How to Check Add-on Compatibility with Firefox 57 or Later

Firefox 57, which is scheduled for release this November, will bring some pretty large changes to the browser, including one that might, potentially, break compatibility with some popular add-ons that many of us find indispensable in our solar day-to-twenty-four hours usage. With Mozilla moving abroad from XPCOM and XUL, the foundations of Firefox'south thriving add-ons eco-system, the browser will simply support a new extension API called 'WebExtensions', catastrophe compatibility with XUL overlay extensions, bootstrapped extensions, SDK extensions and even Embedded WebExtensions. Equally a dedicated Firefox user always since its Netscape Navigator days back in the mid-nineties, the idea that some of my honey add-ons may become obsolete in a matter of weeks is a biting pill to consume, but there are workarounds that yous can employ to buy yourself some time earlier they get outdated. In this article today, nosotros'll tell you exactly why Mozilla is deprecating XUL extensions, how you can check add-on compatibility with Firefox 57, and how you can proceed using legacy extensions even after Firefox 57 ends back up for the XUL and XPCOM for good.

Why is Mozilla Catastrophe Support for XUL With Firefox 57?

According to statements released earlier this year by Mozilla, implementing the WebExtensions API will help Firefox in a lot of ways, although, many in the developer and ability-user communities are not convinced. First-off, according to Ken Needham, Mozilla's Firefox desktop manager, the primary reason the browser is abandoning XPCOM and XUL is security and stability. According to him, the fact that much of the Firefox lawmaking is in JavaScript has been a huge advantage for the browser in terms of making it much more customizable than any of its competitors, simply information technology besides makes the browser inherently insecure from malware and other security threats. He  farther said, "Add together-ons take complete admission to Firefox's internal implementation. This lack of modularity leads to many issues. Add-ons can too cause Firefox to crash when they use APIs in unexpected ways".

WebExtensions, the new application programming interface (API) that Firefox has already adopted and will be the sole basis for its add-ons from Firefox 57, is also compatible with Blink, which is Google'southward fork of Apple tree's open source WebKit browser engine that's currently used by Safari and forms the basis of other pop browsers, such as Chrome and Opera, with the latter abandoning its Presto browser engine in favour of WebKit a while dorsum. The Blink-compatibility will allow developers to hands port their Chrome add together-ons to Firefox without having to alter the lawmaking too much, which is yet another reason for the shift, according to Mozilla. So whether you like it or not, you'll have to bargain with this alter.

Cheque Which Add-ons Are Compatible with Firefox 57 or Later

• To check if your Add together-ons are compatible with Firefox 57 and after, click on the hamburger carte on the top-right of your Firefox window, and so, click on 'Add-ons'.

• On the resultant screen, click on the 'Extensions' choice every bit shown in the image below.

At present you tin see XUL and other extensions labelled with a yellow 'Legacy' tag, while the ones that have already migrated over to the WebExtension API volition have no such marking and, will proceed to work every bit usual even with Firefox 57 and later on.

How to Keep Using Legacy Extensions

If y'all actually want to keep using a particular extension whose developer hasn't yet migrated over to WebExtensions or is unlikely to do and so in the hereafter, what you can do is switch over to Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release), which is largely aimed at organizations and enterprises that value compatibility over features. ESR releases may not go updated with new features, only they do continue to receive all security patches until the release of the next ESR version. The current ESR release is Firefox 52, and information technology will continue to receive security updates until adjacent June, and then you can continue using your legacy extensions till then without whatsoever concerns about security. Information technology won't be a permanent solution, merely will buy you some time to evaluate your options going forward.

SEE Likewise: How to Apply Firefox Send to Transport Self-Destructing Files

Check Add-on Compatibility with Firefox 57 or After

While Firefox'southward motion has attracted a large number of song and influential critics, the organization is yet going ahead with the proposed changes as planned. Then whether y'all like it or not, at to the lowest degree some of your favorite add-ons may not exist usable any more than by the stop of this year. Sure, you lot can shift to the ESR version, but you lot'll still be living on borrowed time, because the respite is but going to be temporary and not permanent. So do you recollect the changes will alienate developers and users? Will Firefox lose a chunk of its users, or do yous believe die-hard Firefox users volition go along to support the browser if just for ideological reasons? Do allow us know what you lot think well-nigh the issue, because we love hearing from y'all.

Source: https://beebom.com/how-check-add-on-compatibility-firefox-57-later/

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