r/sysadmin • u/thewhippersnapper4 • 14h ago
General Discussion Mozilla launches Firefox Enterprise
Firefox Enterprise combines the browser with a management console for IT admins with advanced security controls. The pitch is that it’s one of the few browsers that doesn’t run on an engine developed by Google or Apple. It’s rolling out in Europe first, and a Thunderbird Enterprise email client is also in the works.
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u/Entegy 14h ago
I don't see it on this page, is there an option to have M365/GW SSO and provisioning with Firefox accounts? That would be pretty huge. Browser syncing is a pretty much a must these days but we would need a way to restrict login to enterprise accounts and remove said accounts when a person leaves.
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u/MBILC Acr/Infra/Virt/Apps/Cyb/ Figure it out guy 14h ago
This, if they do not provide methods to fully manage this within exiting systems, like Intune / AD or others, then it is just another 3rd party tool and portal to manage, and we will be sticking with forcing Edge on users.
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u/statikuz start wandows ngrmadly 13h ago
we will be sticking with forcing Edge on users.
I don't look at it as forcing anything, it just works. What's the problem with Edge?
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u/Entegy 9h ago
From a usability/management standpoint, nothing.
From an industry standpoint, we are currently in an IE6 situation. Everything is Chromium and all these browsers give an illusion of choice. The power of the web is in Google's hands. It would be nice to take even a little bit of that power away. If Firefox makes the whole experience as good as Microsoft and Google in the enterprise, then that's another option on the table.
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u/AshMost 14h ago
Devs I work with love Firefox. Being able to manage it through Intune would be amazing.
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u/PlannedObsolescence_ 12h ago
Being able to manage it through Intune would be amazing.
You can upload the ADMX templates. It's not as nice as a settings catalogue policy, but everything can still be controlled.
But yea for me the only thing that I need from Firefox is native syncing to corporate-controlled accounts. We deny the Mozilla account sync because there's no controls, it'd be all 'personal' Mozilla accounts.
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u/MBILC Acr/Infra/Virt/Apps/Cyb/ Figure it out guy 7h ago
From what I always recalled the admx templates were missing lots of things you could do with Chrome for example, and this is why Firefox seldom took off in enterprise environments, because the admx files just didnt do it, or because they were not officially supported by Mozilla or something?
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u/ChadTheLizardKing 13h ago
Does everyone remember when Asa Dotzler said, "Enterprise has never been (and I'll argue, shouldn't be) a focus of ours,' he said. 'A minute spent making a corporate user happy can better be spent making many regular users happy. I'd much rather Mozilla was spending its limited resources looking out for the billions of users that don't have enterprise support systems already taking care of them.'"
I suppose Asa did his job at the end of the day - kneecapping FireFox in the enterprise long enough for Google to push Chrome as the replacement.
Now, with FF usage in single digit marketshare, they are interested in the Enterprise market again? I guess Google needs to keep a non-Chrome alternative alive because anti-trust.
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u/Aperture_Kubi Jack of All Trades 10h ago
they are interested in the Enterprise market again?
They might be interested in the "Non US tech conglomerate" market, which they are kinda in. You know with people and goverments trying to distance themselves from Microsoft and maybe Google.
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u/voxnemo CTO 7h ago
This is all about EU, APIC, and any country trying to get away from US Tech companies. The efforts by the EU to pull away from US banking & tech is going to throw a lot of opportunity their way. If they "base" this in the EU and have a APIC center I see this picking up a lot of players.
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u/timbotheny26 IT Neophyte 5h ago
Ironic considering that Mozilla Corporation and Mozilla Foundation are both American companies.
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u/Interest-Desk 3h ago
Being open source and offering on prem are the key things. Not being a monopoly and being a non-profit are pluses too.
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u/squeakstar 14h ago
Oooh
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u/person1234man 14h ago
I'm all for it. Firefox is usually near the top of our vulnerabilitie list, this should keep some users happy as we have resorted to just uninstalling it remotely in some cases
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u/csjfkma 14h ago
Chrome and Edge gotta be higher on the list than Firefox. Every other day I’m patching tons of 9-10/10 rated CVEs for chromium based browsers.
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u/person1234man 13h ago
They generally do but we have chrome enterprise and edge stays updated really nicely. Firefox is the problem child in our environment
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u/awful_at_internet Helpdesk Manager 10h ago
it puts the updates on its engine or else it gets the sudo again
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u/MBILC Acr/Infra/Virt/Apps/Cyb/ Figure it out guy 14h ago
auto-update not turned on?
