After so many years of work, the 64-bit version of Mozilla Firefox is finally available for download for Windows users too, promising increased speed and better security.

First and foremost, it's worth noting that this new version arrives as part of branch 43, which was officially released on all supported platforms only a few minutes ago. The 64-bit build for Windows comes with support for Windows 7 and newer, including Windows 10, so the majority of users are supposed to be able to run it. Unfortunately for those on Windows XP, Firefox 64-bit does not support this OS.

Important milestone

Although a 64-bit version of Firefox has been available on Linux and Mac OS X for many years, Windows users have never received more than a Nightly build, which was obviously more or less unstable and buggy. In fact, Mozilla also planned to abandon the project and in November 2012, it discontinued the 64-bit version of the browser for Windows.

Mozilla then promised to release Firefox 64-bit on Windows nearly one year ago, but the application has only made it to the Developer channel earlier this year.

While Firefox 64-bit comes on Windows with improved security and speed because it can access new technologies that are exclusively available on this OS version, it's worth mentioning that some plugins are not yet supported. Mozilla, however, promises to address this in the coming updates.

In addition to the 64-bit version for Windows, Firefox 43 also comes with private browsing with Tracking Protection to allow users to block additional trackers, but also with an on-screen keyboard displayed in select input fields on devices running either Windows 8 or Windows 10 where a touchscreen is available.

Firefox 43 is available for download right now from Softpedia for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. Windows users running 64-bit can select the new version in the download link list.