Pale Moon Web Browser
TL;DR
List of Firefox Based Browsers Pale Moon
🌙 Pale Moon – Full History
🏁 1. Introduction
Name: Pale Moon
Developer: Moonchild Productions
Founder / Lead Developer: M.C. Straver (Moonchild), from the Netherlands
Initial Release: October 4, 2009
Based on: Originally Mozilla Firefox (Gecko engine), later forked into its own engine called Goanna
Type: Open-source, independent web browser focused on efficiency, customization, and classic design
🧩 2. Origins (2009–2012)
2009:
Pale Moon was first released as a Windows-optimized version of Mozilla Firefox 3.5.
Goal: Improve performance by removing unnecessary components and optimizing for modern CPUs.
Early versions (Pale Moon 3.x–9.x) were direct rebuilds of Firefox, compiled with custom compiler flags to make them faster and lighter.
Key features in early versions:
Removed accessibility and parental control features (to reduce size)
Removed telemetry and data collection tools
Focused on speed and privacy
Pale Moon gained attention from users who preferred older-style Firefox UI (with the classic menu bar and toolbar layout).
🧠 3. Diverging from Firefox (2013–2015)
2013:
Mozilla began transitioning Firefox to its new Australis interface (rounded tabs, simplified UI, Chrome-like design).
Many users disliked this new design. Pale Moon decided not to adopt Australis, choosing to maintain the classic Firefox interface.
2014:
Major milestone: Pale Moon became an independent fork of Firefox’s codebase (starting from Firefox ESR 24).
Introduced its own rendering engine called Goanna, a fork of Gecko.
From this point on, Pale Moon began developing independently of Mozilla’s code.
2015:
Released Pale Moon 25, fully separated from Mozilla infrastructure.
No longer compatible with Firefox Sync; switched to Pale Moon Sync (based on older Firefox Sync 1.1).
Continued support for XUL and XPCOM-based extensions, which Firefox dropped later.
⚙️ 4. Independent Evolution (2016–2019)
2016:
Release of Pale Moon 26 with the new Goanna engine (based on Gecko 38).
Improved HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript support.
Maintained full support for NPAPI plugins (like Java, Silverlight, Flash) that Chrome and Firefox had discontinued.
2017:
Mozilla announced the Quantum project (Firefox 57+), dropping legacy extension support.
Pale Moon became the main refuge for classic Firefox users, keeping:
Classic theme support
Full customization
Old-style add-ons
2018:
Pale Moon 28 released (Goanna 4.1 engine).
Moved away from older code dependencies (like GTK2) and improved modern web compatibility.
Pale Moon’s focus during this period:
Stability
Low resource usage
Upholding user choice and configurability over forced updates or minimal design trends.
🧭 5. Collaboration and Forks (2019–2022)
2019:
Pale Moon’s developer community grew around the Moonchild Productions forum.
Some developers created Basilisk, another browser by the same team — based on newer code and used as a testing ground for Pale Moon technologies.
2020:
Pale Moon 29 development began, bringing Goanna 4.5 and improved JavaScript performance.
Added partial support for WebExtensions (but prioritized XUL-based extensions).
2021–2022:
Focus on modernization while keeping compatibility with older systems (Windows 7, Linux).
Removed telemetry and “call-home” features entirely.
Continued resistance to adopting Chromium-style minimalism.
🔒 6. Recent Development (2023–2025)
2023:
Released Pale Moon 32.x (Goanna 5.1).
Added improved web compatibility for HTML5 video, CSS grid layout, and ECMAScript 2021.
Updated the user interface for better scaling on 4K and high-DPI screens.
2024–2025:
Ongoing releases focus on security hardening, UI refinements, and modern site compatibility while maintaining independence from both Mozilla and Chromium.
Continues to use the XUL-based interface, one of the last browsers to do so.
Still powered by Goanna engine — unique to Pale Moon and Basilisk.
💡 7. Core Philosophy
Pale Moon has always stood for:
User control: No forced updates, telemetry, or cloud syncing.
Customization: Full theme and add-on flexibility (legacy XUL extensions).
Performance: Lightweight and efficient, optimized for real-world browsing.
Independence: Not controlled by big corporations (Mozilla, Google, Microsoft).
🧱 8. Key Features Over the Years
Category—>Notable Features
Engine—>Goanna (fork of Gecko)
UI Style—>Classic Firefox (pre-Australis)
Extensions–>Supports legacy XUL/XPCOM add-ons
Privacy—>No telemetry, user data not tracked
Customization—>Full toolbar, layout, and theme control
Compatibility—>NPAPI support, older OS support
Security—>Open-source, frequent patches
Performance—>Lightweight, CPU-efficient rendering
📊 9. Popularity & Community
Pale Moon has a smaller but dedicated user base, mainly composed of:
Classic Firefox enthusiasts
Privacy-focused users
Users with older hardware
Linux and Windows power users
It remains one of the few truly independent browsers — not based on Chromium or current Gecko.
