Mozilla has finally released a 64-bit version of Firefox to its stable channel

Shawn Knight

Shawn Knight

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It's taken nearly a decade but Mozilla has finally released 64-bit version of Firefox for Windows to its stable channel.

Mozilla points out that Firefox 64-bit for Windows offers gains in performance for those running 64-bit systems although it also has limited support for plugins by design. As such, users will notice that some sites requiring plugins that work with 32-bit versions of Firefox may not work with the new 64-bit variant.

As Mozilla has previously stated, it's phasing out support for most NPAPI plugins in Firefox - something it hopes to complete by the end of 2016.

Mozilla has toyed with the idea of a 64-bit version of Firefox for several years, many of which made it to alpha / beta status. In 2012, however, Mozilla elected to halt 64-bit builds entirely due to negative feedback and a frustrating testing experience. Fortunately, the foundation backtracked (albeit quietly) a few months later and resumed development.

As Ars Technica points out, Mozilla promised last year that a 64-bit Windows version would reach the stable channel by the end of 2015. Some thought that was going to happen with the release of Firefox 41 back in September but that intelligence proved inaccurate.

Mozilla did keep its promise in Firefox 43, even if it was with just a couple of weeks to spare. You can pick up the 64-bit version here.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/63169-mozilla-has-finally-released-64-bit-version-firefox.html

 
I already have it.

Shamefully, still no 64-bit Chrome released, only on their Beta channel. May be now Google will finally wake up and release it.
 
VitalyT said:
I already have it.

Shamefully, still no 64-bit Chrome released, only on their Beta channel. May be now Google will finally wake up and release it.
Click to expand...
64-bit chrome has been around for like a year now, I'm pretty sure techspot had an article on it as well.
 
Really?

I have always been using the latest released version of Chrome, v47 at the moment, and it's always been 32-bit. And I can't seem to find the 64-bit version on their official Chrome download page.
 
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VitalyT said:
Tried several times now, the installer always throws a window with this message:

The installer encountered error 0xc0000374.

So much for a stable release...
Click to expand...
I've installed it on several computers, never had any issues. Are you uninstalling the old version of Chrome?
 
Chrome alway seems to install itself somehow. I may not be roman catholic. 64 bit linux version of firefox? Surprised I was able to find documentation to run 32 bit firefox on slackware linux. Ubuntu, which I'm going into for programming iphone apps with swift, might be more picky. Didn't 64 bit come out in 2003 when xp offered 64 bit? That's when we moved in here.
 
Interesting, I was using Waterfox up until last week when I picked up a cheap copy of Battlefield Hardline whose required game-browser-plugin requires a 32bit browser, so I guess that's a lot of people who will have problems.
 
Nima304 said:
VitalyT said:
I already have it.

Shamefully, still no 64-bit Chrome released, only on their Beta channel. May be now Google will finally wake up and release it.
Click to expand...
64-bit Chrome is a thing, and not in beta. I've been using it for months.
Click to expand...
It's still in beta and has been for the past few years. I used it for a while and found nothing to complain about but switched back to 32 bit, I don't like using beta products.
 
Burty117 said:
VitalyT said:
I already have it.

Shamefully, still no 64-bit Chrome released, only on their Beta channel. May be now Google will finally wake up and release it.
Click to expand...
64-bit chrome has been around for like a year now, I'm pretty sure techspot had an article on it as well.
Click to expand...
It's been floating about for longer than that but it's still in beta from what I understand. If you download it from Google themselves you're informed that it's a beta product, at least that was the case when I last checked, about a month ago.
 
VitalyT said:
Really?

I have always been using the latest released version of Chrome, v47 at the moment, and it's always been 32-bit. And I can't seem to find the 64-bit version on their official Chrome download page.
Click to expand...
Me either. It's still in beta according to Google themselves. I used it for a while and found absolutely no difference between it and the 32 bit version and switched back, I'm not keen on anything beta.
 
Skidmarksdeluxe said:
It's been floating about for longer than that but it's still in beta from what I understand. If you download it from Google themselves you're informed that it's a beta product, at least that was the case when I last checked, about a month ago.
Click to expand...
When I go to:
https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/desktop/

Click on "Download Chrome for another platform"

I get the option:

Download for another desktop OS
So I've created a new virtual machine on my PC to test this, fresh install of Windows 10 Enterprise 64-bit.
It doesn't anywhere say it's a Beta product, Annoyingly I cannot find the Techspot Article but I'm 99% sure there was one earlier in the year that Google have moved the 64-bit version into Stable release, Hence that it literally is on the download page.
 
I tried the 64-bit version of Chrome and actually found it to be slower than the 32-bit version. I uninstalled it shortly afterwards.
 
Skidmarksdeluxe said:
VitalyT said:
Really?

I have always been using the latest released version of Chrome, v47 at the moment, and it's always been 32-bit. And I can't seem to find the 64-bit version on their official Chrome download page.
Click to expand...
Me either. It's still in beta according to Google themselves. I used it for a while and found absolutely no difference between it and the 32 bit version and switched back, I'm not keen on anything beta.
Click to expand...
Chrome 64 has been a stable (as in not beta) release since around August of 2014.
 
Burty117 said:
When I go to:
https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/desktop/

Click on "Download Chrome for another platform"

I get the option:

Download for another desktop OS
So I've created a new virtual machine on my PC to test this, fresh install of Windows 10 Enterprise 64-bit.
It doesn't anywhere say it's a Beta product, Annoyingly I cannot find the Techspot Article but I'm 99% sure there was one earlier in the year that Google have moved the 64-bit version into Stable release, Hence that it literally is on the download page.
Click to expand...
I saw it here too and thats when I took it for a spin. It's fine, you can use it, it's no different to the 32 bit version but I'm not a fan of beta software.
 
Skidmarksdeluxe said:
I saw it here too and thats when I took it for a spin. It's fine, you can use it, it's no different to the 32 bit version but I'm not a fan of beta software.
Click to expand...
Well No, here's the beta:
https://www.google.co.uk/chrome/browser/beta.html

I can't see anywhere that says the official release Channel version:
https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/desktop/

Is a beta? Unless I'm missing something? I'll install the Beta onto a virtual machine and check the version numbers, see if they're different.
 
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