The Mozilla Firefox 118 web browser is now available for download ahead of its official release on September 26th, when it will be rolling out to various of the supported platforms.

I consider Firefox 118 a major release because it finally brings the built-in translation feature for websites. Previously planned for Firefox 117, the new translation feature will let you automatically translate websites from one of the supported languages to another.

The translation feature can be accessed from a new “Translate page” menu entry in the application menu (the hamburger menu on the far right side of the window). When clicked, a pop-up dialog will open in place to let you choose the languages you want to translate from and to.

Read the rest on 9TO5Linux

  • 1984
    201·
    1 year ago

    Translation is really cool. It’s rare we get new features these days, mostly it’s just better and better tracking protection which is nice also, but this feels very fresh.

    Just keep doing things Google will never do, and show why it’s better for the user.

    • TheTwelveYearOld@lemmy.worldEnglish
      86·
      1 year ago

      Just keep doing things Google will never do, and show why it’s better for the user.

      I get that but Google has had built-in translation for years! There are other features that Chrome and Chromium-based browsers have that Firefox still doesn’t including, some sort of implementation of tab groups, easy profile switching, having multiple open simultaneously with only one copy of Firefox (you don’t need multiple copies of Chrome to have multiple profiles).

      • 1984
        122·
        1 year ago

        They dont have local translation, it requires sending data to Google.

        • baatliwala@lemmy.world
          4·
          1 year ago

          That’s irrelevant for 99% people sadly, if people cared about that more they would have already switched to FF ages ago. Google Translate was the top dog for years (and still is for most scenarios) so people are more than happy that their translation was being done by the best service around.

          • 1984
            33·
            1 year ago

            Yes I know, but people who use and appreciate Firefox will like the feature. The majority don’t care as always. They run windows with full telemetry and use Chrome as a browser. :)

            The world is filled with mostly “don’t care” people. Nothing we can do about that. They are also not thinking for themselves at all. Perfect slaves to the system.

        • TheTwelveYearOld@lemmy.worldEnglish
          22·
          1 year ago

          You should edit the comment to mention that. I just thought you meant translation. While its cool its wouldn’t be beneficial except for users or in situations with unstable wifi or times when you have no internet but have pages load.

          • 1984
            11·
            1 year ago

            And privacy, that is the most important thing for me. Why would I want Google to see what I want to translate any more than I want them to see what web sites I visit and what I search for.

      • lambalicious@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        uuuuuh what?

        Google has had built-in translation for years

        Nope. The translation is not built in into Chrome. It’s running on Google. That’s like saying Chrome has “built-in Wikipedia”!

        some sort of implementation of tab groups

        There’s like 12 to choose from in Firefox. (Still, admittedly, not nearly as good enough as Tab Groups were in Opera Presto, or in Firefox Aurora)

        easy profile switching

        this one is defo conceded. There is a profile manager, but they’ve never made it accessible while Firefox is itself running, not that I know.

        having multiple open simultaneously with only one copy of Firefox

        ¿??? This has existed since at least 2011 in Firefox. Not to mention there’s also --no-remote.

      • 1984
        72·
        1 year ago

        No this translation doesn’t send data to Google, it is local.

          • 1984
            12·
            1 year ago

            No its a feature in Firefox. A firefox button you can press to translate the website. I played with it this morning and it’s pretty cool. Animates the text as it is being translated, without sending the data anywhere.

            • EvilHaitianEatingYourCat@lemmy.world
              1·
              1 year ago

              I know

              I am saying that google is already in business of scanning websites, so sending another website to Google is like throwing a bucket of water in the ocean.

              Of course it depends what else gets sent along, so it’s always better to run locally

  • FarraigePlaisteach@kbin.social
    14·
    1 year ago

    Translation has been pretty clunky with extensions. I’m glad that there’s finally an integrated solution that isn’t MS or Google.

    • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.worldEnglish
      16·
      1 year ago

      If 250 MB of ram is an issue then you probably aren’t doing much modern web browsing. I have what I’d think are basic pages that are using 200MB of ram. Same if you don’t have the 300mb of free space, god have mercy on your soul if you’ve got less than a gig free.

      The amount of ram this feature takes up is negligible compared the the bloat of modern webpages. Plus I’m sure there’s an about:config setting to disable it if you want to go crazy.

    • 1984
      8·
      1 year ago

      Please download that version and run it.

      You will come screaming back for modern versions.

    • Harvey656@lemmy.world
      5·
      1 year ago

      While I agree, I think there’s a pretty large community (like myself) who will use this regularly.

      Though I’m unsure of the statistics on how many would use it. If it’s under 50% for sure should have been an extension.

  • MonkCanatella@sh.itjust.works
    71·
    1 year ago

    lets get tab groups, how is that missing at this point. I want to use FF as my main browser but the available options for organization are horrible

  • Clbull@lemmy.world
    111·
    1 year ago

    It took Firefox this long to get a feature that Chrome had for years…

    Wow the FOSS community is way behind the curve.

    I literally think the only reason Firefox remains relevant is for those who don’t want Big Brother watching their every move.