FireFox

Firefox 3.1 release for later this year!

2008-05-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

Features that didn't make Firefox 3.0 will be included in major update

Although Mozilla Corp. hasn't even released the final version of Firefox 3.0, its developers are already hammering out plans for the next edition, which may come as soon as late 2008, according to posts written by company executives.

In a thread on the mozilla.dev.planning newsgroup, Mike Schroepfer, vice president of engineering at Mozilla, summarized the post-Firefox 3.0 plans that had been discussed. Among them was Firefox 3.1, which could appear around the end of the year.

"There were a number of features that we held back from Firefox 3 because they weren't quite ready, but they were nearly complete," said Schroepfer in a message that kicked off a relatively active thread on the newsgroup. Schroepfer cited several features that failed to make the Firefox 3.0 cut, including support for cross-site XMLHttpRequest, a specification that lets a Web page draw information from servers behind firewalls.

Mozilla yanked Cross-site XMLHttpRequest support from Firefox 3.0 before posting Release Candidate 1 (RC1). According to the RC1 release notes, it did so "until the specification becomes more stable and the security model is improved."

"The overall quality of Gecko 1.9 as a basis for mobile and the desire to get new platform features out to Web developers sooner has lead to us want to do a second release of Firefox this year," Schroepfer continued on the Mozilla newsgroup. "This release would be date-driven and targeted at the end of 2008."

The move would be a first for Mozilla, which has never rolled out two major versions of its flagship browser in the same calendar year.

After Firefox 3.1, the picture gets hazier, said Schroepfer. "Firefox 4 will incorporate some of the more aggressive platform improvements in Mozilla2," he said, referring to the rewrite already under way of the browser's underlying code. "It is far too early to set a shipping date, but an initial target would be sometime in late 2009," Schroepfer said.

Those plans could change, said he said in a follow-up e-mail to Computerworld Wednesday. "This is [all] a preliminary discussion about a draft plan. Nothing is final here."

He also reiterated Mozilla's now-standard support life-cycle plans for Firefox 2.0, the current production version. "Support releases for Firefox 2.0.0.x will terminate at the latest approximately six months after the shipment of Firefox 3," he said. "This coincides with the approximate ship date of Firefox 3.1." As Schroepfer pointed out, Mozilla has committed to supporting older software for only six months after the release of a major update. A year ago, for example, it dropped support for Firefox 1.5 after it released that edition's final security update.

Mozilla published Firefox 3.0 RC1 for download last Friday, and it is now trying to decide whether to call that version good enough or issue another release candidate to fix several lingering or newly uncovered bugs.

via computerworld!

Mozilla Firefox 3.0 Beta Coming Soon

2007-11-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

Mozilla is close to releasing the first beta of Firefox 3.0, which is several months behind schedule.

Mozilla Corp. is nearing a release of the first beta of Firefox 3.0, which is several months behind schedule, making a final version of the open-source browser this year unlikely.
According to notes posted on Mozilla's Web site, Beta 1 is close at hand. "With Firefox 3 Beta 1 just around the corner (release candidates coming soon), it's time to start focusing on what it will take to ship a final product that we're all excited about," said Mike Beltzner, Mozilla's user interface designer in a posting Tuesday on his blog.
In another note, the browser's QA team called for volunteers to stress-test the Beta 1 release candidate this Friday, typically a sign that a roll-out is just days away.
As of Monday, only one bug remained to be patched in the Beta 1 code, a status meeting reported. On Tuesday, that bug -- an issue in Places, Firefox 3.0's new redesign of bookmarks and browsing history -- was still listed as open in Bugzilla.
At one time, Mozilla's schedule for Firefox 3.0 pegged Beta 1's debut as July 31, with second beta in September and the final before the end of the year. That, however, was when it predicted only six alpha versions; so far, Firefox has run through eight.
A brief mention of post-Beta 1 plans was tucked into Monday's Firefox status meeting notes. "Looking at [Beta 2] before the holidays," it read.
On its current schedule, it's unlikely that Firefox 3.0 can make final release status during 2007. Last year, for example, when Mozilla updated the browser to Version 2.0, the stretch between the release of its Beta 2 on Aug. 31 and the launch of the final Oct. 25 was just shy of two months.
Mozilla was not immediately available for comment.

From Computerworld!

