New Update Mozilla Firefox 96.0 release: here is what is new

[silversurfer]

Firefox 96.0's release date is January 11, 2022. It is the first Firefox Stable release of 2022. The new Firefox version includes some improvements and fixes, including security fixes.

Executive Summary​

• Firefox 96 is a security update.
• Firefox changes how cookies are handled that come from the same domain but use different schemes, e.g. HTTPS and HTTP. The sites are considered different "with respect to the cookie SameSite directive".

Firefox 96.0 new features and improvements​

Changes in cookie handling

Firefox 96.0 enforces the Same-Site=lax cookie policy by default now. It is one of three available values for the Same-Site policy and blocks cookies from being sent in third-party contexts. Firefox will use the lax value automatically for sites that don't specify a Same-Site directive.

Mozilla explains:

Cookies are not sent on normal cross-site subrequests (for example to load images or frames into a third party site), but are sent when a user is navigating to the origin site (i.e., when following a link).
This is the default cookie value if SameSite has not been explicitly specified in recent browser versions (see the "SameSite: Defaults to Lax" feature in the Browser Compatibility).

Other changes​

• The main-thread load has been reduced "significantly" according to Mozilla.
• Improvements to noise-suppression and auto-gain-control, and "slight improvements in echo-cancellation".

Mozilla Firefox 96.0 release: here is what is new - gHacks Tech News

Firefox 96.0's release date is January 11, 2022. It is the first Firefox Stable release of 2022. The new Firefox version includes some improvements and fixes, including security fixes.

www.ghacks.net

 

[silversurfer]

Some Firefox users report connection issues (workaround inside)​

"The latest stable versions of the Firefox web browser seem to cause connection issues for some users. Firefox 96.0, released this week, appears to be affected."

It is unclear how widespread the issue is, only that it appears to be related to the HTTP3 implementation of the browser.

There is a fix for the issue, and it is quite easy to follow:

1. Load about:config in the Firefox address bar.
2. Confirm that you will be careful.
3. Search for network.http.http3.enabled.
4. Set the preference to FALSE with a double-click on its line.
5. Restart Firefox.

The issue should be resolved after the restart, all websites should load just fine. Please note that the preference needs to be enabled again once the issue is resolved by Mozilla, as it will cause breakage in the future when HTTP gets deprecated.

Some Firefox users report connection issues (workaround inside) - gHacks Tech News

The latest stable versions of the Firefox web browser seem to cause connection issues for some users. Firefox 96.0, released this week, appears to be affected.

www.ghacks.net

 

[71Hemi]

Upon installation of Firefox 96.0 I now have a black background. This is not part of a theme as I am running Black by Madonna theme and had a white background before. Any way of fixing this as the black background is hard on old eyes?

 

[silversurfer]

Upon installation of Firefox 96.0 I now have a black background. This is not part of a theme as I am running Black by Madonna theme and had a white background before. Any way of fixing this as the black background is hard on old eyes?

Do you have tried to change temporally your Firefox theme, just enable one of default themes...

Another possible reason might be special user tweaks like: userChrome.css

UserChrome.css - MozillaZine Knowledge Base

kb.mozillazine.org

 

[franz]

I just had this problem.

 

[harlan4096]

Some Firefox users report connection issues (workaround inside)​

"The latest stable versions of the Firefox web browser seem to cause connection issues for some users. Firefox 96.0, released this week, appears to be affected."

Some Firefox users report connection issues (workaround inside) - gHacks Tech News

The latest stable versions of the Firefox web browser seem to cause connection issues for some users. Firefox 96.0, released this week, appears to be affected.

www.ghacks.net

Working fine here, no issues

 

[Captain Holly]

FF crashed here last night, I don't know if it is working now, have not tried it yet today. I got the update yesterday. It has a dark back ground on bookmarks list and google search but that is ok.

C.H.

 

[oldschool]

Working fine here, no issues

Same here.

 

[franz]

This is reported to work also: Another solution that will work is to go to the usual settings in Firefox, select "Privacy and security" in the column on the left, and then disable all options under "Data collection and use for Firefox".

 

[CyberTech]

Same here.

Same here.

 

[harlan4096]

In all my FF I always have only the 3rd setting enabled:

 

[brambedkar59]

Was using FF last night with no issues.

This is reported to work also: Another solution that will work is to go to the usual settings in Firefox, select "Privacy and security" in the column on the left, and then disable all options under "Data collection and use for Firefox".

Telemetry doesn't seems to be the issue.

1749908 - Infinite loop in HTTP3 hangs socket thread

VERIFIED (nobody) in Core - Networking. Last updated 2022-11-01.

bugzilla.mozilla.org

 

[71Hemi]

@silversurfer
Yes I have tried other themes with success but I no longer have a default theme, at least nothing that says default on it, go figure. I have checked my settings under the general tab, language and appearance, fonts and colors, colors, and the text shows black and background shows white. Is there a way to change the background color in about:config? If so what is the value needed to change the background from black to white without changing the theme? Seems to me firefox or my profile somehow got corrupted during my manual update.

​

 

[71Hemi]

@silversurfer
So you know I haven't done any tweaks like the userChrome.css you mentioned. Also firefox runs really good with no issues other than this and I didn't see any changes in the change log to warrant this kind of behavior. Hmm...

 

[Captain Holly]

FF is working fine so far tonight, I guess they must have fixed whatever bug it was. I don't like the white border around my active tab, it's kind of distracting. No big deal though.

C.H.

 

[silversurfer]

@silversurfer
Yes I have tried other themes with success but I no longer have a default theme, at least nothing that says default on it, go figure. I have checked my settings under the general tab, language and appearance, fonts and colors, colors, and the text shows black and background shows white. Is there a way to change the background color in about:config? If so what is the value needed to change the background from black to white without changing the theme? Seems to me firefox or my profile somehow got corrupted during my manual update.

​

You can try to start a fresh user profile, that works for most issues on Firefox.

NOTE: I have read a new version Firefox 96.0.1 soon will be ready to be delivered by Mozilla, so may be that solves your mentioned issues...

We’re still preparing the notes for this release, and will post them here when they are ready. Please check back later.

Firefox 96.0.1, See All New Features, Updates and Fixes

www.mozilla.org

 

[71Hemi]

@silversurfer
Thanks for the advice, I just downloaded the new 96.0.1 so hopefully that fixes it but in case it doesn't what's the easiest way to start a new profile and correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't that change all of the custom about:config settings and extensions?

 

[silversurfer]

@silversurfer
Thanks for the advice, I just downloaded the new 96.0.1 so hopefully that fixes it but in case it doesn't what's the easiest way to start a new profile and correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't that change all of the custom about:config settings and extensions?

You are right, but you may have no other choice because your user profile is corrupted, even tweaks in FF about:config might be the reason...

Mozilla offers guides to help:

Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings | Firefox Help

A Refresh can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its default state while saving essential information like bookmarks and passwords.

support.mozilla.org

Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles | Firefox Help

Firefox stores your personal information and settings in a profile folder. Learn how to back up and restore this important data.

support.mozilla.org

 

[oldschool]

I don't like the white border around my active tab, it's kind of distracting.

I use the default dark theme and no white border on active tabs.

 

[silversurfer]

Finally, Firefox 96.0.1 released, auto-updating here

Fixed:

• Addresses proxy rule exceptions not working on Windows systems when "Use system proxy settings" is set (bug 1749501)
• Improvements to make the parsing of content-length headers more robust (bug 1749957)

Firefox 96.0.1, See All New Features, Updates and Fixes

www.mozilla.org