New Update Waterfox web browser & updates

[silversurfer]

Waterfox G5.1.11​

Changed

• Various security fixes 1.

Known Issues

• Currently, DRM only works on Windows. macOS and Linux to follow. (Fixed in G6).
• Certain customisation in Look & Feel do not work.
• Upgrading to G5 resets custom container tabs in certain situations. We have investigated but have been unable to find a work around or fix so far.
• If you cannot select text in the search bar with the mouse cursor please go to about:config, set layout.forms.input-type-search.enabled to false and restart the browser. (Fixed in G6).

Source: G5.1.11 | Download Waterfox

 

[Alexai]

What about System1 llc (shareholder of starpage too)?

Ok, it seems to be no more this way A New Chapter for Waterfox

 

[silversurfer]

Waterfox G5.1.12​

This will be the last release for the 5th generation of Waterfox. The 6th generation is currently being tested and due for release in the next few weeks. An automatic update will be issued to all 5th generation users.

---

Fixed

• (Windows Only) Widevine now works again.

Changed

• Various security fixes 1.
• Build tools updated.

Known Issues

• Currently, DRM only works on Windows. macOS and Linux to follow. (Fixed in G6).
• Certain customisation in Look & Feel do not work.
• Upgrading to G5 resets custom container tabs in certain situations. We have investigated but have been unable to find a work around or fix so far.
• If you cannot select text in the search bar with the mouse cursor please go to about:config, set layout.forms.input-type-search.enabled to false and restart the browser. (Fixed in G6).

Source: G5.1.12 | Download Waterfox

Waterfox - The free, open and private browser

Waterfox is a popular open source web browser.

www.waterfox.net

 

[oldschool]

Is anyone using this?

5. Who owns Waterfox?

Waterfox is once again independent and grassroots.

This is pretty vague. Independent from whom or what? What the hell does "grassroots" mean?

 

[Moonhorse]

Is anyone using this?

This is pretty vague. Independent from whom or what? What the hell does "grassroots" mean?

No idea if there was any telemetry from system1 added into browser that is now removed, or was it only the search engine that changed?

Anyways its now best time than ever to join waterfox family as they are launching android/ios version of the browser again
Waterfox been around since 2011, thats 12 years already, and more coming, big updates ahead seems like theyre rocking again

 

[n8chavez]

Waterfox G6b3 is running very well here. I can't see any real issues. The betas have been my main driver since pre-release and are smooth like butta....

 

[silversurfer]

Waterfox G5.1.13​

This is a last minute emergency release before G6. Please update ASAP.


Changed

• High severity security fix 1.

Known Issues

• Currently, DRM only works on Windows. macOS and Linux to follow. (Fixed in G6).
• Certain customisation in Look & Feel do not work.
• Upgrading to G5 resets custom container tabs in certain situations. We have investigated but have been unable to find a work around or fix so far.
• If you cannot select text in the search bar with the mouse cursor please go to about:config, set layout.forms.input-type-search.enabled to false and restart the browser. (Fixed in G6).

Source: G5.1.13 | Download Waterfox

 

[n8chavez]

Waterfox G6 beta 5 was just released.

Changelog:

New Features​

• You can now move and remove the extension button from the navigation bar.
  • Access this via Menu > More tools > Customize toolbar...

Bug fixes​

• You should now, once again, be able to install extensions from the Chrome Web Store.

Changes​

• Lepton has been updated to 8.0.0.
• Small theme tweaks to align close to previous generations of Waterfox.

Release G6.0 Beta 5 · WaterfoxCo/Waterfox

New Features You can now move and remove the extension button from the navigation bar. Access this via Menu > More tools > Customize toolbar... Bug fixes You should now, once again, be able t...

github.com

 

[silversurfer]

Waterfox G6.0​

Welcome to the release of the sixth generation of Waterfox. This release further enhances your privacy while browsing the web.

New Features​

• Waterfox uses DNS over Oblivious HTTP1, a privacy preserving method for DNS queries.
• You can now move and remove the extension button from the navigation bar.
  • Access this via Menu > More tools > Customize toolbar…
• Waterfox is now built with new optimisation techniques2, giving you a faster browsing experience.
• Linux, alongside Windows, now supports DRM. That means you can watch your favourite shows on the streaming platform of your choice.

Changes​

• Waterfox’s preferences have been gone through with a fine tooth comb, with a lot of assistance from yokoffing, who maintains Betterfox.js.

Upcoming Changes​

• Waterfox for Android’s feature set has been finalised, but requires updating to the latest components. This is in progress and is due for release. iOS is now in the pipeline as well.
• Privacy enhancements to some of the most popular search engines (wink wink, nudge nudge) are also in the pipeline, with more to be revealed soon.

