#firefox 6

Go to about:config and search for browser.urlbar.formatting.enabled

Toggle it from True to False and restart your browser

After a false start, Firefox 6 has been officially released.

Though many tech sites, including PCMag, published news of its release over the weekend, Mozilla had only made code available from its FTP servers, a standard practice leading up to a release. But in accordance with Mozilla's recently adopted rapid release schedule, version 6 debuts only 12 weeks after its predecessor and only includes whatever updates are ready for that schedule. Whereas in the past, a new full-number Firefox version meant almost a completely new browser, Mozilla's new approach means there's a lot less in the way of new features with each increase in version.

But that's not to say Firefox 6 brings nothing to the party. In fact, a look at its complete change log reveals a significant total of 1,300 changes and fixes. One that end users may notice include URL highlighting, which, like Internet Explorer 9 and Google Chrome, shows the domain name in darker font than the rest of a page's address. The other visual change, though not major, is in the "site identity block"—the area to the left of a Web pages address that indicates whether it's a secure. Mouse clicking on this shows if a page is encrypted, verified, who owns it, and who verified it.

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Also newly available to users is a site-specific privacy feature. This can be accessed by typing "about:permissions" in the address bar, and it lets users specify which sites are allowed to store passwords, get access to your location, set cookies, open popups, and maintain permanent storage. It's a useful new feature, though Mozilla could have made it more accessible in menus.

As the title of the Mozilla blog post announcing Firefox indicates, developers get far more in Firefox 6. New features include support for server-sent Events with EventSource, which will let Web apps perform server push; support for the latest version of WebSockets, which allows persistent connection with a server; a new JavaScript prototyping tool called Scratchpad; a more usable Web Console; and new choices on the Web Developer Menu for easier access to tools.

The Firefox 6 update adds a couple of operational behaviors from which users can benefit: Firefox Sync—which allows syncing of bookmarks, passwords, history, and more—is now offered when you create a bookmark or go to save a password. And users of Firefox's Panorama tab groups should see faster startup times for the browser.

On Tuesday 16th June 2011, Mozilla will be releasing version 6 of their web browser Firefox. However, the final release of Firefox 6 has already appeared on Mozilla's FTP servers. From your browser, you can access the FTP servers and download your copy right now by choosing from the list below:

Windows

Mac

Linux (32-bit)

Linux(64-bit)

You can open the new permissions manager in Firefox by loading about:permissions. Just enter the about page in the location bar and hit the return key afterwards. The screen that shows up should look like this.

The screen that opens up displays the default permissions for all sites accessed in the web browser, and a list of websites and a search form on the left of it. I’m not entirely sure how the list of sites is populated, it seems however that only sites that are visited frequently by the user are included. I will detail how you can set permissions for a specific website if it is not included in that list.

Lets take a look at what the individual permissions allow or deny.

Store Passwords: If your site login can be saved by Firefox. This has no impact on third party log in helpers like Last Pass. It does only affect the default Firefox password manager. This way you can allow or block the storing of passwords on individual sites, or on all sites. Possible Values: Allow OR Block.

Share Location: Firefox supports location-aware browsing. Please note that websites will always be able to detect a computer’s IP address regardless of that setting. If enabled, Firefox will gather additional information and submit them to the site if the site supports it. Possible values: Always Ask OR Block.

Set Cookies: Whether the site or all sites can set cookies. Possible Values: Allow, Session Cookies Only, Block.

Open Pop-up Windows: If a site can open pop-up windows. Sometimes you may encounter a site that you visit regularly that uses pop-ups to display information. You could use the setting to enable pop-ups for that site only, and block pop-ups for all other sites. Possible Values: Allow OR Block.

You can open the new permissions manager in Firefox by loading about:permissions. Just enter the about page in the location bar and hit the return key afterwards. The screen that shows up should look like this.

The screen that opens up displays the default permissions for all sites accessed in the web browser, and a list of websites and a search form on the left of it. I’m not entirely sure how the list of sites is populated, it seems however that only sites that are visited frequently by the user are included. I will detail how you can set permissions for a specific website if it is not included in that list.

Lets take a look at what the individual permissions allow or deny.

Store Passwords: If your site login can be saved by Firefox. This has no impact on third party log in helpers like Last Pass. It does only affect the default Firefox password manager. This way you can allow or block the storing of passwords on individual sites, or on all sites. Possible Values: Allow OR Block.

Share Location: Firefox supports location-aware browsing. Please note that websites will always be able to detect a computer’s IP address regardless of that setting. If enabled, Firefox will gather additional information and submit them to the site if the site supports it. Possible values: Always Ask OR Block.

Set Cookies: Whether the site or all sites can set cookies. Possible Values: Allow, Session Cookies Only, Block.

Open Pop-up Windows: If a site can open pop-up windows. Sometimes you may encounter a site that you visit regularly that uses pop-ups to display information. You could use the setting to enable pop-ups for that site only, and block pop-ups for all other sites. Possible Values: Allow OR Block.

It promises to be 20% faster than the already zippy Version 5.

For 10.10 or earlier.

Terminal

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install firefox

For 11.04

Terminal

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-security/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install firefox

Firefox 6 Beta is Available for Downloads: " Mozilla has pushed out the Firefox 6 beta to the beta channel. The new version contains new security related changes along with several other enhancements to Firefox 5 (Read: Firefox 5 Review).

One of the visual changes included in this version is that, Firefox now highlights the domain name of the website you are visiting while graying out the rest of the URL. This can come in handy to users to quickly find a domain name and avoid phishing attacks.

When you visit a site, it will highlight just the domain name and now the subdomain. So if someone is claiming to be Citibank, it will be easy to spot it out by just looking at the highlighted domain name (see screenshots above). In addition to that, they have also streamlined the site identity block. There are several other new features which have been included in Firefox 6.0 Beta which include:

The address bar now highlights the domain of the website you’re visiting

Streamlined the look of the site identity block

Added support for the latest draft version of WebSockets with a prefixed API

Added support for EventSource / server-sent events

Added support for window.matchMedia

Added Scratchpad, an interactive JavaScript prototyping environment

Added a new Web Developer menu item and moved development-related items into it

Improved usability of the Web Console

Improved the discoverability of Firefox Sync

Reduced browser startup time when using Panorama