Hands-On with the New Add-on Manager in Mozilla Firefox 64

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Firefox 64 introduces a new add-on manager

 

 

Mozilla Firefox 64 is now available for download, and one of the biggest changes is the introduction of an updated add-on manager that lets you configure, disable, and remove extensions, themes, plugins, and languages.

 

This obviously isn’t a new feature for Firefox browser, but with version 64, Mozilla rolls out a new design that’s supposed to make everything a bit more straightforward.

 

As one of the world’s leading browsers at this point, Mozilla Firefox comes with a large collection of add-ons, and I don’t think there are any users out there who do not install extensions.

 

Like in Google Chrome, these extensions substantially revamp the browsing experience, and needless to say, they let you perform actions that wouldn’t otherwise be possible in the browser.

 

So managing these add-ons is critical, especially for heavy users who rely on an entire extension arsenal for their everyday browsing. Like I do, as I currently have more than 10 extensions installed in my browser, all with the purpose of helping me do certain things faster and connect to the services I use easier.

 

With the new version of Firefox, Mozilla gives this add-on manager a welcome facelift and it uses a card-based design that eats up more space on the screen, but which makes everything easier especially for beginners.

 

On the other hand, given that each of these cards is pretty big, you won’t see too many items on the same screen, especially as they don’t seem to follow the size of the browser window. Plus, given the space between these cards, the new design may not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially on devices with smaller screens.

 

 

Nevertheless, the new design looks fresh and continues to be kind of familiar given that previously, Firefox used dot lists to display the available buttons. However, add-on descriptions are provided much more clear now, and the buttons to access options, disable, or remove them are the elements standing out in this version.

 

Clicking on any of these cards expand the extension to provide more information, including the full description. This way, you can read more details about your add-ons. Going back is possible by simply clicking the back button in Firefox, the same when browsing the web.

 

Also, the same screen groups details like add-on version, last updated date, homepage, and rating. You are also provided with options to enable or disable automatic updates, but also to disable and remove the extension. The same applies to themes and plugins too.

 

Mozilla is making managing extensions even easier by adding options to remove them from the toolbar of the browser. You just need to right-click the extension’s icon in the browser and you’ll now see an option to remove it from the application.

 

 

All these improvements are without a doubt welcome, especially as Mozilla Firefox is so widely-used on desktop computers across the world. According to third-party data provided by NetMarketShare, Firefox is currently the third desktop in the charts with a market share of 8.96 percent, right after Google Chrome and Internet Explorer.

Google’s browser, which is the biggest rival to Firefox right now, is the leading option on the PC with a share of no less than 65.57 percent, which means that more than 6 in 10 PCs are currently running Chrome.

 

Internet Explorer is the runner-up with 9.64 percent, according to the same data analyzing November 2018 usage. However, Internet Explorer no longer gets feature updates, so it is on a declining trend, meaning that it doesn’t count in the browser battle anymore and the race basically comes down to Chrome and Firefox.

 

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