Footnotes​

1. With regular DNS, your DNS queries are sent in plain text, allowing your internet provider to easily see every website you request.
   DNS over HTTPS encrypts your DNS queries with HTTPS, so your internet provider cannot read the contents. However, they can still see that you are making requests to a DNS server, and potentially correlate timing information to identify sites.
   Oblivious DNS goes further by routing encrypted queries through proxy servers in a way that obscures the true intended domain. Your internet provider cannot associate queries with specific sites you visit.
   So both Oblivious DNS and DNS over HTTPS prevent spying on the specific domains you lookup. But Oblivious DNS better hides the fact that you are making any query for a given site at all. It adds an extra layer of indirection and privacy protection.
   The main advantage of Oblivious DNS over DNS over HTTPS is that it better prevents network-level tracking of your web browsing habits by your ISP or others running the network infrastructure. It hides the act of looking up a site in the first place. ↩
2. When you use a web browser, it has to perform a lot of repetitive tasks - like rendering web pages, running JavaScript code, and parsing CSS. These tasks follow certain patterns each time you use the browser.
   PGO allows the compiler to detect these patterns and optimize the browser code.
   The result is a web browser optimized for real-world use, not just theoretical usage. Web pages will render faster, scripts will run faster, and the browser will feel much more snappy and responsive.
   As previously mentioned, when you use a web browser, it has to repeat similar tasks over and over - like rendering webpage elements, running JavaScript code, scrolling the page, and displaying videos.
   These tasks involve loops, where the browser does the same kind of work over and over. Polyhedral optimisation makes the browser’s loops run faster by reorganizing them. It finds the best way to access data repeatedly in the most efficient order.
   For example, when scrolling a page with lots of images, polyhedral optimisation could optimise the loops that decode and display the image data. It finds the fastest way to reuse image data in the CPU cache.
   This means scrolling feels much smoother. The images decode quicker as you scroll up and down. The browser feels snappier.
   So in simple terms, polyhedral optimisation tunes the browser’s inner loops to make maximum use of the CPU and memory. This speeds up repetitive tasks like rendering, scrolling, and video playback that rely on loops. The end result is a faster, smoother browsing experience for the user. ↩

Source: G6.0 | Download Waterfox

 

[silversurfer]

Waterfox G6.0 introduces a number of new and interesting features. Besides DNS over Oblivious HTTP, polyhedral optimization, DRM support on Linux and more.

One of the main new features in the ne Waterfox version is DNS over Oblivious HTTP. The lead developer Alex Kontos describes it as a privacy preserving way to handle DNS queries.

DNS over Oblivious HTTP uses DNS over HTTPS to encrypt DNS queries, but it also redirects requests through proxy servers, so that the DNS provider can't link domain queries to the specific user. The release notes do not provide information on the proxy servers that Waterfox uses.

Waterfox is not the only browser that uses proxies to hide user IP addresses and thus their identity. Brave Browser uses proxies for certain operations, for instance when running Safe Browsing queries.

Waterfox G6.0 ships with DNS over Oblivious HTTP support and performance optimizations - gHacks Tech News

Waterfox GS6.0 introduces a number of new and interesting features. Besides DNS over Oblivious HTTP, polyhedral optimization, DRM support on Linux and more.

www.ghacks.net

 

[silversurfer]

Waterfox G6.0.1​

Published: September 26, 2023

Changes in G6.0.1​

• Update privacy preferences.
  • Fixes issues with logging into websites that use a referrer.
  • Use standard tracking protection for now, to prevent issues with logging in.
  • Modify samesite rules so they’re strict on non-http websites.
  • Remove Firefox view tour prompt.
• Fixed an issue with language packs not working correctly.
• Added support for Windows Long Paths. Thanks to @goodusername123
• Prevent new searches and opening bookmarks from opening in a new tab by default.

Source: G6.0.1 | Download Waterfox

 

[silversurfer]

Waterfox G6.0.2​

Published: September 29, 2023

Changes in G6.0.2​

• Critical security fix (Security Vulnerability fixed in Firefox 118.0.1, Firefox ESR 115.3.1, Firefox for Android 118.1.0, and Firefox Focus for Android 118.1.0.).

Source: G6.0.2 | Download Waterfox

 

[Harrison Fjord]

Since the update yesterday, every time I hit a link in my bookmarks, it keeps opening pages on a New Tab, even though I have that switched off in the Preferences. I thought maybe it was an Extension causing a problem, but I turned off all extensions, restarted the browser, and it's still exhibiting the same behavior. Not sure what's going on.

 

[silversurfer]

Waterfox G6.0.3​

Published October 1, 2023

New Features​

• If you are closing more than 1 tab, you will now receive a prompt asking the below:.
  • Confirmation you want to be notified of closing multiple tabs.
  • Confirmation you want your session to be restored.

Changes​

• Hovering over inactive tabs will once again show the close button.
• Waterfox will be less strict with its public key pinning, which should resolve issues some users had connecting to certain websites.
• The extension button should no longer be missing! For the time being, moving it around has been disabled.
• When you click on the address bar, your top sites will now show.
• Waterfox is now less aggressive with its optimisations, which should result in less performance oddities in rare cases.

