Windows Help & Advice - UK (2020-04)

T

12 |^ |^ April 2020

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MOZILLA FIREFOX: choose this op en-source

web browser for speed and security

hese days, Google

Chrome reigns supreme

as the desktop browser

used by most, so why do

we prefer to use Firefox?

The pure and simple

reason is choice: Mozilla Firefox is one of

the few browsers left that uses its own

browser engine (Gecko) to render web

pages. Other rivals – Opera, Vivaldi and

even Microsoft Edge – all make use of

Google’s Chromium engine. Following a

single standard is all well and good, but

lack of competition inhibits innovation,

which is why we say stick your colours

to the Mozilla mast.

It helps, of course, that Firefox is a

capable browser in its own right – its

rapid-release cycle means it’s constantly

evolving (although if it changes too

rapidly for your tastes, install Firefox ESR

• Extended Support Release – instead
  from http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/
  enterprise/). Pair it with a Firefox
  account and you can sync your
  bookmarks, history, open tabs and other
  settings between computers and even
  Firefox on your mobile.
  In 2018, Firefox relaunched itself
  as Firefox Quantum, and with the new
  name came a speed boost: performance
  is now on a par with Chrome, removing
  another barrier to switching.

More security and privacy

Firefox’s open-source nature means all

development and changes are

transparent, and it deliberately limits

the amount of data it collects while

pioneering tools and features to

increase your privacy – recent releases

have ramped up built-in protection

against trackers, cookies, fingerprinters

and so-called cryptominers while giving

you greater control over what

permissions you grant to websites.

We also recommend enabling DNS

over HTTPS – another Firefox-pioneered

feature. This increases browsing security

by encrypting the resolution of web

addresses. The feature is hidden away

– open Options > General, then scroll

down and click Settings under Network

Settings. Tick Enable DNS over HTTPS

and leave the default Cloudflare

provider selected before clicking OK.

ALSO CONSIDER: If Firefox doesn’t float

your boat, then now’s a good time to

give Microsoft’s Edge another look – it’s

been completely rewritten using the

Chromium browser engine. Download

your copy from http://www.microsoft.com/

edge now – remember, you can run

multiple browsers side-by-side, so why

not use it as your fallback for those few

websites not optimised for Firefox?

Five essential browser add-ons

Whichever web browser you choose, consider the following three

add-ons essential. First, Bitwarden (www.bitwarden.com) is our

go-to password manager, ensuring all your online accounts are

protected by strong, unguessable passwords – the browser

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potentially dangerous ads, trackers and malware sites with the

help of uBlock Origin (https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock) – don’t

forget to whitelist trusted websites. HTTPS Everywhere (www.eff.

org/https-everywhere) ensures you always get a secure

connection to any website that supports it and doesn’t

automatically redirect you.

Firefox users should check out two further add-ons courtesy of

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blocks all Facebook trackers on third-party websites to prevent it

from spying on your online activity. And secondly, Facebook

Multi-Account Containers lets you create isolated ‘identities’

within Firefox. Each identity is se parate from the others, which

makes it possible to log into a website with two or more different

DFFRXQWVZLWKRXWKDYLQJWRORJRXWRIWKHRWKHUVÀUVW,W·VWKH

perfect way to keep personal and work browsing separate.

Strike one for the little guy by switching your

browser to the fast, powerful and secure Firefox.

Bitwarden makes it easy to manage online

passwords in your web browser.