Mozilla’s latest Firefox release reduces memory use on AMD systems, stops Wayland tabs detaching unexpectedly and adds a range of practical browsing and developer-focused improvements.
Mozilla Firefox 159 is now available, with the latest release focusing on Linux stability, graphics behaviour and small but useful refinements to everyday browsing. The most visible changes for Linux users centre on Wayland and AMD hardware: Mozilla has reduced memory use when viewing maps and location-based results on systems with AMD GPUs, and it has fixed a long-standing problem that could cause a tab to split off into a new window during dragging on Wayland. Phoronix reported the Wayland fix in its coverage of Firefox 159 Beta on 13 October, underscoring how closely Mozilla has been iterating on Linux-specific behaviour ahead of the stable release.
The update also addresses a cluster of interface glitches that affect day-to-day use rather than headline features. Mozilla says Firefox 159 corrects an issue in which menus and panels could fade in gradually even when system animation effects were disabled, bringing the browser closer to the user’s desktop preferences. The release further fixes a download prompt quirk that could reopen in the last folder used for a saved file, rather than the location chosen for previous uploads, and it resolves a memory spike that could appear when certain pages stayed open in minimised windows, including the web version of Zoom.
Several convenience changes are also included. Firefox 159 lets users reach stored passwords directly from the sidebar without first adding the dedicated password tool, and it adds a keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+Shift+A, for searching open tabs. Phoronix also noted support for importing bookmarks from Google Chrome profiles signed into a Google account, together with a fix for long drop-down menus that had been misbehaving in earlier builds. Mozilla has additionally refined multilingual web support, including better handling of addresses written in scripts such as Javanese, Balinese, Canadian Aboriginal syllabics and N’Ko.
For developers, Firefox 159 continues Mozilla’s steady expansion of browser APIs and tooling. The release adds scoped custom element registries, which allow identically named custom elements to coexist in separate contexts, and it supports scroll-driven animations through CSS and the Web Animations API. Mozilla has also restored support for declaring let, const and class variables in the Web Console, while the Sanitizer API now processes HTML during parsing so removed custom elements do not run their constructors. On the graphics side, Firefox 159 expands WebGL support on compatible hardware and brings EXT_texture_norm16 to WebGL 2.
Disclaimer: This content is intended for informational purposes only. Readers are advised to exercise their own judgement, conduct due diligence, or consult a qualified expert before acting on any information provided.
