Windows version of Firefox is the most popular (not to mention prettier), therefore it should be elected to portray Firefox in its true glory. Embrace Firefox for what it *REALLY* is--A program designed for Windows. Linux and Mac have always been on the backburner in terms of its development. Fact. --Neillithan (talk) 17:11, 31 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

File:Firefox 4.png Nominated for Deletion

An image used in this article, File:Firefox 4.png, has been nominated for deletion at Wikimedia Commons for the following reason: Deletion requests May 2011
What should I do?
A discussion will now take place over on Commons about whether to remove the file. If you feel the deletion can be contested then please do so (commons:COM:SPEEDY has further information). Otherwise consider finding a replacement image before deletion occurs.

This notification is provided by a Bot, currently under trial --CommonsNotificationBot (talk) 15:23, 26 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The image was kept, this notification is out of date. --Topperfalkon (talk) 19:07, 6 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Firefox 5, 6 and 7 articles

Just a look at the articles as mentioned above shows nothing except for a few tables regarding recent updates. It may be too insignificant to be part of the article. Hence, should we move the tables into the main Firefox page and redirect the stub articles here? NoNews! 03:01, 28 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Since Firefox is free software, a screenshot of its browser is free. This screenshot is not free because it contains the Wikipedia logo. This is a clever bit of branding, but it also encumbers an otherwise free image with a copyrighted logo. Since we should "strive to find free alternatives to any media" on Wikipedia, I suggest we replace it. The difficult is finding a totally free site. The Creative Commons homepage seems to fit the bill, although the licensing for that is so complex that something more straightforward may be a good idea.--Chaser (talk) 15:41, 6 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The image was nominated for deletion and kept, I see no reason to waste such a ruling by changing images.--Topperfalkon (talk) 19:11, 6 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
The issue of the Wikipedia logo was not brought up at that discussion. Rehevkor 19:15, 6 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, the DR is not germane.--Chaser (talk) 20:19, 6 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
The copyright issue posed by the Windows Aero interface in the image is of far more legal/policy concern than the usage of the Wikipedia logo, the copyright of which is held by the parent organisation of this encyclopaedia. By all means file another DR, or find a better different image. I honestly don't really see the issue here. --Topperfalkon (talk) 22:08, 6 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Someone mass discussed all Wikipedia screenshots (TLDR) and they were all kept. Marcus Qwertyus 09:50, 17 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
That misses the point. The logo is still not free for re-use like the rest of our content. Commons hosts it as an exception to their usual requirements. That image is effectively fair use.--Chaser (talk) 23:20, 17 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
One comment: it really doesn't matter that the copyright is held by the parent organization of this encyclopedia, the purpose of having free content is to enable people to re-use it wherever they want, both issues: Aero and Wikipedia logo (unless the logo is available under CC or GFDL) make the image not free for other use. (by the way, the reason used in the DR "is fair use" is ridiculous, it's not only about Wikipedia content being legal, it's about having free content that everybody could use) man with one red shoe 12:17, 17 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

This change proves my point--the image with the Wikipedia logo is fair use. It requires a rationale under the Wikipedia:Non-free content criteria. A valid rationale is impossible because it fails the first criterion, the availability of a free alternative. I have substituted a free alternative. Those that think this requires consensus or has anything to do with Commons policy are mistaken. Wikipedia's local policy forbids non-free images where free alternatives exist. The lack of a consensus is moot when policy dictates a particular result. Those that are not happy with this free alternative should produce a different free alternative.--Chaser (talk) 02:26, 21 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I have a question. Are there any problems with your image, which contains the Google logo? Regards, Tommyjb (talk) 14:45, 21 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]


There was nothing up with the past image. It was nominated for deletion under copywrite grounds and was kept. Wikipedia can be used in web page screenshots. The new image is not anywhere near as good as the last one! Oddbodz (talk) 17:37, 21 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I reverted to Ubuntu screenshot. Why? Read this essay by Jimmy Wales especially this part: "A free encylopedia, or any other free knowledge, can be freely read, without getting permission from anyone. Free knowledge can be freely shared with others. Free knowledge can be adapted to your own needs. And your adapted versions can be freely shared with others." I'm not sure a shot of Windows, even if covered by fair use in Wikipedia is free knowledge that can be freely shared and adapted. man with one red shoe 19:11, 25 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

After Firefox 6 has been released I created a new screenshot of FF on the current Ubuntu Desktop. IMHO, the screenshot has at least the following advantages over the one currently used in the article:

  • It shows English version of Firefox which is more appropriate for the English Wikipedia.
  • It is really a free image as it does not contain Wikipedia logo (which was removed from the web page opened in FF using the Nuke Anything Enhanced add-on).

I put my screenshot in Infobox but User:I need a name reverted to previous screenshot explaining that "the Windows screenshot is used specifically because it includes features which are exclusive to the Windows version of Firefox". I'd like to know why should the FF screenshot in Infobox show the features exclusive to Windows version? I don't see a need for that. --Rprpr (talk) 15:51, 18 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Firefox 0.10 (Firefox 1.0 Preview Release) missing from the release history

There was another milestone release between 0.9 and 1.0: 0.10 "Greenlane", which was branded as "Firefox 1.0 Preview Release" or "Firefox Preview Release" (because most people couldn't understand that a version number is a series of integers separated by a dot, not a floating-point decimal). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gregknicholson (talkcontribs) 12:14, 19 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Firefox 5 released

Firefox 5 released June 21st 2011 Firefox 6 and 7 also planned for 2011 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.206.65.68 (talk) 14:19, 21 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Its really out now. See http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/fx/. DavidRF (talk) 15:20, 21 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Out, and still no 64-bit releases. Juze 15:23, 21 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
The release is 64-bit for Mac and Linux. 64-bit Windows builds aren't part of the official release, though.Hsivonen (talk) 17:43, 22 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Please update the screenshot! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.78.29.188 (talk) 19:17, 21 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The latest Features

Quoting Lead Section:

"The latest Firefox features[13] include tabbed browsing, spell checking, incremental find, live bookmarking, a download manager, private browsing, location-aware browsing (also known as "geolocation") based exclusively on a Google service[14] and an integrated search system that uses Google by default in most localizations."

Reference 13 is about Firefox 3.5. Are the features in 3.5 really the "latest Features"? Wanderer57 (talk) 03:04, 22 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]


I would like to add that having tabbed browsing in the latest features is not accurate as tabbed browsing was added in Phoenix 0.3 and has been a feature of Firefox since it's initial release. It may be better to add a Principle Features subsection for Features section for features that have been available for several versions and for major features of the browser. 172.130.63.167 (talk) 19:31, 10 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Changed "latest to principal". It's been awhile since 3.5 was the latest version anyhow. --illythr (talk) 20:57, 10 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Edit request from Ntim380, 25 June 2011

I just want to add the picture:

Permissions Manager

in 1.9 future versions

Ntim380 (talk) 13:49, 25 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Not done for now: as the article in that section does not mention the addition of the permissions manager. Jnorton7558 (talk) 01:02, 26 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

System requirements

Firefox#System requirements refers to officially distributed binaries but not unofficial ports. There has been a port to RISC OS since 2005, hosted at riscos.info. Maybe there are also ports to other systems, which could be included in the article. I'd just add this now, but as there's currently no mention of unoffical ports I thought it best to discuss here first. Thanks. --Trevj (talk) 21:16, 28 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

This is now included. Are there any others? --Trevj (talk) 12:34, 20 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

SafeBrowsing isn't a proprietary protocol

The current article says:

Firefox also implements[86] a proprietary protocol[105] from Google called "safebrowsing" (used to exchange data related with "phishing and malware protection"), which is not an open standard.

And refers to: http://code.google.com/p/google-safe-browsing/wiki/Protocolv2Spec saying: Do not use this protocol without explicit written permission from Google.

However, calling this a "proprietary protocol that is not an open standard" is pure FUD. The link above does describe the entire protocol, so how is it not open? Google asks that you do not hammer *their* server without asking permission first, but there is obviously nothing stopping you from implementing your own and replacing the root update URL. There is GPLv2 implementation code in Firefox, contributed by Google, so there is no way the protocol classifies as proprietary and no way for Google to close the protocol itself down. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.22.80.252 (talk) 06:32, 29 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

You wrote: "Google asks that you do not hammer *their* server without asking permission first ..." -- but that's not what the text on the site with the protocol description says. Your comment seems like an original research, which is forbidden in Wikipedia. The text is pretty clear: Do not use this protocol without explicit written permission from Google. It says protocol, not server. Feel free to contact Google and ask them to change this text, then we can change the article. Now it is unclear whether or not implementing this protocol eg. on server-side is allowed. BartłomiejB (talk) 14:22, 28 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, and BTW - source code of Firefox is trilicensed (and not GPLv2+ only), and yes, GPLv2+ is one of the license, however there are many signs that this is not the most "favorite" license by Mozilla (to put it mildly...). See eg. here (GPL wouldn't allow distributing Firefox along with closed-source proprietary software) or some discussion about GPL starting from this comment in Bugzilla. BartłomiejB (talk) 14:41, 28 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

/* UI Changes */ Added Citations and made more neutral.

