Mozilla Firefox 121 has been released, and it’s a notable one for Linux Wayland users.
For the Ubuntu 23.10 release, the Firefox Snap runs in Wayland mode by default (and like many of you I’ve noticed nothing but bountiful benefits resulting from the switch).
Mozilla’s workshop elves were clearly happy with the success of that trial as they’ve now chosen to make Firefox 121 run in Wayland mode by default for all Linux users (who use Wayland; the browser runs under Xorg/X11 as well as it ever did).
Why is Firefox enabling native Wayland mode by default a big deal? And how does that mode differ to the xWayland mode the browser has been running in on Wayland sessions prior to this release?
- Better graphics performance
- Non-blurry rendering on HiDPI displays/fractional scaling
- Per-monitor DPI settings respected
- Full support for touchpad and touchscreen gestures
Plus:
- It’s embracing the future ✨
Okay, so that bullet point isn’t something Mozilla is talking up but, as a Linux users, it’s clear that Wayland is the future for modern, secure, performant display server needs on Linux.
The days of Wayland being a “someday” feature, off in the distance, obscured by wisps of hope and concern, are gone. It’s here, it’s in use, it’s where the momentum and demand are at, and it’s bringing cool new things with it, like HDR support to Linux.
And for Mozilla Firefox to continue giving us all a solid, dependable, and integrated experience on Linux, it has to keep pace with technological changes.
Sidetracked there, sorry 😅.
Other notable changes in Firefox 121:
- New option to force-underline links in websites
- Easier to delete drawings/text/images when editing PDFs
- Support for Voice Control commands on macOS
- Prompts users to install Microsoft AV1 Extension on Windows
Linux-specific bug fixes include:
Firefox 121 boasts further expansion to its web platform capabilities, including support for hanging & each-line keywords in the CSS text-indent property, and support for text-wrap: balance to ‘harmonize’ line lengths in short, multi-line text blocks.
Download Firefox 121
I think that covers the bulk of the changes here, but if you happen to notice something I didn’t, do let me know by leaving a comment down in, well the comments section.
Otherwise, look out for an update to Mozilla Firefox 121 on your system in the next day or so. It’ll come as an in-app update (existing Firefox users on Windows and macOS, Linux binary users); a background update (users of the Firefox Snap); or as a repo update (users of PPAs, AUR, etc).
Alternatively, you can download Mozilla Firefox from the official website.
