Mozilla Firefox 98.0: here is what is new

Mozilla released Firefox 98.0 Stable and Firefox 91.7.0 ESR on March 8, 2022. Firefox 98 gets the new downloading experience among other changes.

All Firefox channels get updated around the same time. Firefox Beta and Developer are moved to version 99.0, Firefox Nightly is upgraded to version 100.0, and Firefox for Android is also moved to version 98.0.

Executive Summary

• Firefox 98.0 and Firefox 91.7 ESR fix security issues.
• The new download behavior is enabled in the release. Note: "always ask" download actions will be reset.
• Some Firefox users may have their selected default search engine removed from the browser.

Firefox 98.0 download and update

Firefox 98.0's release date is March 8, 2022. Mozilla rolls out the update to all systems on that day. Firefox's built-in updating system should pick up the new version automatically once it is released (which may happen some time after the publication of this release guide).

Firefox users may check the current version and run a manual check for updates on all desktop systems by selecting Menu > Help > About Firefox. Updates that are found during the check will be downloaded and installed on the local system.

Here are the links to the official download repositories.

• Firefox Stable download
• Firefox Beta download
• Nightly download
• Firefox ESR download
• Firefox for Android on Google Play

Firefox 98.0 new features and improvements

New Download flow

The main new feature in Firefox 98 is the new download flow of the browser. The core difference between the old downloading behavior and the new is that Firefox won't prompt users anymore when downloads are started. Firefox will start the download immediately, similarly to how Chromium-based browsers handle it. You can check out our guide on restoring download prompts in Firefox.

Here are the main changes:

• The downloads panel is displayed automatically in Firefox 98 by default.
• Downloads may be opened while they still download. They are started immediately after the download completes then.
• File downloads are no longer put into the system's temp folder.
• The downloads menu displays the following options: always open similar files, show in folder, go to download page, copy download link, delete, remove from history and clear preview panel.

Some Firefox users may prefer to display download prompts, and Firefox offers two options for that. The first enables prompts for specific file types.

1. Load about:preferences in the Firefox address bar.
2. Scroll down to the Application's group.
3. Use the filter at the top to find a file type.
4. Double-click on its action field to switch the action to "always ask".

Firefox will display a prompt whenever a file of the selected filetype will be downloaded.

The second option is found on the same page. Locate the Downloads section on the page, and switch the Downloads option from "save files to" to "always ask you where to save files".

Other changes

• Firefox may remove default search engines from some user systems; this is only the case if Mozilla did not receive formal permission from the search engine operators to include their search engine into Firefox.

Developer Changes

• The HTML element <dialog> is now enabled by default.
• navigator.registerProtocolHandler() supports registering protocol handlers for FTP, SFTP and FTPS.
• HTMLElement.outerText is supported.
• WebVR API is disabled by default as it is deprecated.
• Extensions that use webReqest are no longer started early during Firefox startup unless they use blocking calls.
• userScripts.register supports cookieStoreId. Extensions may use it to register container-specific user scripts.

Enterprise changes

• PKG for macOS reported that it did not support M1. This is fixed in Firefox 98 and will soon be fixed in Firefox ESR as well.
• Some Outlook Web Access configuration fields did not work properly. This is fixed in Firefox 98, ESR coming soon.
• PDFjs policy may now be used to disable PDF permissions.
• WebsiteFilter policy did not block web pages properly that were displayed after a 301 or 302 redirect took place.
• UserMessaging policy supports the removal of "more from Mozilla" in preferences now.

Known Issues

None listed.

Security updates / fixes

Security updates are revealed after the official release of the web browser. You find the information published here after release.

Outlook

Mozilla Firefox 99 and Mozilla Firefox 91.8.0 ESR will be released on April 5, 2022. It is the last stable version of Firefox before version 100 is reached.

Recently Reviewed Firefox extensions

• uBlock Origin adds support for a dark theme, a new setting to block network activity at browser launch

Recent Firefox news and tips

• Firefox 97.0.2 and Firefox ESR 91.6.1 are out with critical security fixes
• Mozilla appears to be testing new tab page background ads in Firefox Mobile
• 5 years after an issue was filed, Bitwarden fixes its browser extension to support private windows in Firefox
• Mozilla is shutting down its Ideas platform and creating Mozilla Connect instead
• Mozilla is looking into bringing Vertical Tabs for Firefox
• MDN Plus: Mozilla plans to launch premium developer service
• Mozilla removed the classic Print Preview from Firefox (there is still one option)
• Mozilla will replace the default search engine for some Firefox users
• Firefox 97.0.1 fixes issues with TikTok and Hulu
• Users say that Firefox 97 fixes hardware video acceleration issues on Linux

Additional information / sources

• Firefox 98 release notes
• Firefox 98 for Developers
• Firefox for Enterprise 98 - release notes
• Firefox Security Advisories
• Firefox Release Schedule

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