Firefox 19.0.1 out for Windows 8
It is quite common that Mozilla is releasing a second update shortly after a Firefox update has been released. We have seen this happening in the past several times, usually to resolve a bug that slipped through but is critical enough to be dealt with right away.
The company today released Firefox 19.0.1 for Windows 8 only. This may come as a surprise to Firefox users who are not using Microsoft's newest operating system. When you check for updates on Windows 7, Linux or Mac for instance, you will receive the notification that there are no updates available for Firefox 19.0.
When you do the same on Windows 8. you will notice that an update is downloaded and installed, bringing the version of the web browser to 19.0.1. To check for updates do the following:
- Click on the Firefox button in the interface
- Select Help > About Firefox from the context menu.
The Firefox 19.0.1 release notes list all the changes of Firefox 19.0 plus the following change:
Windows 8 only: Fixed stability issue for some AMD Radeon HD graphics cards
What may be puzzling is that Firefox 19.0.1 has been created for all supported operating systems and not only Windows 8. If you check out the ftp server, you will notice that the version of the browser is available for operating systems that are not Windows 8.
It appears that Mozilla plans to not deliver the update for other operating systems, to join the stable channel later on when Firefox 20.0 gets released by the company.
Users who download and install the new release of the Firefox browser for their operating system can nevertheless upgrade the version to 19.0.1 even if they are not running Windows 8. It is however not necessary to do so and not recommended.
If you want to find out more about the issue that caused the updated for Firefox on Windows 8, check out the Bugzilla bug listing.
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i’m already on firefox 21 ! ^^ see you in 2 month :p
the release notes do say “(First offered to Windows 8 release channel users on February 27, 2013)”
and when I went looking at Mozilla’s ftp server (with FF19.0, on a XP Home SP3 machine) and when I click to go into releases/19.0.1 it showed the following message.
“Thanks for your interest in Firefox 19.0.1
We aren’t quite finished qualifying Firefox 19.0.1 yet. You should check out the latest Beta.
When we’re all done with Firefox 19.0.1 it will show up on Firefox.com.”
so it looks like Firefox 19.0.1 is on the way for all us non-Window 8 users :-)
Strange, I do not get that message.
Mr. Brinkmann:
Hello from New York!
I currently have Windows 7 OS and after I am done . . . I WILL be switching over to one of the lovely Flavors of LINUX OS which I have already installed on my neighbors’ computer without charge!
(The entire process is free – – from the disc to installation to most of the software Programs so why should I charge . . . and besides I LOVE to see the smiling faces of my satisfied “customers”!)
I will hold on to Windows 7 until my 2 1/2 year old 100% Solid State Drives’ laptop bogs down which won’t be for several more years as the drives still work and have not shown evidence of any wear and tear according to internal testing of the SSDs . . . or until Microsoft no longer fully supports Win 7 – – which ever comes first!
Linux is practically maintenance free and I don’t have to worry much about the Security of the Thing – – Which is a Definite Plus!!!
It was a pleasure writing this!
Cheers,
TR
19.01 is also available for all Windows; it’s available in the repository.
But it is not being delivered via automatic updates.
The patch probably (and I repeat, “probably”) corrects a regression provoked by the recent Platform Update KB2670838 for Windows 7 SP1, which partially breaks hardware font rendering (garbled and corrupted text) on Firefox 19. Check “812695” in the Mozilla bug report website.