Mozilla, Gecko Archive

Mozilla Updates Firefox, Thunderbird, Seamonkey

Submitted by george 2006-09-15 Mozilla, Gecko 34 Comments

The Mozilla Corporation today issued small updates for its popular Firefox Web browser and Thunderbird e-mail applications, primarily targeting security problems. The updates take both products to version 1.5.0.7, and were issued via the vendor's automatic update system this morning, Australia-time. The less popular SeaMonkey mail and browsing suite was also updated to version 1.0.5. Update: DesktopLinux has a detailed explanation on the changelog. Also, Camino 1.0.3 of OSX was released.

Just How Buggy is Firefox?

Thom Holwerda 2006-09-08 Mozilla, Gecko 53 Comments

Security researchers that carried out a code analysis of popular open source browser Firefox using automated tools, have discovered scores of potential defects and security vulnerabilities despite coming to the conclusion that the software was generally well written. A former Mozilla developer has criticised the methodology of the analysis and said it provides little help in unearthing real security bugs.

Mozilla Releases New Beta of Firefox 2.0

Submitted by editingwhiz 2006-08-31 Mozilla, Gecko 29 Comments

"Mozilla released Beta 2 of its upcoming Firefox 2 browser for developer review Aug. 31, emphasizing that it is being made available for testing purposes only. The release contains a number of new features, as well as some enhancements to look and feel. "Firefox 2 Beta 2 is intended for Web application developers and our testing community," the team said on the Mozilla development website. "Current users of Firefox 1.x should not use Firefox 2 Beta 2 and expect all of their extensions and plugins to work properly."

Mozilla Team Accepts Microsoft’s Invitation

Thom Holwerda 2006-08-23 Mozilla, Gecko 52 Comments

The Mozilla team has more or less accepted Microsoft's help in working on Firefox for Windows Vista. Besides the fact that the two parties are already working together, Mike Beltzner, Mozilla developer, has accepted Microsoft's invitation, saying: "Yes, we'd definitely be interested in getting some 1:1 support." Note Sam Ramji's good sense of humour: "I sent this invitation to [email protected] as well, but in case their spam filters are set to block @microsoft.com email addresses, I'm posting here."

Submitted by Innova 2006-08-22 Mozilla, Gecko 91 Comments

Microsoft wants to help aid in the development of Firefox. It sounds pretty scary, doesn't it? If you're still here, let me tell you that it's not as bad as it seems. Sam Ramjii, Director of Microsoft's Open Source Software Lab, has extended an invitation to the Firefox and Thunderbird developers asking them if they'd like to visit the company's open source research center. Microsoft's hopes are that, in a four-day span, the company can provide the open source developers with enough information to get the popular web browser running smoothly on Windows Vista.

Firefox 1.5.0.6 Released

Submitted by Y2J 2006-08-03 Mozilla, Gecko 21 Comments

Firefox 1.5.0.6 is a stability update that is part of our ongoing program to provide a safe Internet experience for our customers. We recommend that all users upgrade to this latest version. Fixed an issue with playing Windows Media content.

Thunderbird 2.0 Preview

Thom Holwerda 2006-08-02 Mozilla, Gecko 22 Comments

"Following on the heels of the Firefox 2.0 beta in mid-July, Mozilla has released the first 2.0 previews of its Thunderbird email client. Firefox may get most of the attention, thanks to its flashier job, but it is the trusty email reader that conducts most of the killer-app conversations on a daily basis. Let's see what the new build holds in store."

Firefox 1.5.0.5 Released

Submitted by Y2J 2006-07-27 Mozilla, Gecko 33 Comments

"Firefox 1.5.0.5 is a security update that is part of our ongoing program to provide a safe Internet experience for our customers. We recommend that all users upgrade to this latest version." Improvements to product stability were made, several security fixes were added, as well as changes for the Frisian locale (fy-NL). Buter, brea, en griene tsiis; wa't dat net sizze kin, is gjin oprjochte Fries. No, I'm not either.

‘Firefox 2.0 Beta 1 Is No Slam-Dunk’

Thom Holwerda 2006-07-13 Mozilla, Gecko 69 Comments

eWEEK Labs' tests show that Beta 1 of the open-source Firefox 2.0 includes some welcome new features, catches up a bit with capabilities found in other Web browsers and adds some nice security enhancements. However, while Firefox 2.0 is shaping up to be a good upgrade to Version 1.5 of the popular Web browser, it doesn't look like it will be the slam-dunk over the forthcoming Internet Explorer 7 that Firefox 1.5 has been to the current IE 6.x. For that matter, unless Firefox 2.0 and IE 7 improve greatly before their respective releases later in 2006, neither will come close to topping the quality of the already shipping Opera 9.

