Is Pale Moon up-to-date?

Frequently Asked Questions about the Pale Moon browser and their answers.
User avatar
Moonchild
Pale Moon guru
Pale Moon guru
Posts: 35404
Joined: 2011-08-28, 17:27
Location: Motala, SE
Contact:

Is Pale Moon up-to-date?

Unread post by Moonchild » 2014-07-05, 09:55

I actually feel a little silly having to write this FAQ entry, because Pale Moon is actively developed and as such kept up-to-date. But hey, it's frequently asked!

Is Pale Moon up-to-date?

Yes, it certainly is.
Pale Moon is actively developed. The confusion is apparently present because Pale Moon has a lower major version number than its sibling Firefox.
A few points:
  • Security: Pale Moon is kept updated with the latest applicable security patches that make it into the Mozilla (Firefox/seamonkey/thunderbird/etc.) source code.
  • Version numbers: Pale Moon's version number is what it is because of the version of Firefox it is most compatible with. e.g.: Pale Moon 24.6 is a far cry from Firefox 24.0 in terms of code, and should not be compared with it. It just means that the front-end code is most compatible with Firefox 24 from an add-on point of view.
  • Feature updates: Pale Moon adopts a number of features from later Firefox versions that are considered essential and desired for Pale Moon
  • Divergence: Pale Moon increasingly diverts from what Mozilla is doing to Firefox, and going in its own direction. Versioning of Pale Moon can therefore seem a little confusing since it originally was a fairly close reflection of Firefox with the same version, but it no longer is (and hasn't been for a while).
Version numbers should therefore not be compared to Firefox versions at this point. Firefox's arbitrary, calendar-ruled versioning is a poor reflection of the state of code and state of features.
"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
"Linux makes everything difficult." -- Lyceus Anubite

11ryanc

Re: Is Pale Moon up-to-date?

Unread post by 11ryanc » 2014-07-06, 06:33

Makes since. From a compatibility point of view though, what will Pale Moon be based on once the changes made from Australis enter into Mozilla's ESR channel?

User avatar
Moonchild
Pale Moon guru
Pale Moon guru
Posts: 35404
Joined: 2011-08-28, 17:27
Location: Motala, SE
Contact:

Re: Is Pale Moon up-to-date?

Unread post by Moonchild » 2014-07-06, 07:44

11ryanc wrote:Makes since. From a compatibility point of view though, what will Pale Moon be based on once the changes made from Australis enter into Mozilla's ESR channel?
It will continue to use its own source code tree.
So the short answer is: its own Pale Moon source, a hybrid of older and newer Mozilla code mixed with Pale Moon specific code. The front-end will remain largely v24 compatible because, plainly put, it is a very balanced user interface. It will carry its own GUID for add-on developers and will get its own add-ons website.
Please make a separate thread in a development discussion board on this forum if you want to further discuss "code base" of Pale Moon post 24esr->31esr.
"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
"Linux makes everything difficult." -- Lyceus Anubite

vandidant

Re: Is Pale Moon up-to-date?

Unread post by vandidant » 2014-09-11, 02:21

I just realized today that Firefox is already on version 32 and the interface has become somewhat unusable. Naturally, I was curious why I didn't notice any such crippling changes in Pale Moon or if development was slowing down, so I'm very happy to read the information here that is the best news possible.
Honestly, Pale Moon is the only browser that suits my needs and behaves exactly as I would expect a browser to behave. Thank you Moonchild for keeping Pale Moon up-to-date :thumbup:

Daikun
Lunatic
Lunatic
Posts: 442
Joined: 2013-12-13, 20:54
Location: California

Re: Is Pale Moon up-to-date?

Unread post by Daikun » 2014-09-12, 00:21

vandidant wrote:I just realized today that Firefox is already on version 32 and the interface has become somewhat unusable. Naturally, I was curious why I didn't notice any such crippling changes in Pale Moon or if development was slowing down, so I'm very happy to read the information here that is the best news possible.
I'd recommend checking out this thread, which details what's going on with recent versions of Firefox that are causing it to break.

Moonchild is being careful to make sure that updates are stable and not rushed out the door--a stark contrast to what Mozilla is doing. That's why updates for PM tend to be slower than FF.

Locked