Mozilla rewriting code for Firefox V3

2007-06-21T15:09:00.000-07:00

Mozilla programmers are touching most of the software components to increase performance, make the code base more modular and deal with new security threats.
Mozilla programmers are rewriting a lot of the Firefox code for the upcoming version release of the open-source browser, according to the head of product security at Mozilla.
Most of the components in the current version of Firefox are being touched, said Window Snyder, "chief security something-or-other" at Mozilla. She added that programmers are replacing a lot of older code to increase performance, make the code base more modular and handle new security threats, like phishing and malicious Web sites.
"As we're doing this, we're considering security features and trying to minimize security issues," said Snyder. "The Web browser has always been an entry point into the system, so it's been considered a critical application. The environment changes so we need to adapt."
Snyder noted that some components that are written in native code are being rewritten in managed code to reduce memory management flaws, like buffer overflow vulnerabilities. Managed code executes in a virtual machine, so there is less space for memory management issues to occur. Firefox programmers also are working on technology to help users fend off the growing number of malicious Web sites.
In recent months, malware writers began shifting their focus from spreading their malicious code via e-mail to embedding it in Web sites where it lies in wait for unsuspecting users. Researchers at security company Sophos noted that the percentage of infected e-mail has dropped from 1.3%, or one in 77 e-mails in the first three months of 2006, to one in 256, or just 0.4% in this year's first quarter.
In the same time period, Sophos identified an average of 5,000 new infected Web pages every day. However, this month, Sophos has greatly upped that number to 9,500 new infected Web pages every day. Snyder said Mozilla technicians are working on technology to deal with this advancing threat in Firefox 3, which is due out later this year.
"It's in design, sure. All browsers are trying to figure out how to protect users from malicious sites," she said, adding that they're also looking at adding security features to specifically deal with phishing attacks. In another interview this past March, Snyder said the technology -- and the technologists behind it all -- aren't giving users the right information to make intelligent decisions.
Users also are being asked to make too many decisions when all they really want to do is get their work done, send their e-mails or play a game. Applications, specifically browsers, give users too many pop-up questions to deal with and the questions often aren't very clear. Out of frustration, many users just begin pressing 'OK' to any security question that pops up. "All of this information, which is not being presented well, is the biggest security risk," said Snyder in the previous interview.
"How do you convey security information to the user so they know what to do? How do you empower the computer to make reasonable decisions and still let the power user do different things?" Snyder reiterated this week that Mozilla's technicians are working to make that security user interface more useful in the upcoming version of Firefox.
Mozilla has hired extra people just to work on the security UI. The woman in charge of product security at Mozilla also boasted about some new upgrade numbers. She pointed out that in August of 2006 when users upgraded from Firefox 1.5.0.5 to 1.5.0.6, it took eight days to move 90% of the code base over.
This May, when it was time for users to upgrade from Firefox 2.0.0.3 to 2.0.0.4, it took only six days for 90 percent to make the move. That's a 25% improvement. Snyder said she gives some of the credit to users being more aware of the security updates, but she also gives a lot of credit to a beefed up infrastructure that has more capacity to handle the rush. "When all the Firefox users are downloading these patches, it takes a pretty significant infrastructure to handle that," she added.

Firefox gains ground on Internet Explorer

2006-11-08T11:20:00.000-08:00

A recent study suggests that Mozilla's Firefox is continuing to gain ground on Microsoft's Internet Explorer following the launch of new versions of both browsers.

The report, conducted by Dutch research firm OneStat, found that Firefox increased its global market share by 0.66 per cent in October to reach 12.15 per cent.

Despite losing ground to Firefox, Internet Explorer maintained its stranglehold with 85.24 per cent of the global market share.

Apple's Safari browser was a distant third at 1.61 per cent, while Opera and Netscape each recorded less than one per cent.

The study also found that Firefox users are rapidly adopting the updated version of the browser.

Released on 24 October, Firefox 2.0 has now been adopted by 19.5 per cent of all Firefox users.

Internet Explorer 7, which was released five days before Firefox 2.0, has only been adopted by 3.05 per cent of all Internet Explorer users.

Mozilla To Release Firefox 2.0 Beta Tuesday

2006-07-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

Mozilla Corp., which will release the first beta of its Firefox 2.0 browser Tuesday, posted Windows, Mac, and Linux release candidates on its FTP servers over the weekend.

Firefox 2.0 Beta 1 Release Candidate 1 (RC1) can be downloaded from Mozilla's FTP site, although the official Beta 1 won't be released until July 11, according to notes published by the open-source developer.

Beta 1 features improvements that include close buttons on all tabs, a search plug-in manager to more easily add and remove engines from the search box, and a browser restore feature that recovers the browser and all tabs if the application crashes or freezes. Other enhancements range from an integrated spell-checker to an anti-phishing tool that warns users when they surf to a site blacklisted by Mozilla.

