Update: Firefox 55.0 released

[PaulB]

I tried the 64-bit version of Firefox a few releases ago but reverted to 32-bit when I saw that some plugins/extensions/whatever no longer worked. Is this still a concern when going from 32- to 64-bit Firefox?

[HansV]

Extensions should (ideally) work in both versions. Mozilla has been working on deprecating plugins for a while, and on making 64-bit the default, so the situation might be better now Version 55 is the first version for which the full download defaults to 64-bit. The only plugins allowed in 64-bit Firefox, however, are Flash Player and Silverlight.

[HansV]

The idea is to download and install the 64-bit version first. That way, all your settings etc. will be preserved, and the 32-bit version will still be present, so you can run both to see how it works out. If you're satisfied with the 64-bit version, you can uninstall the 32-bit version.

[Argus]

[Was writing a reply, but see that Hans has answered about plugins, I'll add my reply to the thread anyhow with some links about extensions in the future.]

It may depend on whether you're talking about plugins or extensions (Add-ons are: plugins, extensions, themes etc. I do agree with whatever. )

What I've heard was that the 64-bit Firefox only could run Flash Player and Silverlight plugins. No such difference with extensions.

Anyhow, no matter what, there is a big change coming with Firefox 57, planned for release in November. Then Firefox will only run what they call WebExtension. Legacy add-ons will be disabled. It seems many developers, such as the one behind NoScript, are migrating their projects to the new WebExtensions APIs.

Some reading:
https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2017/02 ... ilestones/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2017/08 ... ions-apis/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.ghacks.net/2017/04/27/if-fi ... ompatible/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[HansV]

Thanks, Argus. Very useful information.

[StuartR]

My Firefox now seems to be 64 bit and I still have the following addon extensions working...

AdBlock Plus
HTTPS Everywhere
DuckDuckGo
IBM Security Rapport
Roboform

[PaulB]

Thanks, StuartR, good to know.

[HansV]

The ones marked LEGACY will have to be converted to WebExtensions (they are probably working on it). Current plans are that such extensions won't work anymore in Firefox 57 and later (both 32-bit and 64-bit).

[John Gray]

"Old Firefox add-ons get 'dead man walking' call
After version 57, plugins go to browser heaven"

Article from The Register.

[Leif]

I am keeping both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions for now, but after several days of being utterly confused by the apparent randomness of versions 54 and 55 opening up, I now realise have to change my 'default program' for hyperlinks from Firefox, to er... Firefox

[HansV]