Mozilla Firefox 2.0-Beta 1 Milestone Released

Submitted by supergear 2006-07-13 Mozilla, Gecko 37 Comments

Mozilla Firefox 2 Beta 1 has been released. This milestone for developers and testers includes several new features including anti-phishing, browser session restore in case of a crash, support for client-side session and persistent storage, ability to re-open accidentally closed tabs, support for JavaScript 1.7, new Windows installer based on Nullsoft Scriptable Install System, new microsummaries feature for bookmarks, new search plugin manager and better support for previewing and subscribing to web feeds. Screenshots documenting the new features can be found here.

Global Usage Share Mozilla Firefox Has Increased

Eugenia Loli 2006-07-09 Mozilla, Gecko 26 Comments

OneStat.com reported that Mozilla Firefox's browsers have a total global usage share of 12.93 percent. The total usage share of Mozilla Firefox increased 1.14 percent since May 2006. The total global usage share of Internet Explorer is 83.05 percent which is 2.12 percent less than at the of May. The same provider also reported recently that the 800x600 resolution is still used by 12% of the internet population.

Why Is Firefox So Darn Popular?

Submitted by Tom H. 2006-07-09 Mozilla, Gecko 108 Comments

"Recently, I have been pondering why is Firefox so darn popular? This is a question that I honestly ask myself sometimes, often while browsing the web from within the browser itself. The real trick is that there are so many different ways to answer this." More of the editorial here. Additionally, the first set of release candidates for Firefox 2.0 Beta 1 have been posted to the Mozilla FTP of nightly releases.

Submitted by Johann Chua 2006-06-02 Mozilla, Gecko 19 Comments

"Firefox 1.5.0.4 is a security update that is part of our ongoing program to provide a safe Internet experience for our customers. We recommend that all users upgrade to this latest version." You guessed it, general bugfix and security fix release.

Firefox 2.0 Alpha 3 Released, Including Google Security Features

Thom Holwerda 2006-05-31 Mozilla, Gecko 23 Comments

"The next version of Firefox will come out of the virtual box with Google's anti-phishing tools built in. While the Googlified security services have been available through use of the Google Toolbar for either Firefox or IE6 for quite some time already, this marks the first default installation. And we all know how much Google values the defaults."

Mozilla: We’ll Pay Developers Where We Can

Thom Holwerda 2006-05-25 Mozilla, Gecko 8 Comments

The Mozilla Foundation has said it is committed to rewarding the community that helps develop its software. Mozilla's suite, which includes the Firefox Web browser, is partly developed by unpaid programmers, often working in their spare time. Mozilla on Wednesday said it could not afford to pay all of its voluntary contributors, but instead may contribute by providing hardware to some developers.

Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.3 Released

Thom Holwerda 2006-05-03 Mozilla, Gecko 23 Comments

Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.3 has been released. This update fixes a publicly disclosed denial of service weakness. All users are encouraged to upgrade to this version. The bugfixes previously planned for Firefox 1.5.0.3 were shifted to 1.5.0.4, and a quick update was released shortly after the recent 1.5.0.2 release to address the publicly reported issue.

Mozilla Plugs Firefox Code Execution Hole in 1.5.0.2

Thom Holwerda 2006-04-14 Mozilla, Gecko 46 Comments

Mozilla has released a new version of the Firefox Web browser with what is described as 'significant security and stability improvements'. Details on the security vulnerabilities being patched were not available April 13 when Firefox 1.5.0.2 was shipped as a high-priority update. However, a source told eWEEK that the most serious flaw could allow 'remote code execution' attacks. A Mozilla spokesperson said information on the security patches will be publicly released soon.

3D Browser Built Upon Firefox 1.5

Submitted by Christopher Cook 2006-02-24 Mozilla, Gecko 36 Comments

"uBrowser is a simple web browser that illustrates one way of embedding the Mozilla Gecko rendering engine into a standalone application using LibXUL. In this case, the contents of the page is grabbed as it's being rendered and displayed as a texture on some geometry using OpenGL. You are able to interact with the page (mostly) normally and visit (almost) any site that works correctly with Firefox 1.5."

Ben Goodger: Firefox Memory Leak a ‘Feature’

Thom Holwerda 2006-02-15 Mozilla, Gecko 98 Comments

"A lot of people complain about the Firefox 'memory leak(s)'. All versions of Firefox no doubt leak memory - it is a common problem with software this complicated. We look to fix the issues where we can. David Baron and others have done a huge amount of excellent work in this area. What I think many people are talking about however with Firefox 1.5 is not really a memory leak at all. It is in fact a feature."

Submitted by Ruahine 2006-02-14 Mozilla, Gecko 17 Comments

Camino 1.0 for PPC and Intel-Mac is now available. Camino is a web browser optimized for Mac OS X with a Cocoa user interface, and powerful Gecko layout engine. It practices the art of simplicity with an uncluttered user interface but with the features you expect from a modern browser like tabbed browsing and pop-up blocking settings. On other browser news, Access has announced new Netfront plans.