Can I install and run Firefox Quantum along side Firefox ESR

User Help for Mozilla Firefox
PeaceByJesus
Posts: 33
Joined: October 20th, 2009, 7:24 am

Can I install and run Firefox Quantum along side Firefox ESR

Post by PeaceByJesus »

I would like to run Firefox Quantum along side Firefox ESR, but the last time I installed the former, using a different folder, then it completely took over, meaning trying to run ESR resulted in Firefox 57 running, thus disabling the multiplicity of useful extensions, which is why I find Firefox superior to all other families of browsers. I am running Windows 10 64 bit (somewhat customized, thank God , with a 4.2 ghz cpu and 16gb ram.

If anyone needs to know why I want to run Quantum along side Firefox ESR, I have been a heavy Firefox user for years, running at least 3 profiles concurrently (such as one mainly for forums and ongoing research, another for shopping, another for for weather and videos, etc.) with multiple tabs (some with over 100), all of which is very feasible due to extensions (such as Tab Mix Plus, enabling multiple tab rows and reduced width; FT DeepDark theme - beautiful yet compact -; Colorful Tabs for better distinguishing tabs; Session Manager for best saving/restoring of sessions;, Lazarus: Form Recovery for potentially saving hours of work: Noiascrollbars - beauty and far better visibility -; BBCodeXtra for custom commands to insert BBCode/Html/XHtml code; FindBar Tweak for keeping the find bar open; Stay-Open Menu which opens Bookmarks in tabs without losing the menu; Signature for inserting custom text into posts; Count word professional to see how many characters and words; Memory Restart which indicates how much ram FF is using, and enables easy restart to flush memory, and some other extensions).

Some of these may have been rewritten as web extensions, which I need to run Quantum to test, and which I would like to upgrade to, while many will not work with it and will not be rewritten to do so, thus I also want to use ESR, and FF states that "As such there is no plan at this time to end ESR releases, the next ESR version will be 31 and each subsequent one will be 7 version numbers higher. At some point down the road we might need to reclaim the resources ESR uses, perhaps turn over the build generation to community, or other issues with backporting security fixes might become blockers that result in this branch being to rest."

Any help with this or comments are welcome.
Last edited by PeaceByJesus on March 7th, 2018, 8:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
DanRaisch
Moderator
Posts: 127188
Joined: September 23rd, 2004, 8:57 pm
Location: Somewhere on the right coast

Re: Can I install and run Firefox Quantum along side Firefox

Post by DanRaisch »

User avatar
RobertJ
Moderator
Posts: 10880
Joined: October 15th, 2003, 7:40 pm
Location: Chicago IL/Oconomowoc WI

Re: Can I install and run Firefox Quantum along side Firefox

Post by RobertJ »

.
It can be done with two profiles, one for each. You are on WIN of which I know little. Someone will likely come along and tell you how.

FYI. around the end of June ESR's will move to Quantum.

.
FF 92.0 - TB 78.13 - Mac OSX 10.13.6
PeaceByJesus
Posts: 33
Joined: October 20th, 2009, 7:24 am

Re: Can I install and run Firefox Quantum along side Firefox

Post by PeaceByJesus »

RobertJ wrote:.
It can be done with two profiles, one for each. You are on WIN of which I know little. Someone will likely come along and tell you how.

FYI. around the end of June ESR's will move to Quantum.

.
Thanks, but the update on this page says "there is no plan at this time to end ESR releases..."
User avatar
DanRaisch
Moderator
Posts: 127188
Joined: September 23rd, 2004, 8:57 pm
Location: Somewhere on the right coast

Re: Can I install and run Firefox Quantum along side Firefox

Post by DanRaisch »

There may be an ESR version but at the end of June it will be based on what is now Firefox 57 (Quantum) rather than the older technology currently supported by the ESR versions.
User avatar
RobertJ
Moderator
Posts: 10880
Joined: October 15th, 2003, 7:40 pm
Location: Chicago IL/Oconomowoc WI

Re: Can I install and run Firefox Quantum along side Firefox

Post by RobertJ »

.
That is VERY old [2014-02-11] and, the current plan is to move ESR to Quantum around the end of June.

.
FF 92.0 - TB 78.13 - Mac OSX 10.13.6
PeaceByJesus
Posts: 33
Joined: October 20th, 2009, 7:24 am

Re: Can I install and run Firefox Quantum along side Firefox

Post by PeaceByJesus »

I already know how to have separate Firefox folders and using a separate Profile for each, but the problem is that with Quantum, even installing it in a separate folder means ESR will no longer work. I can open my profiles which I used ESR for, but which nukes the extensions, but ESR itself would no longer work with them after i installed Quantum.
PeaceByJesus
Posts: 33
Joined: October 20th, 2009, 7:24 am

Re: Can I install and run Firefox Quantum along side Firefox

Post by PeaceByJesus »

PeaceByJesus wrote:
RobertJ wrote:.
It can be done with two profiles, one for each. You are on WIN of which I know little. Someone will likely come along and tell you how.

FYI. around the end of June ESR's will move to Quantum.

