With Firefox Nightly, test the latest browser features

You are probably familiar with the open source Firefox web browser. But did you know that there are several versions?

• The most common stable release is reliable for most use cases and includes many new features and security fixes.
• The ESR version – for Extended Support Release – is intended for large organizations (schools, companies, etc.), which need a web browser deployed on a larger scale. Firefox ESR does not ship with the latest features, but includes the latest security and stability fixes.
• Firefox Nightly, which we are going to present to you here.

What is Firefox Nightly?

Firefox Nightly is the version of the open source web browser under continuous development. She has a new grind every day. It is the least stable and the least secure of the three versions. It is often used to test new features, some of which are sometimes integrated into the stable version of the browser.

Sometimes features go back and forth in Nightly and never end up in the official release.

For a new feature to integrate the stable version of Firefox, here is the path it takes:

• The version Nightly is in constant development. It should only be adopted by experienced users and testers.
• Beta is the next step in the development of Firefox. Bugs are then fixed, and the release includes a more specific list of features that will be included in the stable release.
• Steady is the final status of the browser that is made available to the public.

There was a time when the Aurora version also existed, which was in the phase between Nightly and Beta. But Aurora disappeared at the end of 2017.

Should you use Firefox Nightly?

Most of the time the answer is no. However, I’ve been using Firefox Nightly for a long time and have rarely encountered any issues that persisted after the next day’s update. And that’s part of the beauty of Nightly: it updates automatically. If you leave your browser open all the time, you’ll be prompted, almost like clockwork, to restart Firefox to apply any new updates.

The advantage of using Nightly is that you can experiment with new features before they become available in beta and then stable versions. Sometimes, it even happens that these functionalities are not integrated into the final version: you will then have been able to experiment with them before they are abandoned.

In fact, to be able to use Firefox Nightly, you just have to be able to use a web browser that is not stable like a final version. If you’re willing to see your browser crash or experience problems, and if you’re willing to report bugs to developers (to help them fix those issues), then you might be the perfect Firefox Nightly user.

How to install Firefox Nightly?

How you install Firefox Nightly will depend on the operating system you are using. For example, if you’re using MacOS or Windows, you can download a Firefox Nightly installer for your operating system and install it like any other app.

If you are using Linux, the process is less straightforward. Here is the procedure to install Firefox Nightly on a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu:

1. connect to your Linux desktop;
2. In the command prompt window, type: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa ;
3. update apt with sudo apt-get update ;
4. install Firefox Nightly with the command sudo apt-get install firefox-trunk -y.

Once the installation is complete, you should see the Firefox Nightly entry in your desktop menu. What’s really nice about this installation method is that you can run both the final version and the Nightly version at the same time.

If you’re up for an adventure, try Firefox Nightly and see what the future holds for your favorite open-source browser.

Source: ZDNet.com