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status of Firefox 64bit support

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  • Last reply by James

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I have just built a new pc from scratch, it is Win 7 Ultimate. I would like to install Firefox 64 bit version that is now in developers version. before i do that can you tell me how long will it be before this version is GA. Also i have the following plugins, are they 64 bit and supported at this time, Adobe PDF Plug-In For Firefox, QuickTime Plugin, Shockwave Flash. I would love to install the 64bit version of FF now rather than install the 32 bit version and then 1-2 months from now reinstall the 64 bit version. thank you for your time and advice.

I have just built a new pc from scratch, it is Win 7 Ultimate. I would like to install Firefox 64 bit version that is now in developers version. before i do that can you tell me how long will it be before this version is GA. Also i have the following plugins, are they 64 bit and supported at this time, Adobe PDF Plug-In For Firefox, QuickTime Plugin, Shockwave Flash. I would love to install the 64bit version of FF now rather than install the 32 bit version and then 1-2 months from now reinstall the 64 bit version. thank you for your time and advice.

Chosen solution

For Win64 Firefox you need 64-bit Plugins while for 32-bit Firefox on Windows you need 32-bit Plugins.

If you want to use other Plugins besides Flash Player on Windows you need to use 32-bit Firefox and 32-bit Plugins from Firefox 41.0+.

The Win64 builds have been on the Beta channel for QA purposes since the Firefox 37.0b2 build. As said the Firefox 41.0 will be the first to have Win64 for Release unless it changes. The Firefox 40.0 was originally planned to have Win64 briefly before changing status to Fx 41.0.

The 64-bit builds of Firefox on Mac OSX and Linux (which has existed since Firefox 4.0 from mozilla.org) can continue to use any 64-bit NPAPI Plugins that exist for browsers like Firefox and SeaMonkey on OSX and Linux.


https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/channel/#beta https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/beta/all/

Note that if you Test Beta or Aurora (developer edition) builds you will stay on that channel and get updates on that channel. Beta can get six to twelve Beta builds for a version while Aurora (and Nightly) get checkins almost everyday so it gets updates each of those days. To get back to Release channel you install the current release.

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All Replies (9)

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hi, firefox 41 will be the first release version that supports 64bit on windows (it is scheduled to be released in one month). the only npapi plugin supported by the 64bit version will be shockwave flash though... firefox 41 is in beta right now which is generally quite stable, so you could try its 64bit variant right now: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/beta/all/

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arnoldsfirefox said

I have just built a new pc from scratch, it is Win 7 Ultimate. I would like to install Firefox 64 bit version that is now in developers version. before i do that can you tell me how long will it be before this version is GA. Also i have the following plugins, are they 64 bit and supported at this time, Adobe PDF Plug-In For Firefox, QuickTime Plugin, Shockwave Flash. I would love to install the 64bit version of FF now rather than install the 32 bit version and then 1-2 months from now reinstall the 64 bit version. thank you for your time and advice.

Philipp,

That is great news about 64 bit support for shockwave flash. Does this mean that the other plugins i have will not work or that they will only install as 32 bit version running under ff 64 bit.

I would really like to have support for: Adobe PDF Plug-In. i could live with the quick time plugin.

where do i get the supported 64bit shockwave flash plugin??

Thank you for your information and help. I will be downloading the new version today.

A.

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hi, other plugins than flash won't be supported and won't work at all - that's an intentional decision by mozilla which wants to take a "clean slate approach" with 64bit: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox/win64/meetingarchive#Clean_Slate_Approach

you won't have to install a special version of flash for the 64bit version of the browser. the one you have already installed is going to work!

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Chosen Solution

For Win64 Firefox you need 64-bit Plugins while for 32-bit Firefox on Windows you need 32-bit Plugins.

If you want to use other Plugins besides Flash Player on Windows you need to use 32-bit Firefox and 32-bit Plugins from Firefox 41.0+.