As the browser went through three alpha test stages -- the last launched in late May -- developers dropped a once-touted feature, dubbed "Places," a redesigned bookmarks tool which would have let users search both browsing history and bookmarked sites simultaneously.

As is typical with Mozilla previews, downloading and installing RC1 will disable most extensions and themes. A "portable" version of Beta 1 RC1, available from a third-party site, runs without affecting existing Firefox settings, however.

In other news, Mozilla is also prepping a security update to the current Firefox, which will be labeled "1.5.0.5." The update is scheduled to ship in approximately two weeks.

Firefox top tips

2006-04-05T13:02:00.000-07:00

Internet Explorer has had a virtual monopoly on web browsing for more than 10 years but back in 2004 its dominance came under threat from a new Open Source program called Mozilla Firefox. It took a while for the bugs to get sorted out but since the release of version 1.5 in November 2005 it has gone from strength to strength. Worldwide more than 10 per cent of PC owners now use it and for some bizarre reason it has been a huge hit in Finland where it now has a staggering 40 per cent market share.

It is easy to see why Firefox has become so popular so quickly, and not just with the Finns. In a word it's security; IE has been under concerted attack from a small army or virus writers and hackers eager to uncover and exploit the many and varied loopholes in the program. Switching to Firefox instantly reduces the threat to your PC's security. That's not to say Firefox doesn't have security issues, it does, and as its popularity increases they may get worse but the ones we know about tend to be resolved quickly and at the moment the chances of catching something nasty are much lower than with IE.

Firefox's other key virtues are that it is free, it is very easy to use and the 'tabbed' browser windows are often a revelation for those that use them for the first time. Being Open Source is also a major advantage because it means that users are encouraged to help improve the program by developing add-ons and tweak performance settings.

We will begin, as we did with Internet Explorer last week, with some simple tips to increase the size of your browser window. To make changes to Firefox toolbars or layout right-click onto an empty area of a toolbar and select Customize. Click the 'Show' drop-down menu and select Icons to get rid of the labels (it's pretty obvious what they all do) then check the item 'Use Small Icons' and already the toolbars are starting to shrink.

The empty space to the right of the menu items is a perfect spot for Address and Google Search boxes; just drag them into their new home on the menu bar. The Bookmarks toolbar fits snugly into the empty space on the right of the Navigation toolbar. You can remove the now empty Bookmark toolbar from the View menu.

To delete unwanted icons just click and drag them into the Customize window. That will also help make room for a couple of new icons. Try New Tab and New Window; they can be very useful. If you don't like the new look, you can reset Firefox to its factory fresh condition by clicking the Restore Default button.

This next tip can save you a lot of time if you routinely open more than two or three pages after launching Firefox. You can nominate multiple home pages: just open them in their own separate tabs then go to Tools > Options, click the General icon and click the 'Use Current Pages' button.

There are still some websites that refuse to display properly in Firefox. Unfortunately we are just going to have to live with that, but there is a way to open IE from within Firefox using an 'extension' called IE View. If you are having problems with a web page, just right click into an empty area and select 'View this page IE' and Internet Explorer opens and loads the page.

To install an extension, click the download link and the Extensions dialogue box opens. Most extensions are small and only take a few seconds to load and install. To uninstall or configure an extension go to Tools > Extensions and right click on the Extension bar to see the options.

Now you've got the hang of installing extensions here's some more for you to try. Dictionary Tooltip provides Firefox with a dictionary facility; just highlight or double-click a word for an instant definition. The next one is Forecastfox Enhanced and it places a small toolbar at the bottom of the browser window that displays your local weather now and for the next two days as well as up to the minute weather reports and moving satellite and radar images.

This last Extension is a painless way of changing configuration settings that can make Firefox more responsive and open pages faster. Appropriately enough it's called Fasterfox and once installed you can choose what sort of optimisations it will apply, according to your preferences and your PC's resources.

Jargon filter

EXTENSION

A small free add-on or program that enhances Firefox's performance, adds extra functionality or compatibility with web services.

OPEN SOURCE

Software with minimal licensing which users are encouraged to help develop.

TABBED WINDOWS

Feature that allows a number of web pages to appear in a single browser window at the same time.

Top tips

If you have a 'wheel' type mouse you might be interested in some unpublished shortcuts that can make Firefox easier to use, and do some unusual things…

Click the mouse wheel on a tab and it closes; do the same on the page backwards and forwards arrows and it opens the previous or next pages in a new tab. A mouse wheel click on a page link or the Home icon will open them in a new tab and wheel clicking on the right-click menu items View Image or View Background Image open images in new tabs.

