Waterfox

Waterfox is an open-source web browser for x64, ARM64, and PPC64LE systems. It is intended to be ethical and (in Waterfox Classic) maintain support for legacy extensions dropped by Firefox, from which it is forked. There are official releases for Windows (including a portable version), Mac OS, Linux and Android in two versions: Classic and Current. It is also known for allowing to install web browser extensions from Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Opera.

Waterfox
Screenshot of Waterfox G4.0.4 running on Windows 11, showing the English Wikipedia
Original author(s)Alexandros Kontos, Adam Wood
Developer(s)Alexandros Kontos, System1
Initial release27 March 2011 (2011-03-27)
Stable release
G4.0.4[1]  / 8 December 2021 (8 December 2021)
Repository
Written inC, C++, CSS, JavaScript, XUL
EngineGecko, SpiderMonkey
Operating systemWindows 7 or later, Mac, Linux, Android
Platformx64, ARM64, PPC64LE
TypeWeb browser, mobile web browser, feed reader
LicenseMPL-2.0
Websitewww.waterfox.net 

Waterfox is based on Firefox (and uses Firefox's engine) and is compiled using various compilers and using Intel's Math Kernel Library, Streaming SIMD Extensions 3 and Advanced Vector Extensions. Linux builds are built with Clang on all architectures other than PPC64LE. Waterfox Classic is continuing to support the long-standing XUL and XPCOM add-on capability that Firefox removed in version 57.[2][3][4][5]

Security

On 2018, many user switched to Waterfox because of Firefox's quantum engine switch.[6] How-To Geek advised users to not use Firefox forks such as Waterfox, because there's a delay of close to two weeks between the Firefox ESR security update and Waterfox security update,[7] as security updates are critical for safe browsing.[6]

Features

The features of Waterfox currently are:[8][9][10]

  • Compiled with Clang+LLVM on Linux
  • Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) is disabled by default
  • Web Runtime is disabled (deprecated as of 2015)
  • Pocket is removed
  • Telemetry is removed
  • Data collection is removed
  • Startup profiling is removed
  • All 64-bit NPAPI plugins are allowed
  • Unsigned extensions and legacy add-ons are allowed from the following sources: Archived Add-ons for Firefox, LegacyCollector, Thunderbird Firefox Add-on Archive, Classic Add-on Archive Extension, Add-ons for Firefox, Chrome Webstore.[11]
  • Sponsored tiles on the new tab page are removed[12]
  • A new "Duplicate Tab" command is added
  • A locale selector is added to about:preferences > General (further improved by PandaCodex)
  • Cookie Prompt has been re-implemented. Firefox later implemented a more advanced cookie control feature as part of its tracking protection initiative
  • Passwords and logins manager
  • Synchronize bookmarks, history, tabs, passwords, add-ons, and preferences across devices
  • Bing is used as the default search engine

History
Waterfox logo used until 2015
Waterfox logo used from 2015 to March 2019
Waterfox logo used from March 2019 to June 2019
Waterfox logo used from June 2019 to the present

Waterfox was first released by Alex Kontos[13] on March 27, 2011 for 64-bit Windows. The Mac build was introduced on May 14, 2015 with the release of version 38.0,[14] the Linux build was introduced on December 20, 2016 with the release of version 50.0,[15] and the Android build was first introduced in version 55.2.2.[16] Version 29.0, released on July 22, 2015, had a build for iOS.

From May 12, 2015 to November 12, 2015, Waterfox had its own exclusive charity search-engine called "Storm".[17] After using Ecosia as the default search-engine for a brief time, it now defaults to using Bing.

On May 7, 2019, with version 68.0a1, the first alpha version of the next generation of Waterfox was released based on Mozilla's Quantum project (used in Firefox versions 57 and later), which would be named Waterfox Current.[18]

In October 2019, the naming scheme of releases changed to follow the syntax YYYY.MM.X for future releases, where X indicates incremental hotfixes. There was also a division into two branches, classic and current.

In December 2019, System1, an advertising company which portrays itself as privacy-focused,[19] acquired Waterfox.[20][21]

In November 2020, Waterfox G3 was released. It is based on Firefox 78 ESR.[22]

In October 2021, Waterfox G4 was released.[23]

Reception

In February 2020, Alex Kontos faced criticism over selling Waterfox to System1, an advertising company.[24][25]

See also
  •  Free and open-source software portal
  •  Internet portal

References
  1. https://github.com/WaterfoxCo/Waterfox/releases/tag/G4.0.4; publication date: 8 December 2021; retrieved: 9 December 2021.
  2. "Proposal for Waterfox 56". Reddit. 2017-03-11. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  3. "Waterfox 55 Release". Waterfox. 2017-10-10. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
  4. Kev Needham (2015-08-21). "The Future of Developing Firefox Add-ons". blog.mozilla.org. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
  5. Villalobos, Jorge (2017-02-16). "The Road to Firefox 57 – Compatibility Milestones". blog.mozilla.org. Retrieved 2017-02-17.
  6. Hoffman, Chris. "Why You Shouldn't Use Firefox Forks Like Waterfox, Pale Moon, or Basilisk". How-To Geek. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  7. "Waterfox security · Issue #531 · WaterfoxCo/Waterfox". GitHub. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
  8. Kontos, Alex (30 November 2017). "waterfox 54.0.1 release notes". blog.waterfoxproject.org.
  9. "Unique Features – Features that make Waterfox stand out". waterfox.net. 11 August 2019.
  10. "Add-ons". www.waterfox.net. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
  11. "Add-ons". www.waterfox.net. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
  12. "Waterfox 54.0.1 Release (Windows, Mac & Linux)". waterfox.net. 11 August 2019.
  13. "About Waterfox". www.waterfox.net. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  14. Kontos, Alex. "Waterfox 38.0 Release". www.waterfoxproject.org. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
  15. Kontos, Alex. "Waterfox 50.1.0 Release (Windows, Mac & Linux)". www.waterfoxproject.org. Retrieved 2017-02-05.
  16. Kontos, Alex. "Waterfox 55 Release (Windows, Mac, Linux and Android)". www.waterfoxproject.org. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
  17. Kontos, Alex. "4 Year Anniversary: Waterfox Charity and Storm Search". www.waterfoxproject.org. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
  18. Kontos, Alex. "Waterfox 68.0a1 Release". waterfox.net. Retrieved 2019-08-11.
  19. Brinkmann, Martin (14 February 2020). "Waterfox web browser sold to System1". ghacks.net. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  20. "Waterfox has joined System1". www.waterfox.net. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  21. "Welcome Waterfox!". www.system1.com. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  22. "Waterfox G3.0.0 - Third Generation Release". Waterfox. System1. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  23. Kontos, Alex. "Waterfox 4th Generation Release". Waterfox. System1. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  24. "Privacy browser Waterfox appears to be sold to System1, a U.S. pay-per-click ad company that recently bought a majority of the Startpage search engine". reddit. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  25. "Waterfox web browser sold to System1 - gHacks Tech News". gHacks Technology News. 2020-02-14. Retrieved 2021-06-14.


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