Firefox 61 builds on Firefox Quantum, adds Tab Warming, WebExtensions, and TLS 1.3

After releasing Firefox 60 last month, Mozilla has launched Firefox 61 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android devices. This release builds on Firefox Quantum, adding even more power to Quantum CSS by parallelizing the parsing step. This is especially beneficial to websites with large stylesheets and complex layouts.

UI changes

Firefox 61 now ships with an accessibility inspector that lets developers easily make pages for users with accessibility requirements.

The new-look Console UI has been enabled by default for the Browser Console & Browser Toolbox. CSS variables now autocomplete with color swatches, allowing developers to see exactly what color value is stored in each variable

The main toolbox's toolbar has also been redesigned. Highlights are better responsiveness for narrow and wide viewports with a new overflow dropdown and sortable tabs.

The Network Monitor's main toolbar got redesigned to be more responsive on smaller viewports and visually aligned with the Console. It also includes a Throttling dropdown which throttles network speed to emulate various different network speed conditions.

Performance improvements

Tab management gets a boost in Firefox 61, with the new Tab warming feature which allows users to manage browser tabs more effectively. Tab Warming will watch the user's mouse cursor and start painting content inside a tab whenever the user hovers his/her mouse over one.

There is also faster page rendering with Quantum CSS improvements and the new retained display list feature. Moreover, Firefox 61 now has retained display lists which means users can quickly access the pages they visit more frequently.

WebExtensions now run in their own process on MacOS. They can now hide tabs and manage the behavior of the browser when a tab is opened or closed.

Users are also provided a convenient access to more search engines. Users can add their favorite search engines to the address bar with the “Search with” tool. MacOS users can also share the URL of an active tab from the page actions menu in the address bar.

Security Updates

Firefox 61 on all four platforms have provided support for TLS 1.3, the latest version of Transport Layer Security (TLS). TLS 1.3 brings major improvements in security, privacy, and performance. It only includes support for algorithms with no known vulnerabilities and is also able to negotiate a secure session within a single round-trip.

Read the release notes for a complete list of updates. Mozilla has also released the Firefox 61 changelog specifically catering to developers.

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