.
Thanks, but the update on this page says "there is no plan at this time to end ESR releases..."
Where do you read that? Why would then be the purpose of ESR since the extensions it is used to support will no longer work.

Edit: I see

August 28th – End of life for ESR 52 and release of ESR 60.2.0. No further updates will be offered for ESR52 and an update to ESR 60.2.0 will be provided through the application update service

Also please keep in mind that Firefox 57, released last month, supports only add-ons built with the WebExtensions API. This means that Firefox 52 ESR is the last release that will support legacy add-ons.
Last edited by PeaceByJesus on March 7th, 2018, 8:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
DanRaisch
Moderator
Posts: 127188
Joined: September 23rd, 2004, 8:57 pm
Location: Somewhere on the right coast

Re: Can I install and run Firefox Quantum along side Firefox

Post by DanRaisch »

I'm able to run both version 57 (Quantum) and version 57 on this Win 10 machine without problems. If you have separate program installation directories and separate profiles for each program version, there should be no interaction between Quantum and the profile/data used by the ESR installation.

Why not try running the portable version of Quantum from a flash drive to eliminate any cross-contamination risk?
User avatar
RobertJ
Moderator
Posts: 10880
Joined: October 15th, 2003, 7:40 pm
Location: Chicago IL/Oconomowoc WI

Re: Can I install and run Firefox Quantum along side Firefox

Post by RobertJ »

PeaceByJesus wrote: Where do you read that? Why would then be the purpose of ESR since the extensions it is used to support will no longer work.
ESR's are not for old extensions; they are intended for enterprise users that don't want to update every six weeks or so.

The release canendar for all FF is here

.
FF 92.0 - TB 78.13 - Mac OSX 10.13.6
PeaceByJesus
Posts: 33
Joined: October 20th, 2009, 7:24 am

Re: Can I install and run Firefox Quantum along side Firefox

Post by PeaceByJesus »

DanRaisch wrote:I'm able to run both version 57 (Quantum) and version 57 on this Win 10 machine without problems. If you have separate program installation directories and separate profiles for each program version, there should be no interaction between Quantum and the profile/data used by the ESR installation.

Why not try running the portable version of Quantum from a flash drive to eliminate any cross-contamination risk?
You "run both version 57 (Quantum) and version 57.." Do you mean you run both version 57 (Quantum) and version 52 ESR?

Running the portable or Nightly would work, but can I install web extensions on the portable?
Last edited by PeaceByJesus on March 7th, 2018, 8:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
PeaceByJesus
Posts: 33
Joined: October 20th, 2009, 7:24 am

Re: Can I install and run Firefox Quantum along side Firefox

Post by PeaceByJesus »

RobertJ wrote:
PeaceByJesus wrote: Where do you read that? Why would then be the purpose of ESR since the extensions it is used to support will no longer work.
ESR's are not for old extensions; they are intended for enterprise users that don't want to update every six weeks or so.

The release canendar for all FF is here

.
Thanks. Got it.
User avatar
RobertJ
Moderator
Posts: 10880
Joined: October 15th, 2003, 7:40 pm
Location: Chicago IL/Oconomowoc WI

Re: Can I install and run Firefox Quantum along side Firefox

Post by RobertJ »

.
FYI
Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) is intended for system administrators who deploy and maintain the desktop environment in organizations such as universities and other schools, county or city governments and businesses.

Releases will be maintained for more than a year, with point releases containing security updates coinciding with regular Firefox releases. The ESR will also have a two cycles (12 week) overlap between the time of a new release and the end-of-life of the previous release to permit testing and certification prior to deploying a new version.
.
FF 92.0 - TB 78.13 - Mac OSX 10.13.6
User avatar
dfoulkes
Posts: 22525
Joined: June 28th, 2008, 10:31 pm
Location: Mesquite, Nevada

Re: Can I install and run Firefox Quantum along side Firefox

Post by dfoulkes »

PeaceByJesus

Not sure if you resolved your issue but that link that Dan posted includes a post talking about the portable version of Firefox.

I use the portable version of the latest Firefox with no issues ... along side ESR. The portable version of Quantum is just that... so, it accepts all of those extensions.

It's a good way to get used to Quantum.

Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition | PortableApps.com - Portable software for USB, portable and cloud drives
As you can see she's (The CAT) always alert and on the prowl for Meoware !!
PeaceByJesus
Posts: 33
Joined: October 20th, 2009, 7:24 am

Re: Can I install and run Firefox Quantum along side Firefox

Post by PeaceByJesus »

dfoulkes wrote:PeaceByJesus

Not sure if you resolved your issue but that link that Dan posted includes a post talking about the portable version of Firefox.

I use the portable version of the latest Firefox with no issues ... along side ESR. The portable version of Quantum is just that... so, it accepts all of those extensions.

It's a good way to get used to Quantum.

Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition | PortableApps.com - Portable software for USB, portable and cloud drives
Thanks. But I want to install it on my hard drive, and run it concurrently. The solution appears to be https://www.raymond.cc/blog/run-install ... -portable/
Post Reply