Mozilla has just dropped Firefox 135. It is packed with updates that are all about making your online life smoother and more secure. This release is a leap forward into the combination of bleeding-edge AI tech and classic Firefox commitment to user privacy. Let's see what changes with this release.
AI Enters the Picture (Gently)
Artificial Intelligence is coming to Firefox, but in a helpful-not-creepy way. Here's how:
Smarter Translations
Firefox Translations, that handy built-in tool, now speaks more languages. Simplified Chinese, Japanese, and Korean are now supported. Russian joins the list of languages you can translate to. This is great for browsing websites from around the globe.
Meet the AI Chatbot
Fancy an AI sidekick, right in your browser Firefox 135 brings an optional AI Chatbot. It can be accessed from the sidebar or Firefox Labs. You are not automatically opted in. You can choose whether to use a provider or not. Imagine quick questions answered and summaries generated at the snap of your fingers.
Autofill Gets Card Savvy
Remember fumbling for your credit card details Credit card autofill is now widely available in Firefox 135. A small convenience that saves time and hassle.
Principled Security for Peace of Mind
Security is always a top priority for Firefox. Version 135 is no exception. Expect even stronger defenses against online threats.
Certificate Transparency Enforcement
Websites will need to prove their security certificate is publicly valid. This further prevents bad or compromised certificates from getting through and steering you clear of malicious sites.
Faster Certificate Checks with CRLite
Firefox is getting smarter and faster at checking whether website security certificates are valid. That means quicker loading with no compromise on security.
Tamed History API
Ever been to a website which decided to ruin your browser's history, perhaps by making getting back difficult with lots of unneeded history Firefox 135 prevents this from occurring by disallowing websites from overflowing your history. Hence, navigating stays smooth, just the way it should.
Minor Interface Prettifications, Privacy Enhancements
Beyond that major feature lie several welcome niceties to Firefox's user interface and how Firefox treats your privacy.
New Tab Page Refresh
Remember that redesigned New Tab layout It is now rolling out to everyone, complete with "story cards" and a layout that adapts to bigger screens. The result is visually appealing and much more informative.
Linux/macOS Tab Closing Shortcut
A minor but welcome tweak for Linux and macOS users. You can use the "Quit" shortcut for closing a single tab, when multiple tabs are open.
Simplified Privacy Control
It does away with the older "Do Not Track" checkbox. To signal privacy preference to the website, use Global Privacy Control setting. That will provide you a more uniform way of requesting data privacy.
"Copy Clean Link" is Here to Stay
Remember that "Copy Clean Link" feature in the right-click menu Renamed, and here to stay in Firefox, it automatically removes tracking bits from website links so you can share cleaner - and private - URLs. And now, it even works on plain text links
For the Developers Out There
Firefox 135 showers developers with some love, too, in the form of updated tools and web platform features: warnings for misuse of content visibility; a handy $ console command to dig into shadow roots; and fixes for WebExtension debugging. On Linux, Firefox updates will be faster thanks to XZ compression on the Linux binaries.
The Big Picture
Firefox 135 is a balanced update. This is not just about adding new flashy AI features but thoughtfully integrating new technologies into the browser while doubling down on what Firefox has been known for: user privacy, security, and customizability of browsing. Mozilla's work will unmistakably make Firefox a robust and relevant option amidst ever-evolving browsers.
