r3dfox, a modern Firefox based web browser for Windows Vista, 7, and 8!

[K4sum1]

r3dfox is release branch Firefox made to work on Windows Vista, 7, and 8. Also with limited compatibility for XP using One Core API.

Main download: https://github.com/Eclipse-Community/r3dfox/releases

Alternative download: https://sourceforge.net/projects/r3dfox/files/

If you run into any bugs or issues, please report it on GitHub under the issues tab. I am more likely to get to it and remember to fix it if it's there. If you don't have a GitHub account, here is fine too though.

Edited August 7 by K4sum1
Adding Vista mention

[D.Draker]

3 hours ago, K4sum1 said:

r3dfox is release branch Firefox made to work on Windows 7/8

Please tell us more about the portability.

[K4sum1]

I'm interested in adding a portable mode, but I would need it pull requested or a direct explanation or commit on how to do it.

[Dixel]

Please clarify, is it a generic Firefox, no custom changes in its behaviour, etc?

[K4sum1]

Only functional changes would be less telemetry I think. There are a few design differences, but fairly minor. Mostly just Firefox but for Windows 7.

[Mathwiz]

From the r3dfox readme:

Quote

# r3dactedfox (r3dfox)

r3dactedfox is a fork of the open source web browser Mozilla Firefox made specifically for Windows 7 and 8 compatibility. There may be other tweaks, however the goal is to remain as close to stock Firefox as possible.

Limited compatibility with the Windows XP and Vista extended kernels is offered at the current time, however they may not be tested consistently. Any issues that may arise that are hard to diagnose may be left to the extended kernel provider to fix.

 

[Karla Sleutel]

8 hours ago, K4sum1 said:

I'm interested

Very interesting development!

[ED_Sln]

7 hours ago, D.Draker said:

Please tell us more about the portability.

Portable mode is there, the same as in any FF browser. Create cmd with the text:

r3dfox.exe -Profile "User"

Or in the shortcut add

-Profile "User"

After launching in the program folder will appear a folder User, in it will be a user profile. You can write any name instead of User.

[K4sum1]

Wow that's nice. I would like to add a portable mode similar to Mypal68 so a shortcut isn't needed, but I guess that works pretty well too.

[UCyborg]

I think I'll be going back to Firefox for heavier sites or when I feel like having smoother browsing experience. Had some glitches with some combination of CSS tweaks (https://github.com/Aris-t2/CustomCSSforFx) in the past, though I don't have them now. I had some fun with getting the few UserChrome scripts I use to work with Firefox 125, but nothing that wasn't pointed out the issue tracker (https://github.com/xiaoxiaoflood/firefox-scripts/issues).

I remember there were also some visual glitches with font rendering back on Firefox 110 or so, sort of redraw glitches or I don't know how to put it, might have to do with changed settings on about:config page, those that start with gfx.font_rendering, but those don't seem to do anything now. Any clues? That's for vanilla Firefox at least, those that change contrast or gamma. Pale Moon respects ClearType settings in Windows, so I have slightly thicker fonts there, which I prefer, but can live with default...guess if they don't work for me in the future anymore, I'll have to look into getting a new pair of eyes...he he he...or maybe Chrome Font Super Enhancer could be transplanted to Firefox (if there's isn't already any similar extension for Firefox), though that's just a hack while you could have it working properly natively.

Some questions about r3dfox:

• Does it still use Windows 10 APIs when available? I'm on Win10 or 11, gave up on legacy Windows a long time ago.
• In Aris-t2's CustomCSSforFx there's a comment about WIN10 fix for GLASS8 - not supported by Firefox 117+, I wonder if this applies to r3dfox.
• Language packs, should the ones for Firefox just work on r3dfox?

Don't know if it's just me, I have a hunch Firefox is slightly heavier on the GPU or CPU than eg. Edge, at least under certain circumstances when it's in the foreground, other windows' animations may be jerkier. There were complaints about laptops' battery life when using Firefox in the past, but hey, when you pin it up against Pale Moon where it's easy to encounter a website that makes one core work full time without any user interaction whatsoever...

[billmcct]

1 hour ago, UCyborg said:

In Aris-t2's CustomCSSforFx there's a comment about WIN10 fix for GLASS8 - not supported by Firefox 117+, I wonder if this applies to r3dfox.

I have been using the 125 version for several weeks on Win 7, I also have the CustomCSSforFx

though I have not had time to try any of the code. I have ten laptops here that were given to me

by the US Consulate here in Costa Rico since the US upgraded all their  equipment. All 2020 Dells

reformatted and have some Linux distro installed.  Anyway I would think r3dfox would use the Win 10 apis

when running Win 10.

[UCyborg]

Both browsers do feel pretty similar. Got profile from Firefox loaded in portable r3dfox.

I was wrong about font gamma, gfx.font_rendering.cleartype_params.gamma actually works in both browsers.

Uncommenting CSS code meant to restore Aero glass effect in various parts of Firefox UI on newer Windows breaks UI of vanilla Firefox while it doesn't seem to do anything in r3dfox, so I can only get glassy title bar (native title bar is enableable in the browser out-of-box), but no glass effect beyond that. I do use DWMBlurGlass, which works pretty well.

Language packs for Firefox also work in r3dfox.

Edit: About ClearType parameters, they don't seem to behave exactly like in Pale Moon, maybe some are ignored or not as granular, somehow I can get noticeably bolder fonts, but can't find the sweet spot. Or maybe I'm seeing it wrong. It's strange, especially if they're supposed to be parameters that are passed to DirectWrite, so if both applications take the same parameters, the output should be identical. Think I'll just leave it before I make it worse.

Edited May 5 by UCyborg

[Milkinis]

how do I know the source of the FF fork (121)  I'm using ?

I downloaded it from a github repo some months ago but just can't remember the original link

 

Edited May 5 by Milkinis

[billmcct]

15 minutes ago, Milkinis said:

how do I know the source of the FF fork (121)  I'm using ?

I downloaded it from a github repo some months ago but just can't remember the original link

 

Read the first post.

[Milkinis]

55 minutes ago, billmcct said:

Read the first post.

I didn't download it from the r3dfox repo which doesn't store the 121 version anyway