New Update Firefox 103: improved toolbar access, performance and more

silversurfer

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" Firefox 103 and Firefox 102.1 ESR will be released later today. The new Firefox 103 Stable release fixes security issues, improves performance and the browser's picture-in-picture mode, adds new toolbar keyboard access and more. "

Executive Summary​

  • New toolbar access via keyboard, which could break Tab-key workflows for Firefox users who use the address bar and search bar.
  • Total Cookie Protection is enabled by default.
  • Firefox 103 fixes security issues. These have not been posted yet.

Other changes​

  • Improved performance on high-refresh rate monitors with 120Hz or more.
  • Fixed an issue that could slow down Firefox startup.
  • Improved responsiveness on macOS during high CPU usage.
  • The "Make text bigger" accessibility setting on Windows applies to all user interface and content pages, instead of just system font sizes.
  • Firefox will be pinned to the Windows 10 or 11 taskbar during installation.
  • Required fields are now highlighted in PDF documents.
  • Picture-in-Picture subtitles support changing font sizes now. Also, support added for subtitles at Funimation, Dailymotion, Tubi, Hotstar, and SonyLIV
  • Total Cookie Protection is enabled by default (finally).
  • When copying text from forms, non-breaking spaces are now preserved.
  • Addressed WebGL performance issues on Linux when using NVIDIA binary drivers via DMA-Buf.
 

Gandalf_The_Grey

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And released:
New
  • Improved responsiveness on macOS during periods of high CPU load by switching to a modern lock API.
  • Do you always forget something? Required fields are now highlighted in PDF forms.
  • Improved performance on high-refresh rate monitors (120Hz+).
  • Enjoying Picture-in-Picture subtitles feature? It just got better: you can now change subtitles font size directly from the PiP window. Additionally, PiP subtitles are now available at Funimation, Dailymotion, Tubi, Hotstar, and SonyLIV.
  • Buttons in the Tabs toolbar can now be reached with Tab, Shift+Tab, and Arrow keys. View this article for additional details.
  • Windows' "Make text bigger" accessibility setting now affects all the UI and content pages, rather than only applying to system font sizes.
  • Rejoice! You can now conveniently access Firefox, which will now be pinned to the Windows taskbar during installation on Windows 10 and 11. (This will also allow for Firefox to be launched quicker after installing.)
Fixed
  • Non-breaking spaces are now preserved—preventing automatic line breaks—when copying text from a form control.
  • Fixed WebGL performance issues on NVIDIA binary drivers via DMA-Buf on Linux.
  • Fixed an issue in which Firefox startup could be significantly slowed down by the processing of Web content local storage. This had the greatest impact on users with platter hard drives and significant local storage.
  • Various security fixes.
Changed
  • Removed a configuration option to allow SHA-1 signatures in certificates: SHA-1 signatures in certificates—long since determined to no longer be secure enough—are now not supported.
 

Gandalf_The_Grey

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Fix UI Scaling and Large Fonts Issues in Firefox 103 and Later Versions
As soon as you install or upgrade to newer version of Firefox, everything in Firefox becomes too large and bigger which makes the browsing experience very difficult and annoying.

Following screenshot shows large UI elements and bigger fonts displaying in Firefox browser:

Larger_UI_Bigger_Fonts_Problem_Mozilla_Firefox.png

PROBLEM REASON​

It happens because Mozilla team has added a new feature to Firefox 103 and later versions which forces Firefox to respect the system DPI scaling and font size settings applied in Windows operating system.

In previous versions, Firefox used to partially follow the scaling settings in Windows for system fonts only and that’s why users didn’t notice any UI issues. But starting from Firefox 103 version, the browser now fully respects Windows DPI scaling and font size settings and modifies the UI elements and all menu items, fonts, etc to match with Windows.

That’s why users may notice large UI elements and bigger fonts in Firefox as most of the computer systems use 125% DPI scaling by default in Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems.

Other browsers such as Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge already do this since long time and now Firefox has also joined them.
 

silversurfer

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silversurfer

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Mozilla does not list the newer AMD cards that have hardware acceleration enabled in the release notes. A quick check on Mozilla's bug tracking website Bugzilla reveals that it has been enabled for AMD Yellow Card cards. First devices with AMD's new card, designed specifically for laptops and other mobile devices, started to become available earlier this year.

Firefox users who bought such a device may notice improvements when accessing graphics-heavy content such as games or videos.
 

silversurfer

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