Mozilla Firefox 96.0 was released today. The new release focuses on performance and security improvements.

Firefox 96.0 significantly reduced the main-thread load, improved noise suppression and automatic gain control for better overall experience.

It now enforces the Cookie Policy: Same-Site=lax by default which helps defend against Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attacks.

The release also fixed some issues, including video quality degradation issues on certain sites, issue where WebRTC downgrades screen sharing resolution, and video intermittently drops SSRC. As well, there are various security fixes.

And for developers, Firefox 96 adds WebP image encoder support for canvas.

Firefox Dark

How to Install Firefox 96 in Ubuntu Linux:

For Ubuntu 21.10+ using the pre-installed Firefox as Snap, it updates automatically and user should now have v96.0.

For those using the native .deb version, the best choice is wait! The official Ubuntu build will be available in next few days. At that time, open “Software Updater” to upgrade the Firefox package.

Firefox website also provides Linux package via portable tarball. Extract and run the executable file within the source will launch the web browser:

Mozilla Firefox web browser 95.0 was released today with security and performance improvements.

The release introduced new RLBox sandboxing technology that uses WebAssembly to isolate potentially-buggy code. And, it’s enabled by default on all platforms (desktop and mobile) to protect users from accidental defects as well as supply-chain attacks.

For Windows 10 and Windows 11, Firefox now is available in Microsoft Store for easy install. MacOS user now has less CPU usage during event processing, and less power usage when decoding video (e.g., streaming Netflix and Amazon Prime Video).

Firefox in Microsoft Store

Other changes in Firefox 95 include:

• Picture-in-Picture (pop out video) now has option to toggle buttons to left/right.
• Enable site isolation for all users to protect against side-channel attacks such as Spectre.
• Faster content process startup on macOS.
• Improved page load performance.
• Various bug-fixes.

How to Get Firefox 95 in Ubuntu Linux:

For Ubuntu 21.10 with the pre-installed Firefox as Snap, user should now has the latest release since it updates automatically. Other Ubuntu releases may search for and install it from Ubuntu Software (snapcraft.io/firefox).

For those prefer the classic DEB package (defaults in Ubuntu 21.04 & earlier), just wait and Ubuntu will publish the package in next few days. At that time, either use ‘Software Updater‘ or run command below will upgrade the Firefox package:

sudo apt upgrade

Mozilla also provides Linux tarball in its website. User may just extract it and click run the executable file to launch the web browser. Along with the release note, get it from the link below:

Vivaldi web browser released version 5.0 today with exciting new features.

The release makes it easy to change the app UI appearance via themes. Vivaldi comes with some themes with different colors, background image, blur, transparency and other settings. User may edit or create new theme easily with the built-in editor.

Vivaldi built-in themes & editor

And in ‘Themes’ setting page, it provides option to export theme into zip archive. So your friends may easily get the same Vivaldi appearance by opening the Zip archive in settings.

The browser now has built-in translation support powered by Lingvanex. By clicking on the icon from left panel, user may translate any text selection to the native language automatically by enabling ‘Auto-translate selected text’ option.

And according to the release note, only Vivaldi servers are involved, meaning you don’t have to share what you read with Big Tech’s ‘prying eyes’.

Other change in Vivaldi 5.0 include:

• Additional way of showing downloads.
• Provide rpm packages for ARM / ARM64.
• Two-Level Tab Stacks on mobile and tablets.
• Handle page actions as commands
• Add parameter to search with selection command: to specify search engine
• Add option to not show Calendar notifications.
• Add Oauth support for Office365/Outlook in built-in Mail.

How to get Vivaldi:

The official download page offers Linux DEB for both 64-bit PC and arm64 machines (e.g., Raspberry Pi).

Vivaldi also has an official apt repository, with it you can install the browser and get future updates through Software Updater utility.

Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or by searching for terminal from application menu. When it opens, run following commands one by one:

1. Download and install the repository key:

wget -qO- https://repo.vivaldi.com/archive/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add -

Typer user password when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.

2. Add Vivaldi repository via command:

sudo add-apt-repository 'deb https://repo.vivaldi.com/archive/deb/ stable main'

3. Finally check updates and install the web browser via command:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install vivaldi-stable

Or upgrade from an old version via Software Updater utility.