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: <small>''[[Firefox]] redirects here. For the novel and film of this title, see [[Firefox (novel and film)]]. For other uses, see [[Firefox (disambiguation)]].''</small>

: <small>''[[Firefox]] redirects here. For the novel and film of this title, see [[Firefox (novel and film)]]. For other uses, see [[Firefox (disambiguation)]].''</small>

'''Mozilla Firefox''' is a free, [[open source]] web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation.  The software is licensed under the ''Mozilla Public License version 2.0'' and is one of the main competitors of [[Microsoft]]'s [[Internet Explorer]], along with [[Google Chrome]].

'''Mozilla Firefox''' is a free, [[open source]] web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation.  The software is licensed under the ''Mozilla Public License version 2.0.'' As the second most popular web browser in the world, it is the main competitor of [[Google Chrome]].<ref>https://www.netmarketshare.com/browser-market-share.aspx</ref>

In 2017, Mozilla's Project Quantum developed a new browser engine. A developer edition of the browser with this new engine was released in September 2017<ref>https://hacks.mozilla.org/2017/09/firefox-quantum-developer-edition-fastest-firefox-ever/</ref> with a general release taking place two months later. This new engine is at least twice as fast as the old gecko engine, and still uses less system memory that Chromium.<ref>https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/quantum/</ref><ref name="blog quantum engine">https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2017/09/26/firefox-quantum-beta-developer-edition</ref>

In 2017, Mozilla's Project Quantum developed a new browser engine. A developer edition of the browser with this new engine was released in September 2017<ref>https://hacks.mozilla.org/2017/09/firefox-quantum-developer-edition-fastest-firefox-ever/</ref> with a general release taking place two months later. This new engine is at least twice as fast as the old gecko engine, and still uses less system memory that Chromium.<ref>https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/quantum/</ref><ref name="blog quantum engine">https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2017/09/26/firefox-quantum-beta-developer-edition</ref>

==Advantages==

==Advantages==

Mozilla Firefox is a fast, stable browser with plenty of options. As a product of Mozilla's sizable open source community, it is unlikely to contain any major bugs. It also can be customized with a variety of addons from Mozilla's library.  Third party plugins may also be added to the browser. Firefox has also been showing an interest in security lately.  They have been making security-motivated changes, some of which are not found in Chromium and other competitors.<br />

Mozilla Firefox is a fast, stable browser with plenty of options. It is continually being updated, patched and improved. It can also be customized with a variety of addons from Mozilla's library.  Third party plugins may also be added to the browser. Firefox has also been showing an interest in security lately.  They have been making security-motivated changes, some of which are not found in Chromium and other competitors.<br />

With the development of the new "quantum" engine, this browser has apparently improved its performance significantly.<ref name="blog quantum engine"/>

With the development of the new "quantum" engine, this browser has apparently improved its performance significantly.<ref name="blog quantum engine"/>

==Market penetration==

==Market penetration==

Since its original release in 2002, Firefox had a continued increase in the market share of web browsers until 2009, then a small decline due to competition from [[Google Chrome]].  Exact numbers are difficult to determine, but as of November 2012 worldwide, Firefox had a 24% share,<ref>[http://marketshare.hitslink.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=0 Browser market share]</ref> and as of November 2012, 28.5% in Europe.<ref>[http://en.atinternet.com/Resources/Surveys/Browser-Barometer/Browser-Barometer-April-2011/index-1-2-3-236.aspx AT Internet Institute - Article]</ref>  By spring 2016, however, the browser's market share had dropped off to just over 15%.<ref>https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/05/firefox-overtakes-microsoft-internet-explorer-edge-browsers-first-time-statcounter/</ref>

Since its original release in 2002, Firefox had a continued increase in the market share of web browsers until 2009, then a small decline due to competition from [[Google Chrome]].  Exact numbers are difficult to determine, but as of November 2012 worldwide, Firefox had a 24% share,<ref>[http://marketshare.hitslink.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=0 Browser market share]</ref> and as of November 2012, 28.5% in Europe.<ref>[http://en.atinternet.com/Resources/Surveys/Browser-Barometer/Browser-Barometer-April-2011/index-1-2-3-236.aspx AT Internet Institute - Article]</ref>  By spring 2016, however, the browser's market share had dropped off to just over 15%.<ref>https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/05/firefox-overtakes-microsoft-internet-explorer-edge-browsers-first-time-statcounter/</ref> Through heavy advertising and promotion, Google has continued to take market share from Mozilla and other competitors.

The browser is officially supported in over 70 languages,<ref>[http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all.html Firefox International Versions]</ref> and is available for the different versions of Microsoft [[Windows]], [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] Mac [[OS X]], and [[Linux]] operating systems.  Unofficial builds are available for Sun Microsystems Solaris, BSD, and other operating systems.

The browser is officially supported in over 70 languages,<ref>[http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all.html Firefox International Versions]</ref> and is available for the different versions of Microsoft [[Windows]], [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] Mac [[OS X]], and [[Linux]] operating systems.  Unofficial builds are available for Sun Microsystems Solaris, BSD, and other operating systems.

==See also==

==See also==

* [[Tails (operating system)]] and [[TOR]] [[Firefox]] [[browser]] [[encryption]] for [[Internet]] [[anonymity]] to protect [[unalienable rights]]

* [[Tails (operating system)]] and [[TOR]] [[Firefox]] [[browser]] [[encryption]] for [[Internet]] [[anonymity]] to protect [[unalienable rights]]

==References==

==References==