Thanks to CedarDave for the ping!!
Posted on 10/23/2017 3:03:26 PM PDT by CedarDave
On November 14 Mozilla will take the biggest gamble in its long history when the organization will ship Firefox 57, the first version of its browser that will stop supporting legacy Firefox add-ons.
This means that starting with Firefox 57 the browser will support only new add-ons written on top of the newer WebExtensions SDK.
All legacy Firefox add-ons written on the old XUL-based Add-Ons SDK will stop working.
In a blog post last week, Mozilla said it will continue to allow developers to upload and list legacy Firefox add-ons on its add-ons portal (AMO), but they'll only show up for users with older browsers and buried in search results under newer WebExtensions-compatible add-ons.
Changes are already being rolled out to AMO and Firefox 57 (currently Firefox's Nightly edition).
The release of Firefox 57 is the end of a two-year-long project that started in August 2015 when Mozilla announced the new WebExtensions API that would eventually replace the older Add-Ons SDK.
The new WebExtensions SDK is also compatible with the universal WebExtensions SDK implemented in Chromium and related browsers such as Brave, Chrome, Opera, and Vivaldi.
Firefox's large collection of legacy add-ons has always been one of Firefox's strongest points and one of the primary reasons the browser has been popular so many years.
When Mozilla announced the new WebExtensions SDK and the death of the old legacy add-ons system, many feared most add-on developers wouldn't bother to migrate their add-ons for the newer WebExtensions API and Firefox would lose most of its add-ons, and its strongest attraction point.
In April 2017, the Mozilla Add-ons Portal listed 18,814 add-ons, but only 2,273 add-ons were WebExtensions-compatible. Currently, this number is at 3,633, which is about 19.3% of all Firefox add-ons.
Old Firefox add-ons get 'dead man walking' call After version 57, plugins go to browser heaven
What does the LEGACY sign on add-ons mean?
Dayglored,
This is not related directly to Windows, but you might want to ping your list anyway given its importance.
Well there’s Brave to go to. FF just may have shot itself in the foot.
Mozilla is apparently now supporting antifa financially according to an article here on FR.
Embrace, then extinguish.
I turn them off anyway.
Firefox is my middle child browser. I use Explorer for business (kinda gotta), Chrome for fun and FF when I need an alternate to either.
Of course I never use Edge no matter how hard Win tries to make me. Edge is the worst browser ever. I will use Opera or Dolphin first.
Brave wants google account, which sux rox. Another alternative, please?
The problem with Brave (https://brave.com/) is they do not support add-ons/extensions though they say they may do so in the future:
https://brave.com/faq/#browser-vs-extension
However, they are at the top of the list in speed and privacy.
I’ve noticed Firefox lagging alot lately. Switched over to Chrome for some sites.
They say not so on their home page but I'm not using as I need Firefox type extensions.
Brave never sees the sites you browse. If you use a search engine such as Google, then anything you type in the search bar will be recorded by Google — but not by Brave servers.
Pale Moon is one alternative as is switching to Firefox ESR until June of next year.
Firefox seems determined to commit suicide. They appear to have fully sold out.
Between wanting to update every few days, and killing off the add ons that make it superior to the spyware browsers.
I’m blocking updates at this point and will stick with it as long as I can. Meanwhile, I’m learning to make do with Brave.
I’m not getting by without mouse gestures, so they can keep this update.
I heard of something called TOR.(??)
Mmm,K - so I heard of something called TOR(???)
Thanks to CedarDave for the ping!!
I just got used to Firefox again due to Windows 10 Edge garbage I refuse to use.
Now I have to find another browser, crap!
Gonna be getting a new desktop PC shortly and will be looking into something different.
Thanks for the heads up on options, ,folks. d:^)
I'm afraid you're right.
Back in the early 90's I switched from SpyGlass (NCSA Mosaic) to Netscape, and from Netscape to Firefox. (Spyglass was bought by Microsoft and became IE.) I've used Firefox ever since because I have to run everyday on Windows, Linux, and Mac computers, and using different browsers with different rules and bookmarks was insane. Firefox was my sanity.
No more, sorry to say. Sic transit.
First, the add-ons were identified as Legacy and wouldn't work; however, a work-around solution (restart in Safe Mode, exit, restart normally) restored them to working. Then, the work-around wouldn't work anymore. A couple of days after that, the Legacy add-ons weren't even listed anymore -- and any attempt to reinstall them was met with a message that the add-on was incompatible and would not be installed.
Well just darn. One of the addons I use is FireFTP. Just checked out its status (I’d never heard of Waterfox):
FireFTP is a free, secure, cross-platform FTP/SFTP client for Waterfox which provides easy and intuitive access to FTP/SFTP servers.
Check out my new project, FireSSH!After 13 years and 25 million downloads later, Firefox has officially removed FireFTP and FireSSH support from the browser. Thus, I’ve ended support / development of the addons. I recommend switching to Waterfox to continue using the addons.
Along with transferring your files quickly and efficiently, FireFTP also includes more advanced features such as: directory comparison, syncing directories while navigating, SFTP, SSL encryption, search/filtering, integrity checks, remote editing, drag & drop, file hashing, and much more!
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