The World of Windows

Windows in S mode does not allow installation of apps from outside of the Microsoft Store, so you will not be able to install Waterfox from Waterfox’s website. Although Waterfox is available from the Microsoft Store, it does not work on Windows in S mode and installation is currently disabled. To install Waterfox, you must switch out of Windows S mode . To learn more, see the Windows 10 and Windows 11 in S mode FAQ at Microsoft Support. Afterwards, visit Waterfox’s Waterfox download page or the Microsoft Store to install Waterfox. For more information, see How to install Waterfox on Windows and Download Waterfox on Windows from the Microsoft Store . Windows 10 support will end in October 2025 After October 14, 2025, Microsoft will no longer provide free software updates from Windows Update, technical assistance, or security fixes for Windows 10. Your PC will still work, but we recommend upgrading to Windows 11. More information Windows 10 in S mode is designed for secu...

1. Graphics & Display Settings Game Mode: Go to Settings > Gaming > Game Mode and toggle On . This allocates CPU/GPU resources directly to the foreground game while suppressing background Windows updates and non-essential tasks. Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling (HAGS): Navigate to Settings > System > Display > Graphics > Change default graphics settings and turn On . HAGS offloads frame scheduling tasks from the CPU to a dedicated processor on the GPU, lowering input latency and enabling frame generation technologies (DLSS 3 / FSR 3). Optimizations for Windowed Games: In the same Default graphics settings menu, toggle On . This upgrades legacy DirectX 10/11 windowed games to the modern Flip Model presentation, delivering the low latency and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) support of Exclusive Fullscreen mode while remaining in borderless windowed mode. Refresh Rate & System VRR: Under Settings > System ...

In certain versions of Windows 10, you may receive a notification with a warning about Microsoft-verified apps when you run the Waterfox installer. Any copy of Waterfox downloaded from www.waterfox.net is safe to install , so choose “ Install anyway ”. Note You can also download and install Waterfox from the Microsoft Store . Using Windows 10 in S mode? See Windows in S mode won’t let me install Waterfox . If you do not see the option to “ Install anyway ”, follow the steps below to change your system settings. Open the Windows 10 start menu and select Settings . Click on Apps in the Windows Settings menu. In the Apps & features section go to Choose where to get apps , click on the dropdown menu below and select one of the options that allows you to install from Anywhere . Run the Waterfox Installer again. Your Windows may now allow it to install Waterfox.

Windows 11 introduced several architecture-level gaming improvements designed to reduce loading latency, improve visual fidelity, and streamline windowed performance compared to Windows 10. 1. Storage & Load Time Enhancements DirectStorage API DirectStorage allows the graphics card (GPU) to bypass the CPU when decompressing and transferring game assets directly from a fast NVMe SSD into VRAM. Impact: Drastically reduces loading screens from tens of seconds down to sub-second load times. It also allows developers to build seamless, highly detailed open worlds with zero asset pop-in. Requirements: An NVMe PCIe SSD, a DirectX 12 compatible GPU with Shader Model 6.0 support, and game-level implementation (e.g., Forspoken , Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart ). 2. Visual & Display Technologies Auto HDR Auto HDR automatically upgrades legacy Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) titles built on DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 to High Dynamic Range (HDR) using ...

If Waterfox starts up without your bookmarks, passwords, saved tabs and other settings, check whether your data is available in a different profile . This can happen because Waterfox creates a dedicated profile for each Waterfox installation . To recover your Waterfox data and settings from another profile: Type about:profiles into the Waterfox address bar and press the Enter key. This will open the About Profiles page. This page should list at least one profile and could list many. The profile that Waterfox is currently using will have this: This is the profile in use and it cannot be deleted. Please do not delete any profiles. Don’t use any Remove buttons. If you have another profile listed on this page, it may contain your missing profile data. You can click the Launch profile in new browser button to open another Waterfox window using that profile. If the other profile doesn’t contain your missing data, simply close that new window. If it does contain the missing data,...

  On Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 9 devices (powered by ARMv9-based Tensor G3 and Tensor G4 processors), hardware Memory Tagging Extension (MTE) provides native, hardware-accelerated memory checking. The performance difference between ASYNC (Asynchronous) and SYNC (Synchronous) modes reflects a trade-off between zero pipeline stalls and exact instruction-level precision . 1. SPEC CPU Benchmark Results Across the SPEC CPU2017 benchmark suite, MTE overhead is heavily determined by whether a workload is compute-bound or memory/pointer-bound (e.g., node traversal, heavy heap allocations). Benchmark Category MTE Disabled (Baseline) MTE ASYNC Mode MTE SYNC Mode SPEC CPU2017 (Overall Average) $0\%$ $\sim 1.0\% - 1.5\%$ $\sim 3.5\% - 5.2\%$ Compute-Bound (e.g., 508.namd_r , 511.povray_r ) $0\%$ $< 0.5\%$ $\sim 1.0\% - 1.8\%$ Memory/Pointer-Heavy (e.g., 505.mcf_r , 520.omnetpp_r ) $0\%$ $\sim 2.0\% - 3.0\%$ $\sim 8.0\% - 11.5\%...

Note If you installed Waterfox from the Microsoft Store , then you will receive Waterfox updates through the Microsoft Store. This article only applies if you installed Waterfox by downloading it from Waterfox. To check for Waterfox updates on the Microsoft Store, see this Microsoft article . Note If you use your Linux distribution’s packaged version of Waterfox, you will need to wait for an updated package to be released to its package repository. This article only applies if you installed Waterfox manually (without using your distribution’s package manager). Waterfox updates automatically by default, but you can always check for updates at any time. Update Waterfox Windows and Linux: Click the menu button at the right side of the Waterfox toolbar, go to Help, and select About Waterfox. macOS: In the menu bar, open the Waterfox menu and choose About Waterfox. The About Waterfox window will open. Waterfox will check for updates automatically. If an update is avai...