Subscribe Sign in

Firefox 156 arrives with a forest of forks in its wake

1 min read Rewritten in plain language

Software

Show what we removed Rules applied: A1×2 A2×2 A3×6 C2 D2×8 D3×36 D4×2 E3×28 F2×12 all 30 rules
  • Firefox 156 is trickling out to users.
  • Users who have chosen French, German or Italian will now find suggestions from Wikipedia in their own languages – along with potentially less welcome ads from Mozilla partners.
  • Thunderbird 156 offers more troubleshooting info in the event of problems with OpenPGP, and more options for OAuth authorization for POP3 and IMAP accounts.
  • The current Waterfox release, version 6.7, is based on Firefox 153 ESR.
  • Plasmafox was Firefox tweaked to better integrate with the KDE Plasma desktop on Arch Linux, but it fell off its perch after version 88.0.1, five years ago.

5 sentences from our version of the report, chosen to cover it. Nothing here is written; every line is in the article below. How

Firefox 156 is trickling out to users. The current Waterfox release, version 6.7, is based on Firefox 153 ESR.

The report’s most important sentence, shortened and in plain words. How

Headline check

The one thing this headline claims is in the report.

Figures, names and quoted words in the headline, looked for in the report itself — not in the summary above. One claim in this headline could be checked, so this is a narrow pass and not a thorough one. How this is checked

From Waterfox to LibreWolf and Pale Moon, there's a browser for almost every Mozilla dissenter.

Firefox 156 is trickling out to users. The release notes only mention two new features: for Mac users, there's now an option in Settings to automatically launch the app at login.

Users who have chosen French, German or Italian will now find suggestions from Wikipedia in their own languages – along with potentially less welcome ads from Mozilla partners. If you don't want such suggestions, you can turn them off in Firefox Suggest settings.

Thunderbird 156 offers more troubleshooting info in the event of problems with OpenPGP, and more options for OAuth authorization for POP3 and IMAP accounts.

The comes directly from Mozilla: the Firefox ESR and Thunderbird ESR versions only get security fixes, with full new versions only coming annually. Now, both are on version 153, which appeared in late July.

The main Thunderbird fork is Betterbird.

Waterfox Classic preserved support for the legacy extensions that Firefox Quantum abandoned and continued receiving maintenance for several years. The current Waterfox release, version 6.7, is based on Firefox 153 ESR.

If you want a Firefox-like browser with no AI, a built-in ad-blocker and tree-style tabs, and a slower-moving, more stable release schedule, then Waterfox is worth a look.

The Pale Moon browser forked from Firefox long before even Firefox Quantum; it retains the look and feel of Firefox from version 4 to version 28, which is no longer available in Firefox itself.

Plasmafox was Firefox tweaked to better integrate with the KDE Plasma desktop on Arch Linux, but it fell off its perch after version 88.0.1, five years ago.

Shortened to 1 minute of reading, this version reads 10.6 on the Niral Score.

You are reading our version, not theirs. This is The Register's report shortened to its most important sentences, in plainer words, with verdicts and loaded words taken out. Plain description stays, and so do adjectives that carry a fact, such as "former" or "federal". The reporting, the facts and the quotations are theirs — quotations are never edited — and the indicators beside it measure this version. Hover or tap Adjectives to see every one left in the text.

How this outlet filed it, and how we rewrote it

No other newsroom we read has filed on this event, so there is nothing to compare it with yet.

Outlet Niral ScoreAdjectivesSourcingSentimentHappiness
The Registeras they published this story 14.5 34 20 0.1 52
Mundane Readneutralized from The Register 12.4 31 20 0.1 52

Sign in to react.

Comments

Nothing here yet.

Sign in to comment.

Questions

Readers can ask a question about this story here. Questions and answers are for subscribers. Sign in to read them.

Comments are read before they appear where anything in them needs a person to look. Nothing posted here is ever deleted; a comment taken down keeps its text and the reason, so the decision can be looked at again. How this works