Mozilla rolls out first Firefox version with Yahoo as default search

Mozilla today rolled out Firefox version 34, the first version that features Yahoo as its default search engine, with the option to change it to another search engine.

Although, according to Yahoo, the version had everything needed for the most intensive search, at the end of the day, however, the users might feel that it did not contain the smart features of Google, especially queries that would usually promote Google's Knowledge Graph.

With the recent update, Mozilla is moving the existing WebRTC-powered chat tool ''Firefox Hello'' out of the beta channel and into its mainstream release.

The organisation built the service that allowed audio and video chats to start with any Firefox users right from the browser. Users who currently had Firefox, might not see or use it right now, as Mozilla had restricted access to this ''Firefox Hello'' feature, to avoid overloading of the system.

According to pcworld.com the switch from Google to Yahoo came as a big deal for Mozilla, as a huge chunk of the Firefox maker's funding comes from its search.

For years left Mozilla dependent on one of its biggest browser competitors- Google. Commentators say for Mozilla the move away from Google made a lot of sense, but not many users may like it.

A good number of Firefox fans may not have switched their default search provider in Firefox for two reasons - they liked Google or that most users did not want to mess with their default settings anyway.

However, for die-hard Google fans, retaining Google as the default in Firefox was fairly simple. Mozilla told Computerworld that only users who had not changed their defaults would be automatically switched over to Yahoo and people who preferred Bing as their search provider in Firefox, would not be affected by the change.

For retaining Google as the default search users would need to install a Firefox add-on called Google Default, which too was created to help Linux Mint users who had also been switched away from Google in 2012.