Due to privacy concerns, some Firefox users may wish to disable or turn off the session restore feature in Firefox. As an example, if your computer is used by multiple users, the browser could crash while you are checking your Gmail account.  Rather than restoring Firefox, you decide to go do something else.  When somebody else comes in to launch Firefox, the browser will be restored to your inbox (due to fact that is where it crashed).  If you want a little more browsing privacy, here is how you disable the session restore feature in the browser.

First thing you will need to do is visit our old friend, the about:config screen.  In the address bar, type in:

• about:config

and then press the "Enter" key.  If you are warned about the fact that you can really mess Firefox up if you muck around inside of about:config, just go ahead and click "I’ll be careful, I promise!" and continue.

Now, find browser.sessionstore.resume_from_crash in the list.  You will want to double-click that entry, and then set it to false.  Session restore inside of Firefox will now be disabled.

Here is what Mozilla has to say about the privacy issues that might exist:

Session Restore may keep you logged in to sites that you were logged into before you closed Firefox. If someone else used your computer after you, they could access your account on these sites. If this is a concern then you should not configure Firefox to open all windows and tabs from your previous session ("Show my windows and tabs from last time" option described above).

I would not consider this a huge privacy problem, but if it is something you are concerned about – it is nice to know Firefox left the option open for you.

Tis’ the season to be getting more Mozilla and Firefox news than I can handle!  Here are some of the most recent Firefox headlines to catch my eye.

Firefox for Windows Mobile images surface

But Mozilla says a Windows Mobile version of Fennec is on its way and that an Alpha release could come within the next few weeks. And now a few screenshots have surfaced which would seem to indicate that at least someone is already running Fennec on a Windows Mobile phone.

Firefox 3.1 to Include Smarter Session Restore

The nightly builds of Firefox 3.1 have added a significant improvement to the session restore dialog you normally see after a crashed browsing session. The upshot: Rather than displaying a modal dialog that requires you to restore your old session or start from scratch, Firefox will display an about:sessionrestore tab in which you can selectively disable any tab or window from the previous session before you continue with the restore.

Mozilla announces Developer Tools Labs

Ajaxian founders, Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith, are joining the Mozilla Corporation as full time employees to lead the new Developer Tools Labs, a project similar to Mozilla Labs that will focus on researching and developing “tools that increase developer productivity, enable compelling user experiences, and promote the use of open standards.”, said Mozilla’s Chris Beard in a blog post.

Mozilla locks in Firefox 3.1 feature list

Three weeks ago, the company said it would insert four to five more weeks into the timetable, part of a reaction to changes in the browser market, including the introduction by Google Inc. of its Chrome browser. Then, Mozilla said it would probably use the time to add a privacy mode and to punch up its TraceMonkey JavaScript engine performance.  A private browsing mode and fast JavaScript execution were touted by Google last month when it launched Chrome.

If you find yourself in the camp with the annoyed folks, this is what you do:

1. type about:config in your browser URL
2. go to the browser.sessionstore.enabled setting
3. change the setting to false

There you go! All fixed now. Thanks to the scott.hodson.blog for the source of this information, and Philip for sending me the link.