This is a new major version with a lot of changes - too many to list all of them individually. The most important notes about this release:
- Update of the underlying Mozilla code base (Gecko) to v24.0. Because of this change, Pale Moon's version number has jumped from 20 to 24, to keep it in line with the underlying Gecko version (for extension compatibility's sake)
- Update of the Pale Moon icon/logo. As most of you have already seen, the Pale Moon logo has been updated from the previous painted design to a more eye-popping, crisper design. No, you cannot use it for your own purposes, it is © copyrighted.
Special thanks go to Roger Gómez del Casal for providing me with an interesting concept design image to use as a base for it! - Fixes for all relevant security vulnerabilities. With the update to Gecko v24.0, all fixes for newly found security vulnerabilities since Firefox 23-release have been incorporated.
- Many changes and updates in the rendering, scripting and parsing back-end to provide significant improvements in overall browser performance (including the much overrated benchmark scores).
- Addition of a number of HTML5 elements, improving overall HTML5 standards compliance. Curious what all is supported by Pale Moon v24.0? Put it to the test!
- Implementation of the webaudio API (most features that are no longer draft). Webaudio is an emerging standard for the web, useful for e.g. HTML5 games. Pale Moon 24.0 implements all of the basic and some of the more advanced features of webaudio.
- Removal of Tab Groups (Panorama). See also: http://forum.palemoon.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2995
If you actively used this functionality, I have also made an add-on (Mozilla dev sourced, version 0.2) available to restore this feature to the browser. You can also use alternative add-ons if you run into problems with this add-on; for a collection of alternatives go to AMO - Removal of a few additional Accessibility options. Since Pale Moon does not aim to provide accessibility features, the (default off) preferences for them that were left in the Options dialog have been removed. Specifically, this removes:
- Always using cursor navigation within pages. Pale Moon users will normally use a pointing device to use the browser and navigate pages.
- Search for text when I start typing. Potentially a really confusing option since it may make the page jump when typing if you don't have focus on an input field, and incompatible with the current implementation of some HTML5 elements.
- Warn me when websites try to redirect or reload the page. This feature is often misunderstood as a safety/security feature, but that is definitely not the intended purpose of it (it's an accessibility feature for people with special needs display devices where it would be confusing if a page automatically changes). Redirection, forwarding and meta-reloading of pages is a common feature of many web sites (including this very forum!) and should normally be fully transparent. If you want to block redirection by (potentially malicious) scripts, you should have a look at one of the many available Firefox add-ons to help you.
Note: If you still want to turn these options on in Pale Moon, you can do so in about:config by way of the preferences accessibility.browsewithcaret, accessibility.typeaheadfind and accessibility.blockautorefresh, respectively. - Inclusion of an updated version of the Add-on SDK and loader to solve recent issues with SDK/Jetpack add-ons.
Pale Moon now includes its own copy of the Add-on SDK inside the browser, with an updated loader. This should address and fix all of the known compatibility issues with some recently released SDK/Jetpack add-ons. - Adjustment of the Quickdial "new tab" feature to have better layout. The default layout now shows a more convenient and appealing grid than in previous versions, with up to 16 most-visited pages.
- Extension of the address bar shading functionality to more clearly indicate when there is a problem with a secure site. To keep you aware of and alert about potentially broken SSL (secure/encrypted website) connections, Pale Moon 24.0 now shows a red border around the address bar when there is a problem. Problems with SSL are commonly broken SSL encryption and mixed content. Even if you allow mixed active content for a site, Pale Moon will continue to warn you this way that the connection should not be trusted, and that you should be careful about entering any sensitive data.
- New way of handling plugins with control on a per-site basis. An extensive description can be found in this thread.
- Unification of version numbers. x86 and x64 will from this point forward use the same version number (and icon) without an architecture designation. This will solve potential compatibility issues on new major versions, as well as the superfluous compatibility check when switching between x86 and x64 on the same profile.
Pale Moon 24.0 deviates from Firefox in a number of ways. The most important changes are outlined below:
- Pale Moon retains the graphical tab switching pane with quick filter in lieu of the removed Tab Groups feature.
The tab switching pane is accessed from Ctrl+Tab -> Show all {n} tabs or by hitting Ctrl+Shift+Tab - Pale Moon retains the option to hide the tab bar with only one tab. If you prefer to work with multiple, single-page windows, you won't be wasting any screen space. Like in Firefox versions prior to 23, there is an option to "Always show the tab bar" in your Options -> Tabs pane to control this feature.
- Pale Moon retains and expands on the browser-wide option to load images in web pages. In your Options -> Content pane, you will find options to apply to the browser overall:
- Load images automatically: loads images in web pages automatically (the default) if the are not otherwise blocked per-site
- Never load images: prevent images from loading, e.g. very useful for very slow wireless/sat connections or on tightly-metered connections to save bandwidth and allowed internet volume
- Originating server only: only loads images from the website you are visiting, and doesn't load images from other sites. Your results may vary with this option selected
In addition, you can fine-tune this behavior per-site by checking "Page info" (in the right-click menu of a page) -> Permissions -> "Load images" - More recovery options in the safe mode dialog box. Contrary to Firefox which only allows you to start in safe mode or to completely reset your user profile, Pale Moon offers you a number of options for troubleshooting without having to completely reset or do advanced troubleshooting in safe mode manually. You will have the option to Disable all add-ons and start the browser that way, Reset toolbars and controls (if the UI is messed up), Reset the bookmarks database in case of serious corruption, Reset all user preferences, and reset search providers in case they got corrupted or hijacked.
Resetting your profile is instead done from Help -> Troubleshooting information after you have started the browser, in case of serious trouble (hopefully you won't need this very often
). - Pale Moon retains the "Send Link" "Send Page" options for quick sending of a URL in your default e-mail client. This saves you from having to manually copy and paste the URL of a page.
- Pale Moon displays secure sites differently than Firefox - for a more in-depth explanation, see this post.
- No WebRTC. Pale Moon does not include WebRTC functionality.
Both by popular vote and because it would go beyond the scope of a web browser, WebRTC is not included in Pale Moon. Pale Moon aims to remain a web browser and not become a pseudo-voice/video chat client; there are plenty of dedicated programs out there for that purpose already. In addition, it's not even a W3C recommendation or part of any standard at the moment. - No Telemetry, no Health Report. Pale Moon values your privacy and will not collect, store or send any data about the browser's behavior (and as a result, your browsing behavior) anywhere.