Firefox 52 Review 2017

Mozilla released its new stable release browser update, Firefox 52, on March 7, 2017. This is the second major update in 2017. There was nothing notable in terms of new features in this browser update, but there was one major change. NPAPI support has been removed, for Firefox plugins except for Adobe Flash. NPAPI or Netscape Plugins API is a plugins infrastructure, that was developed way back in 1995, for the Netscape browser, on which Mozilla built Firefox. This change was announced, by Mozilla, back in October 2015 via their blog. Due to the age of the API and security issues, as well as, the adoption of plugin-free web technologies such as HTML5, major web browser vendors, began to phase out NPAPI support, back in 2013. In fact, in September 2015, Google permanently dropped NPAPI support in Chrome 45. On March 7, 2017, Mozilla also updated its ESR (Extended Support Release) version of Firefox. The ESR version is used by large organization and receives major updates only about once a year. If you absolutely need to use NPAPI plugins, in Firefox, you will still be able to use the ESR version, which will continue to support NPAPI plugins. In Firefox 51, Mozilla had introduced a new warning signal when visiting websites that do not have a secure connection. They enhanced this security feature in Firefox 52 and users will now see a warning message in login fields, if it is not a secure website. The Firefox Sync feature was also improved. You can now send and open tabs, from one device to another. In FF52, you will find an improved experience for managing your downloads. In the Downloads area, you will now have quick access to 5 recent downloads, instead of 3. You will also find larger CANCEL and RESTART buttons. These were some of the notable changes in Firefox 52, but there were few others which you can check the release notes in the link provided below. When FF51 was released in January 2017, I was encouraged with the results when comparing overall performance, of Firefox 50 vs 51. The Browsermark benchmark test results on FF52 showed a slight decline, in overall performance, though not by much. Comparatively, Google Chrome continues to outperform Firefox, based on these results. - Firefox Download Page: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/ - Firefox 52 Release Notes: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/52.0/releasenotes/ - Firefox Extended Support Release: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/ CREDITS: Firefox information and logos used under Creative Commons License Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) | Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks, or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries | Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission | Computer and Laptop graphic are public domain via Pixabay.com | Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. - Browser Benchmark Tests Performed Using: http://web.basemark.com/ - The Future of NPAPI-based Plugins in Firefox: https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2015/10/08/npapi-plugins-in-firefox/ MUSIC CREDITS: Song Title: Universal by Vibe Tracks Source: YouTube Music Library (Permission to use for commercial purposes on YouTube monetized videos)