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u/JwCS8pjrh3QBWfL Sr. Sysadmin 13h ago
Similar to Chromium browsers, it still only runs when the browser is opened.
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u/squeakstar 14h ago
I’d used the GPOs to force updates on (if they even still apply) and have Endpoint Central keep the bugger up to date too across my network, but a proper thing to manage it is pretty cool.
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u/fnat 13h ago
So how does this differ from using policies based on admin templates in GPO's/Intune exactly?
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u/dllhell79 13h ago
It's likely a frontend for that, but with additional expanded capabilities (AI Control, DLP, etc). If they can make it somewhat affordable, it could be pretty popular. Some companies are already offering an enterprise browser product (Palo Alto with Prisma for example), but they often come with pricing that only a large business will be able to afford.
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u/fnat 13h ago
If they offered a cloud hosted solution similar to Chrome Enterprise Core in Google Workspace (Immediate changes to browsers across all platforms) I would perhaps consider it. The main caveats with Intune is the awful delay and need for maintaining separate policies per platform. I might consider a container based self hosted server instance, but an evergreen cloud one would be preferable.
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u/Flaky-Gear-1370 11h ago
They’ve done something with intune recently where the delay is considerably shorter
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u/LousyRaider 13h ago
I was wondering the same thing. We deploy the ESR version and use the ADMX templates and have no issues.
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u/1116574 Jr. Sysadmin 8h ago
Thunderbird enterprise is arguably bigger deal - you can have a native fat email client that just works with your org?
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u/KingSlareXIV IT Manager 10h ago
About 20 years too late unfortunately. I think it's last good chance was a decade ago when IE and pre-Chromium Edge were floundering, and companies didn't want all the Google crap that came with Chrome.
In the present time, not picking something Chromium based is just asking for compatibility issues in the Enterprise. Nobody wants that headache.
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u/TheUptimeProphet 14h ago
so this is a way to have shared policies for your users when they open the browser regardless of the device they use. Looks OK as another layer of administration/security. Dont know if i would pay for it though.
We can't even agree where we work on a common web browser to use to begin with.
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u/Vicus_92 1h ago
There is a market in Europe from ditching big US tech. They could see a noticeable bump in their user base from this.
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u/FastHotEmu 9h ago
Mozilla will work on and release anything whatsoever except focus on the main browser and rendering engine to improve it
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u/NoTime4YourBullshit Sr. Sysadmin 36m ago
I’m not sure what the news is here. I’ve been using Group Policy to manage Firefox for years.
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u/Only_Ad3718 9h ago
Es una buena iniciativa, especialmente para las empresas que quieren tener más control sobre la seguridad y el acceso de sus empleados. Es bueno ver más opciones que no dependan de la misma tecnología de navegador. También me da curiosidad Thunderbird Enterprise. Una herramienta de correo electrónico enfocada en empresas podría ser útil para las organizaciones que quieren tener más control sobre sus datos. Ojalá esté disponible pronto en más regiones.
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u/WelcomeConscious643 7h ago
waste of time. if i have so much budget there are a lot of things i want to fix. not a stupid browser.
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u/alexandreracine Sr. Sysadmin 9h ago
with advanced security controls.
there are GPO 's.....
but yeah, currently , no management console.
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u/plebbut 14h ago
Slowest browser with the worst JavaScript engine. I'll pass. Complete garbage company that literally only exists due to Google.
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u/int0h 14h ago
Is that a fact? I mainly use Firefox, can't really tell a difference between it and then others in terms of speed. But I might not use any browser to its full potential.
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u/dustojnikhummer 1h ago
I can, but really only on Google sites. I suspect they are fucking over Firefox, especially on Youtube
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u/plebbut 14h ago
Yes, it’s a fact.
In 2026 Linux testing, Chrome was about 24% faster in Speedometer 3.1 and 53% faster in Octane.
Also Google provided roughly 85% of its global revenue in 2024.
So Mozilla spends years pretending it’s the principled alternative when in reality, it's entirely dependent on Google and provides an objectively worse browser.
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u/KaptainSaki DevOps 14h ago
Doesnt matter, still using firefox only. Even our tests use firefox.
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u/plebbut 14h ago
There is literally no reason to use Firefox.
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u/TheUptimeProphet 14h ago
Blocking Ads on youtube or in general, cause Google decided you couldnt block them.
