Waterfox
Waterfox is an open-source web browser that is forked from Firefox and developed by System1. There are official Waterfox releases for Windows, macOS, and Linux.[1]
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![]() Screenshot of Waterfox G4.0.4 running on Windows 11, showing the English Wikipedia | |
Original author(s) | Alexandros Kontos, Adam Wood |
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Developer(s) | Alexandros Kontos, System1 |
Initial release | 27 March 2011 |
Stable release | G5.1.4
/ 24 March 2023 |
Preview release | G5.0 Beta 5
/ September 23, 2022 |
Repository | |
Written in | C, C++, CSS, JavaScript, XUL |
Engine | Gecko, SpiderMonkey |
Operating system | Windows 7 or later, Mac, Linux |
Platform | x64, ARM64, PPC64LE |
Type | Web browser, mobile web browser, feed reader |
License | MPL-2.0 |
Website | www![]() |
Divisions
Waterfox
Waterfox shares core features and technologies like the Gecko browser engine[2] and support for Firefox Add-ons[3] with Firefox.
History

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Waterfox was first released by Alex Kontos[9] on March 27, 2011 for 64-bit Windows. The Mac build was introduced on May 14, 2015 with the release of version 38.0,[10] the Linux build was introduced on December 20, 2016 with the release of version 50.0,[11] and an Android build was first introduced on October 10, 2017 in version 55.2.2.[12]
From July 22, 2015 to November 12, 2015, Waterfox had its own search-engine called "Storm" that would raise funds for charity and Waterfox. Storm was developed with over £2 million of investor funding and powered by Yahoo! Search.[13][14][15][16][17]
In December 2019, System1, an advertising company which portrays itself as privacy-focused,[18] acquired Waterfox.[19][20]
See also
References
- "Waterfox, Free Web Browser". www.waterfox.net. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
- "FAQ". www.waterfox.net. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
- "Find and install add-ons to add features to Waterfox". www.waterfox.net. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
- "Waterfox Classic | Waterfox Classic". classic.waterfox.net. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
- Kev Needham (2015-08-21). "The Future of Developing Firefox Add-ons". blog.mozilla.org. Retrieved 2015-09-07.
- Villalobos, Jorge (2017-02-16). "The Road to Firefox 57 – Compatibility Milestones". blog.mozilla.org. Retrieved 2017-02-17.
- "Unpatched Security Advisories · WaterfoxCo/Waterfox-Classic Wiki". GitHub.
- "Waterfox Classic | Waterfox Classic". classic.waterfox.net.
- "About Waterfox". www.waterfox.net. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
- Kontos, Alex. "Waterfox 38.0 Release". www.waterfoxproject.org. Archived from the original on 2017-12-21. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
- Kontos, Alex. "Waterfox 50.1.0 Release (Windows, Mac & Linux)". www.waterfoxproject.org. Archived from the original on 2017-10-05. Retrieved 2017-02-05.
- Kontos, Alex. "Waterfox 55 Release (Windows, Mac, Linux and Android)". www.waterfoxproject.org. Archived from the original on 2017-12-21. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
- Kontos, Alex (12 May 2015). "4 Year Anniversary: Waterfox Charity and Storm Search". www.waterfoxproject.org. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
- "Waterfox 39.0 Release". www.waterfoxproject.org. 2015-07-22. Archived from the original on 2015-10-31.
- "Waterfox 40.1.0 Release & Shut Down of Waterfox Charity Search". www.waterfoxproject.org. 2015-11-12. Archived from the original on 2015-12-01.
- "New search engine from Waterfox founder aims to take a punch at Google". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
- Lake, Howard (2015-08-07). "'Ethical search engine' Storm to generate funds for charities". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
- Brinkmann, Martin (14 February 2020). "Waterfox web browser sold to System1". ghacks.net. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
- "Waterfox has joined System1". www.waterfox.net. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- "Welcome Waterfox!". www.system1.com. Retrieved 17 February 2020.