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firefox suggested I upgrade to ESR channel. Why?

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I'm on Win7-64 and had been running the 32 bit Firefox Setup 52.0.2.exe.

Today, out of the blue Firefox suggested I upgrade to the Firefox Setup 52.0.2esr.exe.

Why is this? I'm not in some company's network, just a single user at home.

Also - how stable is the 64 bit version - and does this give a speed advantage yet?

I've got 128GB RAM so, memory is not a problem for me.

Thanks!

I'm on Win7-64 and had been running the 32 bit Firefox Setup 52.0.2.exe. Today, out of the blue Firefox suggested I upgrade to the Firefox Setup 52.0.2esr.exe. Why is this? I'm not in some company's network, just a single user at home. Also - how stable is the 64 bit version - and does this give a speed advantage yet? I've got 128GB RAM so, memory is not a problem for me. Thanks!

Chosen solution

The latest Firefox -- Firefox 53.0 -- will ignore installed plugins other than Flash. ESR has a different numbering because it's really Firefox 52 with a few security and bug fixes.

It's your choice what you want to install now. There was a 24-hour window where many users were offered ESR even if they were on the release channel; as far as I know, it was a glitch and not a recommendation.

Regarding your question about 64-bit, if you have 8GB of memory and find your Firefox becoming sluggish with 2GB or more of memory usage, you may benefit from 64-bit Firefox's ability to use more memory. I don't know whether it has any other benefits. (I haven't tried it myself.)

Either way, see:

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All Replies (3)

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That could be because of plugins that you have installed and that show in the System Details list.

Firefox 52+ releases only support the Shockwave Flash plugin and disable all other plugins. You have to use the Firefox 52 ESR release if you need to use other plugins. Why-do-Java-Silverlight-Adobe-Acrobat-and-other-plugins-no longer work.

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All of the plug-ins are set to 'ask to activate' or disabled. I really don't need any of them.

I've got 52.1.0 ESR installed. Should I just install the normal 52.1.0 and problem solved? It will just disable the plug-ins (as I don't see a way to un-install them in the 'add-ons Manager')

What do I need to do to install the normal 52.1.0? Thanks!

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Chosen Solution

The latest Firefox -- Firefox 53.0 -- will ignore installed plugins other than Flash. ESR has a different numbering because it's really Firefox 52 with a few security and bug fixes.

It's your choice what you want to install now. There was a 24-hour window where many users were offered ESR even if they were on the release channel; as far as I know, it was a glitch and not a recommendation.

Regarding your question about 64-bit, if you have 8GB of memory and find your Firefox becoming sluggish with 2GB or more of memory usage, you may benefit from 64-bit Firefox's ability to use more memory. I don't know whether it has any other benefits. (I haven't tried it myself.)

Either way, see: