Mozilla, Gecko Archive

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 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.

"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."

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.

"The first security and stability update to Mozilla Firefox 1.5 has been released. It is recommended that all Firefox users upgrade to this latest version. Downloads are available from GetFirefox.com. The update is also available for other systems and languages. More details can be found in the Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.1 release notes."

"The first end-user release of SeaMonkey is now available. Seamonkey is the continuation of what used to be known as the Mozilla Suite; this release incorporates a number of features that we could get to know from the new releases of Firefox and Thunderbird. However, the integration between the applications is as tight as it has always been, for those who prefer this approach."

Mozilla Firefox has achieved a market share of over 20 percent in Europe, according to the latest figures released by French Web metrics firm XiTi. XiTi, which based its figures on a sample of 32.5 million Web site visits that took place on Sunday 8 January, said that Finland has the highest proportion of Firefox users, followed by Slovenia and Germany. It found that the open source browser is used by 38, 36 and 30 percent of users in these countries respectively.

The Mozilla Corporation has set a March launch date for a version of its Firefox Web browser that will run on Apple's Intel version of Mac OS X. "We are targeting the official release of Firefox for Intel Mac OS X in late March with the Firefox 1.5.0.2 update," Mozilla software engineer Josh Aas told ZDNet. Demand for the browser on Apple's new CPU platform is expected to rocket as the PC vendor last week started selling the first Macs based on CPUs from Intel. However, an unofficial build can be found here.

"On December 8, 2005, we published a story that wondered: Firefox 1.5: Not Ready For Prime Time? In response, some 450 (and climbing) InternetWeek, InformationWeek, TechWeb Pipelines, and Scot's Newsletter readers have sent details about their experiences with Firefox 1.5. A picture is emerging about Firefox 1.5 in the real world - on a small percentage of Windows, Mac, and Linux computers - that is less than positive."

"The SeaMonkey Council announces a new developer release, SeaMonkey 1.0 Beta. Compared to the Alpha version released in September, SeaMonkey 1.0 Beta enhances the product with new features like tab drag and drop, but also is the first release branded with the new SeaMonkey logo, which was unveiled earlier this month. While much of the core code is shared with the popular Firefox 1.5 browser, SeaMonkey comes with the the look and feel familiar to users of its ancestors, the Mozilla Application Suite and Netscape Communicator packages."

"Firefox 1.5 is finally out the door, and Thunderbird 1.5 won't be far behind. The new releases sport some interesting new features, including faster page navigation, redesigned preferences dialogs, a new update system, and much more. Let's take a look at what the Mozilla Foundation has been up in the year since the first major release of Firefox."

Firefox 1.5 has been released. You can download the Windows|Mac|Linux version. The release notes can be found here.

Many people have complained about Firefox's memory use. Federico Mena-Quintero has a proposal for reducing the amount of memory used to store images, which, in his proof of concept code, "reduced the cumulative memory usage by a factor of 5.5."

"The release of Firefox 1.5 is almost certain to drive adoption rates even higher. PCMag.com recently reviewed the new version, and found that the most noticeable improvement is the ability to reorder tabs via drag-and-drop. Navigation is significantly faster, as Mozilla has implemented 'intelligent caching' on the forward and back buttons. The final, gold-code release of Firefox 1.5 should arrive before the end of November." UPDATE: One more review.