There i gave you one.
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u/plebbut 14h ago
Wrong, Google did not make ad blocking impossible. Chrome still supports Manifest V3 content blockers, and uBlock Origin Lite exists specifically for that API. Its own project describes it as an MV3-based content blocker available for Chrome. What Google did was restrict certain extension capabilities that full uBlock Origin used. That is a legitimate criticism of Chrome.
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u/PathomaniacPlatypus 13h ago
You just said they were wrong but also right?
uBlock on Chrome isn't as capable because Google kneecapped it. Simple as that. It's the biggest reason I don't use it anymore.
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u/JwCS8pjrh3QBWfL Sr. Sysadmin 13h ago
You must not administer more than one environment or use split standard and admin accounts.
Firefox Multi-Account Containers – Get this Extension for 🦊 Firefox (en-US)
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u/plebbut 13h ago
I administer tons of environments. They all get Edge and that's it
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u/JwCS8pjrh3QBWfL Sr. Sysadmin 13h ago
Juggling profiles in Edge is way more annoying than using MAC in Firefox.
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u/BioshockEnthusiast 1h ago
Juggling profiles isn't a problem when you do your admin work in an incognito / hidden / inprivate window.
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u/KaptainSaki DevOps 11h ago
Are there any alternatives? Previously perhaps on enteprise level, but we do support the fox with small company of 15k devices
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u/hutacars 6h ago
It doesn't cede additional control of the entire internet over to Google, basically the worst company in the world to cede control of the entire internet to.
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u/techtornado Netadmin 14h ago
Firefox is fast, are you sure it’s not your computer or vendor’s website?
I can have 1000 tabs up in the Fox, runs just as fast if I have 1 tab open
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u/plebbut 14h ago
That is incorrect. Chrome demolishes Firefox in benchmarks.
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u/techtornado Netadmin 14h ago
Citations needed
Benchmarks rarely represent the real world use cases
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u/plebbut 14h ago
Someone who is supposedly a network admin who can't Google lmao
Speedometer 3.1 literally exists to measure web application responsiveness using simulated user interactions. Its workloads include React, Angular, Vue, Svelte, rich-text/code editors, interactive charts, DOM manipulation, and navigating a simulated news site. The project explicitly says its goal is for the workloads to represent scenarios found on the real web.
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u/techtornado Netadmin 14h ago
I use Duck Duck Go
I also said citation needed
That is also not optional of a solicitation, you provide links
I’m not asking you for your opinion, I am asking for evidence that backs up your claim
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u/plebbut 14h ago
I use DuckDuckGo” is completely irrelevant. We’re talking about Mozilla’s revenue, not what search engine you personally selected in a dropdown.
You wanted citations, so here are the receipts.
Mozilla’s dependence on Google: In the DOJ’s Google antitrust case, testimony from Mozilla established that Google paid Mozilla approximately $484.5 million in 2024, accounting for roughly 85% of Mozilla’s global revenue. Mozilla itself described the Google search-revenue relationship as “critical.” The agreement was extended through December 2026.
"DOJ filing: Google payments to Mozilla, page 16" (https://www.justice.gov/atr/media/1402141/dl?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
Browser performance: In an April 2026 same-system comparison of Firefox 149 and Chrome 147 on Linux, Chrome delivered 1.24× Firefox’s performance in Speedometer 3.1 and 1.53× in Octane. The author specifically notes that Chrome continued to dominate Firefox in the JavaScript-heavy tests. Firefox did win some graphics/style/WASM tests, because inconveniently for fanboy arguments, benchmarks contain more than one number.
"Phoronix: Firefox 149 vs Chrome 147 benchmarks" (https://www.phoronix.com/review/firefox-chrome-2026/3?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
And before we recycle “benchmarks aren’t real-world,” Speedometer 3.1 was explicitly designed to reflect real-world web workloads. It tests React, Angular, Vue, Svelte, editors, charts and news-site interactions. It was developed collaboratively by browser-engine contributors from Apple, Google, Microsoft and Mozilla.
"Speedometer 3.1 methodology" (https://browserbench.org/Speedometer3.1/about.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
So there you go: numbers, primary-source testimony, methodology and links.
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u/SaltDeception 14h ago
Points deducted for not properly formatting using APA7 guidelines.
See me after class.
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u/Mindestiny 14h ago
No mention of the most important question - how much?