Firefox 99, Vivaldi 5.2, Safari Technology Preview 143, Astro 1.0 Beta, RedwoodJS 1.0, and more | Front End News #059
Tags: news, frontendnews, newsletter
Published: 2022-04-11 04:16:48

> **NOTE:** This is issue #059 of my newsletter, which went live on Monday, April 11th. If you find this information useful and interesting and you want to receive future issues as they are published, ahead of everyone else, I invite you to join the subscriber list at [frontendnexus.com](https://frontendnexus.com/).

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It has been another week where the most important news came from browser vendors. Firefox 99 is rolling out, Vivaldi released version 5.2 for Android and desktop, and macOS users can try Safari Technology Preview 143. The Microsoft Edge team continues to work on the transition from the old IE to the new Edge browser. And the highlights of the software updates section include Astro 1.0 Beta, Node v17.9.0, RedwoodJS 1.0, and more.

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## Browser news

Rachel Andrew seems to have started a new series on behalf of the Chrome team. For the third month in a row, she published a roundup of the updates to the web platform that landed in the main browsers. This includes both the stable and the beta release channels, so we're also getting a glimpse ahead of the new things to come.

- [New to the web platform](https://web.dev/tags/new-to-the-web/)

### Edge

There are less than three months to the retirement of the IE desktop app for most versions of Windows 10. The Edge team continues working on making a smooth transition for those that are using IE-dependent apps and websites. The article includes even a consolidated list of resources for those admins that have to complete the transition in time.

- [With 3 months left before IE retirement, new enhancements arrive in Microsoft Edge for IE mode](https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2022/03/29/with-3-months-left-before-ie-retirement-new-enhancements-arrive-in-microsoft-edge-for-ie-mode/)

### Firefox

Firefox 99 rolled out to users this past week. It is a release containing mostly various fixes, with no notable features either for the end-users or for the developers.

- [Firefox 99 Release Notes](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/99.0/releasenotes/)

### Vivaldi

There are new releases from Vivaldi for both Desktop and Android users. This update marks 6 years since the first-ever version of Vivaldi went live.

Desktop users can now use the new Reading List that syncs across devices. The Ad and Tracker Blocker includes privacy statistics. Qwant is once more an option to search the web. And Android users have got access to the new Translate Panel.

- [Vivaldi 5.2 on Desktop](https://vivaldi.com/blog/vivaldi-5-2/)
- [Vivaldi 5.2 on Android](https://vivaldi.com/blog/vivaldi-on-android-5-2/)

### WebKit

Safari Technology Preview 143 brings many quality-of-life improvements for developers. What caught my eye is the support for nested container queries and container units and the fixes to some subgrid bugs. The list of changes is quite long. Therefore I invite you to check out the release notes for more details.

- [Safari Technology Preview 143](https://webkit.org/blog/12563/release-notes-for-safari-technology-preview-143/)

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## Software updates and releases

- **[Astro 1.0 Beta](https://astro.build/blog/astro-1-beta-release/)** - Build fast websites, faster.
- **[JSZip v3.9.0](https://github.com/Stuk/jszip/releases/tag/v3.9.0)** - create, read and edit .zip files with Javascript
- **[Mapbox GL JS v2.8.0](https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/releases/tag/v2.8.0)** - interactive, customizable vector maps on the web
- **[Node v12.22.12 (LTS)](https://nodejs.org/en/blog/release/v12.22.12/)**
- **[Node v17.9.0 (Current)](https://nodejs.org/en/blog/release/v17.9.0/)**
- **[pkg 5.6.0](https://github.com/vercel/pkg/releases/tag/5.6.0)** - package your Node.js project into an executable
- **[React Native 0.68](https://reactnative.dev/blog/2022/03/30/version-068)** - a framework for building native applications using React
- **[RedwoodJS 1.0](https://tom.preston-werner.com/2022/04/04/redwood-v1-and-funding.html)** - The App Framework for Startups
- **[Swiper 8.1.0](https://swiperjs.com/changelog#8-1-0-2022-04-08)** - Powerful mobile touch slider

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## Wrapping things up

Ukraine is still suffering from the Russian invasion - if you are looking for ways to help, please check Smashing Magazine's article [We All Are Ukraine 🇺🇦](https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2022/02/we-all-are-ukraine/) or get in touch with your trusted charity.

That's about all I have for this issue. If you enjoyed this newsletter, there are a couple of ways to support it. You can share the [link to this issue](https://frontendnexus.com/news/059/) on social media and follow this newsletter on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/frontendnexus). Each of these helps me out, and I would appreciate your consideration.

Have a great and productive week, keep yourselves safe, spend as much time as possible with your loved ones, and I will see you again next time!