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I'm running the Waterfox fork.

That was true until the release of 55. You should be able to run both simultaneously now. I just tested on Windows and Linux and it works on both.

You could compile from source as soon as there was a 64 bit compiler and libraries available. But pre-compiled binaries weren't readily available from Mozilla like they are now. However I was referring to the Windows versions as Waterfox didn't compile Linux binaries until much later. I'm using Waterfox 55.0.1 on Mint 18.1 currently.

even if it takes a bit of work

Key point here. On Mozilla's side, they say they will let you opt out easily.

Still, there are a number of alternatives (Waterfox that is FF based with telemetry stripped from the source and Palemoon) that do not collect data at all.

Jumped to Waterfox several years ago. At the time it was the only 64 bit version of FF code but it has matured and while it still follows FF core it didn't disable plug-ins and it strips out tracking.

Waterfox is 64bits and gets rid of a bunch of cruft that Mozilla puts in Firefox.

I've been using Waterfox for years. It's based on the current branch of FF main but strips out the tracking bits and enables features Mozilla has disabled (NPAPI for those who still have need of it).

I started using Waterfox years ago because Firefox didn't have a 64 bit browser out yet and I wanted the benefit 64 bit could bring. I keep using it because quite frankly I still need certain NPAPI plugins and as of FF 53 your SOL if you need them. Sure I can download the ES version but then I'd be stuck on an old version without access to any new updates. I like it enough that I even started using it on my Mint laptop. Waterfox strips out all of the telemetry and data collection and keeps NPAPI available should you need it. That said I have Chrome and Maxthlon browsers loaded as well and frequently pit them against each other. I like features of each but I always end up back at Waterfox. I just installed Opera to give it a try again and it loaded smooth and looked very polished. Then I tried to import my bookmarks and it crashed and now crashes when I try to launch it. Not a very good first impression.

what happens if they push out a bad update and everybody's machine is out of action for a week?

You mean like last week?
I was scratching my head for an hour trying to figure out why my wife's laptop showed it connected to the AP but not the internet. I felt really dumb once I figured it out. Then I read this story and got really mad. All the while happily connected to Steam playing games on my Win 7 desktop running Waterfox (64 bit FF fork). And of course since it took out DHCP there's no way for the average person to connect to get the patch!

I've been frustrated with Chrome's greed lately and would love an alternative.

Palemoon, Vivaldi, Brave, Waterfox, Maxthon

WaterFox's latest build seems to still have the granularity. For those not familiar, Waterfox is a high performance browser based on the Mozilla platform. Made specifically for 64-Bit systems. It is speedy and all your FF extensions should work. In fact, in upgrading to WF, all of my FF prefs, extensions and addons were in place and working right on first boot. https://www.waterfoxproject.or...

There are several 64 bit variants available compiled from Firefox source. I have been using WaterFox for a couple of years as my daily browser. It's usually about two weeks behind official FireFox releases.

Not sure if you are trolling or asking but since you brought it up I can say I've been using Waterfox as my primary browser for the last two years and it works well. I tend to run with upwards of 12 to 15 tabs at a time and it is quite responsive but does on occasion lose its connection to the network and require it be restarted to restore the connection. But since both Chrome and Edge no longer support NPAPI I suspect I'll be using it for the foreseeable future. At least until all my favorite web sites stop using features that require it.

It's telling that their web site looks like it was designed for browsers from 1995. I'll stick with WaterFox

I've been running Waterfox (Firefox recompiled as 64 bit) for over a year. It's usually a week or two behind the official FF release but it runs well. In fact it co-exists with FF and the configuration is shared between them.

Well the great thing about today is you don't HAVE to take Moz's shit, you DO have plenty of choices.

I use Comodo Dragon and Pale Moon, but if you don't like those there is Comodo IceDragon, Waterfox, SWIron, hell if you don't want to use anything Chromium or Gecko based there is QTWeb which is webkit and QT. Cross platform and works pretty nice IMHO, works great from a flash too. And if your machine is needing an ultra light browser or which will run on really old Windows versions there is always Kmeleon which by following their docs and adding a couple of files can run on Win98 if you need it to and which flies on anything newer.

So as you can see you DO have more choices, hell I left off plenty of others like Safari and Opera and Chrome but I figured it would be better to list some you may not have tried. Give 'em a go, I bet you'll find one you like. Oh and FYI but nearly all the above? MUCH more conservative when it comes to UI changes. I've been on Dragon since V4 (currently on V31) and the only UI change of note was moving the option button from the right edge to the left. Oh and the reason I use Pale Moon over ICeDragon? I like its UI better and the way its built with the browser targeted at newer CPU features. Nice thing about choice, I can go for the browser with the little things I like..

The 64 bit branch of FireFox and loved it, it was much faster.

Not really. Look at their own benchmarks - at best performance is roughly 15% faster, some cases slower. They also commit the cardinal sin of using benchmark charts that do not start at zero, #1 on the list of "how to lie with numbers."

If you want a 64bits version of Firefox, use Waterfox :)
http://www.waterfoxproject.org/

WATERFOX: -> http://waterfoxproject.org/

(Same basic idea as PaleMoon, in a 64-bit more highly compiler &/or "by-hand" optimized version of FireFox's "latest/greatest" builds...)

* Enjoy...

APK

P.S.=> I honestly can't decide WHICH is "the superior warrior" of the 2, but there you go - Either is a highly-optimized build of FireFox (for Windows users @ least)...

... apk

I forgot to mention it in my earlier post but there is a Firefox version compiled for 64 bit Windows systems called Waterfox. I have been using Waterfox since last year and I can definetly notice a speed difference in general browsing performance compared to regular Firefox.

http://waterfoxproject.org/

Waterfox is a 64-bit Windows build. They don't have 10.0 yet, though.

http://waterfoxproject.org/