This is not original research, I have provided multiple citations and I made it more neutral by removing the butthurtedness-like statements near the end. If you still feel like it is original research, perform a Google search related to this section and you will find more than enough to go on. :-) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Neillithan (talkcontribs) 19:22, 13 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Firefox 6.0

Firefox 6.0 came out today, but I can't edit the page as it is semiprotected. 93.143.174.143 (talk) 20:29, 18 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Scrolling broken

IIRC, Firefox 4.0 didn't support any scrolling input, not even mouse wheels. 4.01 supported mouse wheels but no other scroll input device. Same goes for version 5. How did Mozilla manage to break compatibility with an ubiquitous input device protocol/API that all other apps use? It's a service provided by the operating system so program writers don't have to do it - yet Mozilla acts like they're writing a DOS program from the days when each program had to take care of its own peripheral support. I want my 4-way nav buttons, TrackPoints and edge dragging on touchpads working in Firefox like they do in *every other program*. Earth to programmers, STOP MAKING MORE WORK FOR YOURSELVES! Use the @#%@#% standard APIs and you'll have fewer bugs and smaller code. Bizzybody (talk) 20:07, 20 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with this. While scrolling has worked in all the versions Ive used, it doesn't work well. The main problem is how Firefox requires to be the active window AND the pointer to be over the page for scrolling to work. My laptop touchpad has entirely software-defined scroll area (at the right edge), without any ridges or other indicators. Too often when I try to scroll I put my finger too far to the left, and the pointer just moves down instead. I try again, still too far left, pointer moves down. On the third try I get it right, but now the pointer is over the taskbar instead, and Firefox still refuses to scroll. This, combined with the utterly craptastic "single-click bookmarking" implementation (you can bookmark in a single click, but must dig deep down into a hidden "Unsorted Bookmarks" folder to actually find it back) makes me wonder if Firefox is about to jump the shark. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.48.68.247 (talk) 17:29, 11 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Win95

Using this article for guidance, I've just selected Firefox 1.5.0.12 for a Win95 system. It failed to install, though that's not conclusive. (Installed fine on Win98.) Though the Mozilla release notes say at the outset that Win95 is supported, the system requirements for this particular version only mention Win98 and subsequent. So I doubt the assertion in the article that 1.5.0.12 was the last version "supported" on Win95. (Regarding "supported," it deserves mention that doing this exposes you to security flaws that will never be corrected for this version, as well as performance problems with Firefox and with add-ons, and no one at Mozilla will be motivated to help you fix or even troubleshoot them.) Spike-from-NH (talk) 23:51, 26 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

11 September 2011 17:02 EDT: 71.234.217.82: Firefox 2.0.0.20 is the latest version I have gotten to run on Windows 95. Simply do a custom install, unselect the two options that appear, "DOM Inspector" and "Quality Feedback Agent".. Then search the Win95 system for and delete "nsSearchService.js" and "nsSafebrowsingApplication.js". Firefox 2 will then run fine. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.234.217.82 (talk) 21:03, 11 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Edit request from Taocp, 6 September 2011

I am a registered user, but nevertheless can not edit the page. What is wrong here? taocp 19:24, 6 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hello taocp. The article is semi-protected, which doesn't just mean registered users can edit, but autoconfirmed users can. You will need to make a couple more edits to be able to edit this article. Яehevkor 19:29, 6 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Firefox is not entirely free software

According to the links below, Mozilla Firefox name and logo are Trademarked. Shall we delete the mention of free software in the article?

Debian & the Mozilla Firefox Trademarks

Mozilla Licensing Policies

Mozilla Foundation Open Letter Orders Unofficial Mozilla Merchandise Sellers to Stop, Legal Action Hinted

Mehdus (talk) 15:14, 9 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Trademarks are allowed. That doesn't stop it from being free software. It's more common than you think. Take a look at the list of trademarked open source software. Trademark issues can be avoided entirely by changing the name and logo, as Debian and the GNU Project have done. Reach Out to the Truth 15:34, 9 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]
You misunderstand what "software" is, that's why you are confused about what is free software or not, the actual code is free, the right to call it Firefox is not because Mozilla has the trademark and they have the right to protect it (also a logo is not software either :) man with one red shoe 15:55, 9 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Moved from archived FAR page

"On April 3, 2003, the Mozilla Organization ..." - how come? That is more than 3 months before it was exist - according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Foundation "The Mozilla Foundation was founded by the Netscape-affiliated Mozilla Organization, and was officially launched on July 15, 2003. " — Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.120.98.139 (talk) 06:35, 15 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

What you quote is that the Organization founded the Foundation, so the Organization did exist before the Foundation. --AVRS (talk) 11:51, 15 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Acid 3 Rendering

The article has been updated regarding the 100/100 score for Firefox 7 but the image needs to be updated.

Do we need a notation about the changes in the Acid 3 test?

Ryan Jones (talk)