Firefox 82.0.0 and 78.4.0 ESR released

[German]Mozilla's developers have released version 82.0.0 and the 78.4.0 ISR of the Firefox browser on October 20, 2020. This is a new development branch of the browser, which brings some innovations, fixes bugs and closes some vulnerabilities rated as high.

Firefox 82.0.0

The release notes says about version 82.0.0, that Firefox introduces a number of improvements, which make watching videos even more pleasant:

• The picture-in-picture button has a new look and position, making it easier for users to find and use the function.
• Picture-In-Picture now has a shortcut key for Mac users (Option + Command + Shift + right parenthesis) that works before users start playing the video.
• For Windows users, Firefox now uses DirectComposition for hardware decoded video, which improves CPU and GPU usage during video playback and extends battery life.

The developers also promise that Firefox will be faster than ever before, with improved performance in both page loading and startup time:

• Websites that use Flexbox-based layouts load 20% faster than before;
• Session recovery is 17% faster, which means users can pick up where they left off faster;
• For Windows users, opening new windows is 10% faster.

Also new is that you can save new articles to Pocket via the Firefox toolbar and read them later. WebRender is also offered to more Firefox users on Windows. Changes have been made to the following features:

• Automatic credit card filling is now more accessible via the card type, and the card number in the card editor is now available for screen readers. 
• Print dialog errors for invalid form entries are now reported to screen readers.

The colleagues from German site deskmodder.de found some more changes here:

• Issuces with synchronization of settings and top page were fixed
• PDF display has been revised and minor errors corrected
• Firefox now displays a hint when a download is blocked. If Firefox has determined that the download is unsecure/unwanted.
• In the menu of the Send tab, which is available from the toolbar button of the Firefox account, there is now an entry to manage devices

For developers there are some changes which can be read in the release notes. Furthermore several vulnerabilities have been fixed in version 82.0.0, some of them are classified as High.

Firefox 78.4.0 esr

An update of Firefox 78.4.0 esr with one year long term support with the same fixed vulnerabilities was also offered. Firefox 82.0.0 and 78.4.0 esr can be downloaded from this website (the variant can be selected from the displayed list boxes). The updates are also available for direct download.

• Firefox 82.0.0: Download Installer
• Firefox 78.3.0 esr: Download Installer