BERLIN: Mozilla has given Firefox a major overhaul, adding better protection against websites that track your browsing habits, a handy PDF viewer that can combine multiple docs and a built-in VPN that now lets you pick specific locations.
Perhaps the most visually significant change to the browser is on the start page. Here, you can now select your own background images. To do this, you click on a new pencil icon at the bottom right of the page.
The new start layout, arriving on version 151 in late May, is also intended to serve as the basis for new widgets and improved quick-access features, though those are not expected to arrive until version 152.
The current Firefox update to version 151 brings other new features, including changes to windows opened for private browsing.
There, you can now end a private session immediately – deleting all data – without having to close the window. To do this, you click the new flame icon to the right of the address bar and instantly start a new private session.
The Mozilla Foundation also said it had improved the browser's enhanced tracking protection. Websites should as a result be able to read significantly less information about a user's device and browser – a practice known as fingerprinting.
The browser's PDF viewer has also been updated and it can now merge multiple PDF files into a single document.
The integrated VPN function now allows users to select their location (that is, the country from which their data traffic appears to others to originate). Alternatively, users can let the browser automatically recommend the most suitable connection.
Users can check which browser version they have installed via the settings menu under Help/About Firefox. From there, the update can also be triggered manually once it becomes available. – dpa