The Win64 builds have been on the Beta channel for QA purposes since the Firefox 37.0b2 build. As said the Firefox 41.0 will be the first to have Win64 for Release unless it changes. The Firefox 40.0 was originally planned to have Win64 briefly before changing status to Fx 41.0.

The 64-bit builds of Firefox on Mac OSX and Linux (which has existed since Firefox 4.0 from mozilla.org) can continue to use any 64-bit NPAPI Plugins that exist for browsers like Firefox and SeaMonkey on OSX and Linux.


https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/channel/#beta https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/beta/all/

Note that if you Test Beta or Aurora (developer edition) builds you will stay on that channel and get updates on that channel. Beta can get six to twelve Beta builds for a version while Aurora (and Nightly) get checkins almost everyday so it gets updates each of those days. To get back to Release channel you install the current release.

Modified by James

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Thank you all very much for your responses. i have worked in IT(mainframes) for over 40 years and the attitude IBM and others was to support legacy systems. This in my opinion created bloated software, and OS systems, prevented rapid progress towards innovation. we could have been so much further along than we are now in the computer environments.

Bravo for the decision to start fresh and drop the old.

makes me want to be 30 years younger and and join this side of computers.

Good luck and see you on the other side(64bit) side.

Arnold

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I see on the WEB that Firefox 42 is first 64bit. I have Firefox 42 but cannot tell if it's 64bit.

How do we tell if we have 32bit or 64bit versions?

Please, download link for Firefox 42 64bit if it is ready.

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If you downloaded Windows version from mozilla.org it is 32-bit as WOW64 in useragent will show.

The Win64 is not so visible yet currently as it was initially going to be listed on www.mozilla.org/firefox/all

See http://archive.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/42.0/win64/ and pick your language.

Note the 64-bit Flash Player is the only Plugin white listed to run in Win64 so if you need other Plugins then use 32-Firefox and 32-bit Plugins.

Modified by James

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Go get the latest Win 64-bit release from either of these links: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/beta/all/

Or, within this directory structure: http://archive.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/

I've been using FF Win64 Beta releases since version 39 Beta. No problems ever. The beta versions offer automatic updates, which I've always accepted.

re: plug-ins: Adobe Flash and M$ Silverlight have always run just fine since 64-bit ver. 39 or earlier for me. I just now watched some Netflix videos without a hitch (using FF Win64 v43 Beta). My FF plug-ins include Silverlight, Shockwave Flash and OpenH264.

re: extensions: No problems with the dozen extensions I typically use on FF Win64 Beta versions.

Go ahead, if you're running Windows 64-bit, switch to FF Win64.

By the way, there's a serious underestimation of who will enjoy Win64 FF, which Mozilla personel have said is mainly for gamers and developers, saying "we need to identify the market reward to either acquire or retain users." To heck with that marketing B.S. Many power users of all stripes experience the memory and stability limitations of 32-bit FF. Researchers, reporters and enthusiastic web users of all kinds may have over 200 tabs open within a half dozen windows, and we need the browser to handle that responsively. It takes RAM over 4 or 8 GB. Because of the content itself plus inevitable memory leaks regardless of which developer may be responsible. All major competing web browsers have had stable 64-bit Windows general release versions available for over a year. Firefox needs to get there, and should commit to its power users to get there rapidly. Please make it a priority, Mozilla.

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Industriflow said

Firefox needs to get there, and should commit to its power users to get there rapidly. Please make it a priority, Mozilla.

Win64 Firefox for Release IS available as of Firefox 42.0 which you would know if you read the most recent reply in thread before replying.

The first link is to Beta builds which is for Testing and not the Release.

The versions on the Beta channel usually gets six to twelve builds for a version and the first few builds of a version on Beta channel can sometimes have issues.

Release < Beta (b#) < Aurora (a2) (aka developers edition) < Nightly (a1)

The Win64 for Release May be more public for Firefox 43.0 and likely listed on www.mozilla.org/firefox/all and not www.mozilla.org if they do.

The 64-bit Silverlight Plugin may be white listed to run in Win64 Firefox 43.0 Release along with the 64-bit Flash Player.

Modified by James