To highlight a section of a page, hold down the Ctrl key and left click. If you just type the name of a website in the address bar you can automatically add the http:// and .com parts of the address by pressing Ctrl + Enter. Shift + Enter adds the .net extension and Ctrl + Shift + Enter inserts .org.

Firefox anti-phishing?

2006-03-16T10:18:00.000-08:00

An upcoming version of Firefox will include protection against phishing scams, using technology that might come from Google.

The phishing shield is a key new security feature planned for Firefox 2, slated for release in the third quarter of this year, Mozilla's Mike Shaver said in an interview Tuesday.

"Everybody understands that phishing is a significant problem on the Web," said Shaver, a technology strategist at the company, which oversees Firefox development. "We are putting antiphishing into Firefox, and Google is working with us on that."

With the continued rise in online attacks, security tools have become something Web browser makers can use to try to stand out. Microsoft plans to include features to protect Web surfers against online scams in Internet Explorer 7, due later in 2006. Similar functionality is already in Netscape 8 and Opera 8, both released last year.

Firefox extensions I couldn't live without

2006-02-15T13:07:00.000-08:00

I would like to publicly profess my love to several Firefox extensions. They make my life as a web developer so much happier and easier, than I wonder how I ever trudged through web-developer-life without them.

Web Developer - The absolute must-have extension for anyone who builds web sites, no matter how small or few and far between.
MeasureIt - No more eyeballing pixel widths!
ColorZilla - I shudder to think back on the huge PITA of getting hex codes for colors before this lovely extension... taking a screenshot, pasting it into Photoshop, using the eyedropper tool... how much time have I saved because of it? (Answer: lots.)
FireBug - As mentioned on The Javascript Weblog; just darn useful.
IE View - All the maddening bugs of IE without actually having to launch the browser. (With the caveat that it doesn't do me much good on my Mac at work, where I don't have IE/Mac installed.)
Live HTTP Headers - Go along for the ride from user interface to server and back, making all local stops.
EditCSS - Modify currently loaded stylesheets.
Cookie Crumbler - Convenient way to quickly clear cookies from a domain.
Clear Cache Button - Another small convenience that makes a big difference.

Feel free to share your own favorites. Spread the love!

Preview of the upcoming Firefox 2 browser

2006-01-01T18:13:00.000-08:00

Here's a preview of the upcoming Mozilla Firefox 2 browser including the new features/components and the release roadmap.

2006/06/27 is the release date for Firefox 2

read more |

Dell bundles Firefox with new systems

2005-12-28T14:10:00.000-08:00

Dell UK has started bundling the open source Firefox browser with its desktop PC systems.

The computers ship with both Internet Explorer and Firefox. The bundling deal for now appears to be limited to the United Kingdom.

The shipping deal could give a major push to Firefox's market share. The open source browser in the past year has risen to a 11.5 per cent share in November, according to data from Onestat. The same data pegged Internet Explorer's market share at 85.5 per cent.

More

NBC and ABC Shows Promoting Firefox

2005-12-28T14:08:00.000-08:00

Not long after "Surface" characters started using Firefox, "Invasion" proved once again how strong the Firefox community is.

Dell will bundle Firefox in the UK - CONFIRMED!!

2005-12-21T10:47:00.000-08:00

According to Blake Ross (one of Firefox developers) Firefox is bundled in Dell laptops in the UK.

read more | digg story

Firefox is miles ahead of IE on European computers

2005-12-20T12:11:00.000-08:00

A study by technology company AdTech says that the popularity of the open-source browser has grown by 40 percent over the last six months. This is cool because they study usage, and not just what people are using. Those who use the net a lot Use FIREFOX. Maybe now website designers will ditch IE only extensions.

Firefox = teh hotness

read more | digg story

Washington Post: " Firefox Moves Farther Ahead of the Hunt "

2005-12-19T15:51:00.000-08:00

"The browser that finally broke Microsoft's monopoly just got its first major update. If you haven't switched from Internet Explorer yet, consider Firefox 1.5 your invitation to do so."

read more | digg story

Extremely Safe Browsing

2005-12-19T15:48:00.000-08:00

A guide on how to run Firefox on a Virtual Machine within your OS. This means the browser is completely isolated from your system meaning it's very very secure.

Perfect for protecting your Credit Card etc.

read more | digg story

A New Wave of Popups in all Browsers, Including Firefox

2005-12-19T15:47:00.000-08:00

Recently I stumbled accost a website from which I seemed to be receiving popups from in all of my browsers (Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Flock, and Internet Explorer), however I noticed that they seemed to come only after...