🕰️ 10. Version Timeline Summary
Year—>Version—>Key Highlights
2009—>v1–3—>Optimized Firefox rebuild
2013—>v15–24—>Divergence from Firefox, classic UI maintained
2014—>v25—>Full independent fork
2016—>v26—>Introduced Goanna engine
2018—>v28—>Major UI and performance update
2020—>v29—>Modern web standards, security focus
2023—>v32—>Goanna 5.x, HTML5/CSS3 improvements
2025—>v34±–>Enhanced privacy, continued independence
🏆 11. Legacy & Impact
Pale Moon preserved the classic Firefox experience after Mozilla changed direction.
It stands as a symbol of browser independence in an age dominated by Chromium-based browsers.
Despite a smaller market share, it continues to serve users who value speed, privacy, and control over automation and simplicity.
The Core Identity: A Fork with a Philosophy
Pale Moon is an open-source web browser that started as a fork of Mozilla Firefox. Its history is defined not by corporate backing, but by a strong philosophical stance on what a browser should be. The key principles are:
Efficiency and Low Resource Usage: Pale Moon is designed to be lightweight, fast, and run well on older hardware.
User Control and Customization: It strongly emphasizes retaining the classic, highly customizable interface that older versions of Firefox offered, which was drastically changed with Firefox’s “Australis” update.
Independence: It maintains its own identity and codebase, gradually diverging from modern Firefox to follow its own path.
The history of Pale Moon is best understood through its relationship with its parent project, Mozilla Firefox.
The Timeline of Pale Moon’s Development
Phase 1: The Beginning - An Optimized Firefox (2009 – 2013)
Origin as a “Optimization” Project (2009): The project was initiated in 2009 by M.C. Straver (Moonchild), a developer from the Netherlands. It began not as a full fork, but as a compiled optimization of Firefox. Straver took the Firefox source code and applied patches and compilation flags specifically for the Windows x86 (32-bit) platform to make it faster, more stable, and less memory-intensive.
Key Differentiator: At this stage, Pale Moon was essentially a “better” Firefox for Windows users. It retained full compatibility with Firefox extensions and themes, making it an attractive drop-in replacement for power users.
Phase 2: The Fork - Forging an Independent Path (2013 – 2016)
This period marks Pale Moon’s transition from an optimized build to a truly independent browser.
Catalyst: Firefox’s Australis UI (2014): Mozilla’s release of the “Australis” interface for Firefox was a major turning point. This update simplified the UI, removing a lot of the customization options that power users loved. The Pale Moon community and developer strongly opposed this change. Pale Moon retained the pre-Australis interface, positioning itself as the heir to the classic Firefox experience.
Official Fork and Goanna Engine (2015-2016): As Firefox’s codebase evolved, it became increasingly difficult to maintain Pale Moon as a set of patches. The project officially forked from Firefox, creating its own independent codebase.
The most significant technical change was the creation of the Goanna rendering engine. This was a fork of Mozilla’s Gecko engine, created primarily to remove all Mozilla trademarks and to allow for independent development. While based on Gecko, Goanna has since diverged with its own optimizations and changes.
Phase 3: Independence and Modern Challenges (2017 – Present)
In this phase, Pale Moon has fully embraced its identity as a distinct browser, but this has also led to challenges.
Divergence from the Modern Web Ecosystem:
Extension Incompatibility: The most significant consequence of forking is that Pale Moon does not support modern Firefox or Chrome extensions. It uses its own extension format, which is based on the legacy Firefox XUL/XPCOMsystem. This severely limits the availability of new add-ons, relying on a dedicated community to maintain classic extensions.
Website Compatibility Issues: As the web standardizes around browsers with Blink (Chrome, Edge) and Gecko (Firefox) engines, Pale Moon’s unique Goanna engine can sometimes struggle with websites that use modern, Chrome-centric code.
Platform Expansion: While starting on Windows, Pale Moon has been ported to Linux and macOS, though its primary user base remains on Windows.
Continued Development: The development, led by Moonchild and a small team of contributors, remains active. Updates focus on security, performance tweaks, and maintaining the classic UI philosophy in the face of an ever-changing web.
Key Philosophical and Technical Divergences from Firefox
To understand Pale Moon’s history is to understand its disagreements with Mozilla’s direction:
Feature/Philosophy
Pale Moon
Modern Firefox
User Interface
Classic, pre-Australis UI. Highly customizable with toolbars and menus.
Simplified, modern UI with reduced customization (Australis/Photon/Proton).
Rendering Engine
Goanna (a fork of Gecko).
Gecko (developed by Mozilla).
Extension Support
Legacy XUL/XPCOM extensions (the old “Full Page” add-ons).
WebExtensions API only (for security and compatibility, but less powerful).
Technology Focus
Optimized for x86. Avoids “bloat” like built-in Pocket, VR, etc.
Focus on modern standards, Rust integration, multi-process architecture (Electrolysis).
Governance
Single lead developer (Benevolent Dictator For Life model).
Managed by the non-profit Mozilla Foundation and corporation.
Summary
The history of Pale Moon is a story of a community and a developer choosing to preserve a specific vision of the web browser when the mainstream moved on. It is a direct descendant of the classic Firefox era, prized for its efficiency and user control. However, its independence comes at the cost of compatibility with the modern web’s ecosystem, making it a niche but passionate choice for users who prioritize its specific strengths.
