Firefox is an open source web browser developed for different platforms, it is coordinated by Mozilla and the Mozilla Foundation.
The new version of Firefox 117 was released a few days ago and this is a fairly important version, since although it does not have any major new features or a long list of changes, we can say that this release marks an important change in the browser, since automatic translation support is included , as well as various changes and improvements aimed at programmers, among other things.
One of the main novelties that is presented in Firefox 117, as already mentioned, is machine translation support, which should be mentioned not is enabled by default. About this new function in Firefox, which although it is not so new, since it has been working on it for several months under the name of the "Bergamot" project and which we already talked about here on the blog.It is worth mentioning Firefox 117, the translation system can be enabled through the “browser.translations.enable” setting in “about:config” and the feature is expected to be available by default starting with Firefox version 118 ».
Another change that stands out in this new version of Firefox 117 is a new setting that prevents websites from overriding the context menu, called "dom.event.contextmenu.shift_suppresses_event" which must be activated from "about:config", and some sites replace the browser's context menu with another menu, but sometimes it is also used as a way to avoid copying text or perform other common actions.
Of the other changes that stand out from this new version:
- macOS users can now control the TAB key to move between controls and links.
- Support for improved CSS implementation
- In Wayland-based environments, the display of the native screen sharing prompt has been removed and the system prompt is now displayed.
- Resolved an issue with the YouTube video list scrolling when screen reader navigation was enabled.
- Web Compatibility Inspection has been improved for its new CSS Compatibility Tooltips. (useful for web developers)
- A new preference to allow disabling the context menu that appears when you press Shift+right-click.
- Fixed about 20 security bugs
Finally if you are interested in knowing more about it of this new version of the browser, you can check the details In the following link.
How to install or update the new version of Firefox in Ubuntu and derivatives?
As always, for those who already use firefox, they can simply access the menu to update to the latest version, that is, Firefox users who have not disabled automatic updates will receive the update automatically.
While for those who do not want to wait for that to happen they can select Menu> Help> About Firefox after the official launch to initiate a manual update of the web browser.
The screen that opens displays the currently installed version of the web browser and runs a check for updates, provided the functionality is enabled.
Another option to update, is if you are a user of Ubuntu, Linux Mint or some other derivative of Ubuntu, you can install or update to this new version with the help of the browser's PPA.
This can be added to the system by opening a terminal and executing the following command in it:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-security/ppa -y sudo apt-get update sudo apt install firefox
The last installation method that was added “Flatpak”. To do this, they must have support for this type of packages and the browser installation is done by typing the following command in the terminal:
flatpak install flathub org.mozilla.firefox
As for those who already have the browser installed, it is enough to execute the following command to not only update Firefox, but also all its applications that are in Flatpak format:
flatpak update
In the case of those who prefer the use of Snap, the installation of the browser can be done by typing the following command:
sudo snap install firefox
And to update the applications that we have installed in Snap format, just type the following in the terminal:
sudo snap refresh