Get Adblock for Firefox!

read more | digg story

NEW Firefox Extensions from Google [via GoogleBlog]

2005-12-15T16:10:00.000-08:00

Google has just released two new extensions one called "Blogger Web Comments" and another called "Google Safe Browsing for Firefox."

read more | digg story

Wired Magazine: 'The Firefox Hacks You Must Have'

2005-12-14T15:56:00.000-08:00

With the release of the new version 1.5 of Firefox, there's never been a better time to download the open-source browser, take it for a drive, kick the tires and see what it can do. In the case of a browser, mainly what it can do is show you web pages, hopefully quickly. So the real satisfaction comes from finding enhancements and add-ons, because you can only have so much fun timing page loads with a stopwatch.

Fortunately, Firefox is famous for its pluggable extensions architecture, which allows you to download little snippets of code that act as the software equivalent of small consumer electronics devices, only they are free.

From Firefox's Tools menu, select Extensions to see what is already installed. Then, at the bottom of the window, you can see a little link that says "Get More Extensions." To fully experience Firefox, click on that and continue downloading add-ons until your browser stops working. Version 1.5 is more robust than earlier revisions, so this may take a while. Persevere. Eventually enough extra browser functionality can paralyze any computer.

Some extensions don't yet work with the new version of Firefox, but most actively maintained add-ons have been updated, or will be shortly. If your favorite isn't there yet, you can always e-mail the developer. They love that.

To get you started, here's a list of the Firefox extensions you absolutely can't live without.

read more | digg story

Internet Explorer RSS Icon: It's Firefox's

2005-12-14T15:48:00.000-08:00

"I'm excited to announce that we're adopting the icon used in Firefox." Is Microsoft softening up? Or softening us up?

Wow

read more | digg story

Mozilla suggests upgrade to Firefox 1.5

2005-12-14T15:14:00.000-08:00

We recently saw a minor security bug discovered in the latest stable release of the popular Mozilla Firefox 1.5 browser. However, there are more issues if you are still using one of the older versions of the browser. A working code has been released on the internet, which makes use of a flaw in the older version of the open source browser. And if you have not upgraded to the latest version (Firefox 1.5), it is a good time to do so.

Mozilla says that the bug code released on the web was fixed in the version 1.0.5 itself. However, their would be lot of users on the net who are still using versions prior to that. Aviv Raff, a developer in Israel released the code, which makes use of the vulnerability in versions older than 1.0.5. He wrote on his Blog: “I think it’s been enough time for people to upgrade from v1.0.4 of Firefox.”

His released code is not harmful to the users but demonstrate the problem in the browser’s older version. However, hackers can make use of the code for purposes that are more malicious. And it might not take long for instances targeting users of older version of Mozilla Firefox web browser.

The vulnerability exists in the way Firefox used to handle JavaScript code. Both Internet Explorer and Opera has seen security updates in the recent days. The whole situation goes onto show how important web browsers have become in the recent days with more examples of applications running on the internet becoming popular.

Download latest version of: Mozilla Firefox

Old Firefox bug hits the net

2005-12-14T15:08:00.000-08:00

Computer code that demonstrates how a known flaw in an older version of the Firefox or Mozilla web browsers can be exploited in a potentially crippling attack was published on the web over the weekend.

The vulnerability was fixed in Firefox 1.0.5, released in July, and in Mozilla Suite 1.7.9, according to Mozilla.

The code was published by Aviv Raff, a developer in Israel. Writing in his blog on Sunday he said: "I think it's been enough time for people to upgrade from v1.0.4 of Firefox." Raff's code doesn't do much harm but he notes that it would be easy to turn it into malicious code that commandeers a vulnerable system.

The vulnerability is in the way the web browsers handle JavaScript, according to a Mozilla alert dated 12 July, the day Firefox 1.0.5 was released. An attacker could craft a malicious website that, when accessed by a vulnerable PC, could let a attacker run code on that system without the owner realising it.

Mozilla has released several updates to both Firefox and the Mozilla Suite since July. The latest version of Firefox is 1.5, released late last month. A security vulnerability that could cause the browser to appear to hang has already been pinpointed in that version but Mozilla says it is a minor problem.

In other browser news, Microsoft on Tuesday released a patch that fixes four vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. The software maker deems two of the flaws "critical". One is already being used to attack IE users, Microsoft said in a bulletin.

Secunia is warning of a security flaw in version 8.01 of the Opera web browsers. Earlier versions may also be affected, the security monitoring company said in an alert on Tuesday. The flaw lies in the way the browser handles mouse clicks in new windows and in how it displays a dialogue box for downloads, according to Secunia's advisory.

The Opera flaw could be exploited to trick people into downloading malicious programs, Secunia said. The company advised people to upgrade to Opera 8.0.2, which has been available since late July.