Firefox 134 finally gets Windows hardware H.265 support, improves popup blocking, and more

Mozilla has released the latest stable version of Firefox today, 134.0. If you recall, the beta 2 version of this update tried to sneak in a way to make itself the default browser.

With this new stable release, Firefox has finally gained support for hardware-accelerated playback of HEVC (high efficiency video codec) or H.265 on Windows. For reference, Google Chrome received support for H.265 decoding back in 2022 back when Mozilla was pushing back against it.

Another change is a refreshed New Tab layout (image below), as well as improvements to the browser's pop-up blocker as they should no longer be as overly aggressive.

The full changelog is given below:

New

 

• Firefox now supports touchpad hold gestures on Linux. This means that kinetic (momentum) scrolling can now be interrupted by placing two fingers on the touchpad.

• Hardware-accelerated playback of HEVC video content is now supported on Windows.

• Ecosia's availability has been expanded to all languages in the German region along with Austria, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

   

Changed

 

• Firefox now follows the model HTML specification for transient user activation more closely. This change makes popup blocking less strict in cases where previous versions of Firefox were overly aggressive, reducing erroneous blocking prompts.
• A refreshed New Tab layout is being rolled out to users in the US and Canada, featuring a repositioned logo and weather widget to prioritize Web Search, Shortcuts, and Recommended Stories at the top. The update includes changes to the card UI for recommended stories and allows users with larger screens to see up to four columns, making better use of space.

Several security fixes have also landed with this new version. They are:

• CVE-2025-0244: Address bar spoofing using an invalid protocol scheme on Firefox for Android

• CVE-2025-0245: Lock screen setting bypass in Firefox Focus for Android

• CVE-2025-0246: Address bar spoofing using an invalid protocol scheme on Firefox for Android

• CVE-2025-0237: WebChannel APIs susceptible to confused deputy attack

• CVE-2025-0238: Use-after-free when breaking lines in text

• CVE-2025-0239: Alt-Svc ALPN validation failure when redirected

• CVE-2025-0240: Compartment mismatch when parsing JavaScript JSON module

• CVE-2025-0241: Memory corruption when using JavaScript Text Segmentation

• CVE-2025-0242: Memory safety bugs fixed in Firefox 134, Thunderbird 134, Firefox ESR 115.19, Firefox ESR 128.6, Thunderbird 115.19, and Thunderbird 128.6

• CVE-2025-0243: Memory safety bugs fixed in Firefox 134, Thunderbird 134, Firefox ESR 128.6, and Thunderbird 128.6

• CVE-2025-0247: Memory safety bugs fixed in Firefox 134 and Thunderbird 134

   

You can download the Firefox version 134.0 from the Neowin software stories page or from Mozilla's official site.

Source

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