Mozilla has launched Firefox 75, one of the main changes that users will notice has been to the URL bar which lets you search smarter and faster, according to the browser maker. The update also brings cached Web PKI Certificate Authority certificates, a Flatpak package for Linux, and Direct Composition support on Windows.
The most interesting change with this update is the revamped address bar. Mozilla has designed it so that it’s clean and optimised for smaller laptop screens. Top sites are listed when you first click the bar, allowing you to quickly navigate to them. If you are trying to fix an issue in Firefox, Mozilla will also display solutions in the URL bar. This update also changes the bar’s behaviour on Linux so that it’s in line with other platforms.
On the security-front, Mozilla has added locally cached Web PKI Certificate Authority certificates, this improves HTTPS compatibility with web servers that have been misconfigured while boosting the browser"s overall security.
A couple of days ago you may have read that two zero-day flaws were patched in Firefox 74.0.1. Some users on Linux still do not have this update because of the time it takes to make any compatibility changes and add them to the repositories. With Firefox 75, Mozilla is launching its browser packaged as a Flatpak. This means users will receive timely updates and a vanilla installation of Firefox without distribution modifications.
Finally, users on Windows benefit in this upgrade by the inclusion of Direct Composition. This will help improve performance in Firefox and enable Mozilla’s on-going work to ship WebRender on Windows 10 laptops with Intel graphics cards.
If you are running Firefox on Windows or Mac the update should apply automatically in the next hours and days. On Linux, keep a lookout for any system updates or grab the Flatpak package from Flathub.