Firefox hits 40 with new look for Windows 10
Mozilla attempts to drag attention away from Edge with new version of Firefox
Mozilla has released Firefox 40, with a fresh lick of paint to style the browser specifically for Windows 10. The new browser comes amid complaints from Mozilla that Microsoft is once again promoting its own Edge browser unfairly within Windows.
Firefox 40 makes tweaks to the browser’s design to make it better suited to Windows 10 devices, although you would be hard pressed to spot them at first glance. The browser has been made more touch friendly, with bigger close buttons on each tab and the main browser Window. Mozilla has also boosted the size of the address and search bars to make them easier to prod, and there’s improved support for high DPI screens.
There are security enhancements in the new browser, too. Users will now get an on-screen warning if they attempt to download software that Mozilla has identified as malicious, and there’s also a warning if you attempt to install a browser extension that hasn’t been signed by Mozilla. Such extensions will be outright blocked in the next version of Firefox.
With Firefox 40, Mozilla is also doing its level best to drag attention away from Microsoft’s new Edge browser. Mozilla’s CEO has attacked Microsoft for over-riding user preferences and installing Edge as the default browser when users perform an in-place upgrade to Windows 10. Now his browser makes it very clear how to revert to the status quo, with a tab appearing when Firefox 40 is first installed showing users how to make Firefox the default browser.
Firefox is also dragging customers away from Bing. “Firefox also helps you preserve your choice when using the search field on the Windows 10 taskbar to search the web,” reads a post on the Mozilla blog. “When using this search field, Windows 10 launches your default browser but only shows search results in Microsoft Bing. When you have Firefox set as your default browser on Windows 10, all your Web searches from the taskbar search field will show results in the default search engine you choose in Firefox.”
Firefox 40 is available now. The browser automatically updates to the latest version.