Source: G6.0.3 | Download Waterfox

 

[silversurfer]

Waterfox G6.0.4​

Published October 10, 2023

Changes​

• You can now disable Oblivious DNS via the Preferences page. Go to about: preferences → Privacy & Security → DNS over HTTPS.
• The Linux tarball now extracts into a subdirectory named waterfox, rather than into the current directory.
• Waterfox will no longer decode URLs when copying them. This should allow easier sharing.

Fixes​

• On pages that try to load mixed contant, Waterfox will attempt to upgrade non secure content.
• When closing multiple tabs to the left or right, Waterfox will now show the correct close dialog.
• If DNS requests take too long, Waterfox will fallback to your default DNS much quicker.

Source: G6.0.4 | Download Waterfox

 

[silversurfer]

Waterfox G6.0.5​

Published: October 24, 2023

Changes​

• Security fixes1.

Fixes​

• Modal dialogues that display checkboxes would erroneously have two checkboxes, even if they weren’t meant to. This has now been fixed.

Source: Waterfox G6.0.5

Download Waterfox

Waterfox is a popular open source web browser.

www.waterfox.net

 

[Moonhorse]

I have website i visit frequently, it detects my vpn and blacklists me when im using firefox
But with waterfox i pass the blacklist and can connect to site normally

 

[Moonhorse]

Waterfox in Partnership with Fastly

Waterfox and Fastly join forces for DoOH, enhancing web privacy with encrypted DNS queries and independent third-party operation.

www.waterfox.net

We’ve teamed up with the stellar folks at Fastly to help power a new privacy technology, DNS over Oblivious HTTP (DoOH).

Whenever you browse the web, your DNS queries get exposed to your ISP or anyone else watching your web traffic. That means they can easily see which sites you visit and profile your interests. Rather invasive, isn’t it?

Waterfox has partnered with Fastly to integrate secure Oblivious HTTP relays into the browser’s DNS resolution — with this partnership, we are able to use a world-class implementation of this privacy-respecting protocol, that’s also used by many of the world’s leading platforms, including many top internet browsers. This encrypts and relays your DNS traffic through remote servers in a way that completely hides the target of your DNS queries -– and ultimately the site where your browser is planning to connect. Your DNS requests become significantly more private and secure.

It is important that at every stage of the connection each service is run by an independent third party. This prevents any one party from collating data together and unmasking who is making the requests.

Fastly operates a huge global network of edge compute locations that make this privacy relay work fast and reliably, which means there will hardly be a performance penalty when using DoOH.

The DNS resolver will be Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 — The free app that makes your Internet faster. service, which is also an independent third party.

For us, this is a huge step in our mission to make Waterfox one of the most privacy-respecting browsers out there. Your data belongs to you, and we’ll keep working nonstop to protect it. Teaming up with Fastly brought some serious privacy superpowers to the table. We can’t wait for you to try it out!

Over the weekend, DNS over Oblivious DNS infrastructure was migrated over to Fastly. And as always, keep spreading the word to anyone who cares about internet privacy in this age of surveillance. We’ve got your back!

FAQ​

Q: Do you have access to the relay?

A: No, Fastly will independently manage the relay, and we don’t have direct control over the code, the service configuration or the TLS certificates. This is critical from a privacy hygiene standpoint.


Q: Will Fastly have access to my data?

A: No, due to the double-blinded nature of the OHTTP service. One layer, Fastly, handles end user identifying metadata (the Relay) while another handles the end user’s request data (the Gateway). These two layers communicate but do not collude, and do not pass identifying details about the Client to each other.


Q: Is this slower than making normal DNS requests?

A: Slightly, but not by much. Cloudflare ran tests and found that the penalty is consistently less than 1ms at the 99th percentile1,.


Q: I still don’t understand - why must the relay and resolver be run by independent parties?

A: As explained by Fastly2, the privacy guarantees relies on one fundamental property — that the proxy and the target servers do not collude. So long as there is no collusion, an attacker succeeds only if both the proxy and target are compromised.

Footnotes​

1. Improving DNS Privacy with Oblivious DoH in 1.1.1.1↩
2. Enabling privacy on the Internet with Oblivious HTTP↩

 

[silversurfer]

Waterfox G6.0.6​

November 21, 2023

​

Updates​

• DNS over Oblivious HTTP is now powered by Fastly! Read more.
  • This should mean you should experience almost no performance penalty for using DoOH.

Changes​

• You can now choose to disable closing windows or tabs with Ctrl+W by setting browser.closeShortcut.disabled to true in about:config.
• Improved support for JPEG XL. Waterfox can now act as the default image viewer for such image files.
• Waterfox will now run with hardware acceleration on VMware hosts.
• Security fixes1.

Fixes​

• Waterfox company information and versioning should now show BrowserWorks Ltd and the display version properly in Control Panel. A re-install with the latest installer is required.
• Waterfox should now startup slightly faster, due to it previously not trusting signed binaries.

Source: G6.0.6 | Waterfox

Download Waterfox

 

[Moonhorse]

Waterfox finally available for android devices