gHacks technology news » firefox-update

Firefox 3.5.5

Martin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:40:48 +0000

The Mozilla Firefox developers are currently distributing the latest official version of the Firefox 3.5.x branch to ftp servers around the globe. Firefox 3.5.5. will soon be announced officially at the official Mozilla website. Most Firefox users will get update notifications about the new version eventually with a high likelihood that the update notifications will appear later today in the web browser if automatic updates are enabled in the Internet browser.

The release notes are – as usual – not up yet and the fixed bugs list at Bugzilla shows only four fixes in this latest version. One of the bugs that has been fixed was rated critical on the other hand with the other three rated as normal.

The description of the release on the Mozilla website states that it is a “short-cycle security and sustained engineering release to fix several top crashing bugs”. In other words a stability update for the web browser. The Firefox release schedule which we posted a few days ago indicates that the next version of the web browser (Firefox 3.5.6) will be released about a month from now on December 15.

We have uploaded the US-English version of Firefox 3.5.5:

Mac
Windows
Linux

Cautious users might want to wait until the official release announcement is public to update their browser from the official source.

Tags: firefox, firefox 3, firefox 3.5.5, firefox-update

Firefox 3.6 Beta 1

Martin — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:37:09 +0000

The Mozilla developers have finally released the first beta of Firefox 3.6 after releasing two release candidates for the beta previously. Firefox 3.6 will be the next installment after the Firefox 3.5x branch and is still slated for a early 2010 release. The Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 is build on the Gecko 1.9.2 web rendering engine opposed to Firefox 3.5 which is based on Gecko 1.9.1. The developers have added several new features and improvements to the Internet browser including:

Users can now change their browser’s appearance with a single click, with built in support for Personas.
Firefox 3.6 will alert users about out of date plugins to keep them safe.
Open, native video can now be displayed full screen, and supports poster frames.
Support for the WOFF font format.
Improved JavaScript performance, overall browser responsiveness and startup time.
Support for new CSS, DOM and HTML5 web technologies.

The most noticeable feature in Firefox 3.6 up to this point is the performance increase. New web technologies are great for web developers but websites that make use of them are still rare. The addition of Personas support – which brings the option to change the basic appearance of Firefox without restarting the web browser – raised questions by some users who preferred that it would remain an add-on that could be installed by the Firefox users who wanted the functionality. Now everyone, even those that never make use of the appearance changing features, are stuck with yet another module in Firefox.

Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 is available for direct download at the Mozilla website. Users who are tempted to try the latest version of the web browser should keep in mind that most add-ons will not work right out of the box. Installing an add-on like the Nightly Tester Tools is recommended to force compatibility.

Tags: firefox, firefox 3.6, firefox beta, firefox-update

Firefox 3.5.4 And Firefox 3.0.15

Martin — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:30:33 +0000

Two new versions of Firefox were uploaded yesterday to the Firefox ftp server and website. Firefox 3.5.4 and Firefox 3.0.15 are now available. The automatic update in the web browser should have already recognized the new version and suggested an update to the user. Users who prefer manual updates can visit the Firefox website over at Mozilla to download a version for their operating system and language directly.

The Firefox 3.5.4. release notes classify the update as a security and stability update making it an recommended update for every Firefox user. The full list of fixes and changes lists a total of 124 items with seven marked as critical and 13 as major. The Firefox 3.0.15 release notes list fewer items but still mention several security and stability fixes for that version of the web browser making it a recommended update as well.

It should also be noted that Firefox 2.x is no longer supported by the developers who ask users to update to the Firefox 3.x branch as the older branch contains known security and stability issues that are not (and will not be) fixed.

Both Firefox 3.5.4 and 3.0.15 are available from the Mozilla firefox website.

Tags: firefox, firefox 3, firefox security, firefox-update

Firefox 3.5.3

Martin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:08:37 +0000

The Mozilla Firefox have already started spreading the latest Firefox version with the version number of 3.5.3 to the official mirror servers. This usually means that the next Firefox update is imminent which would go along well with the official schedule which suggests a release tomorrow.

The beta release notes which are currently publicly available mention several security and stability fixes making the update a recommended update for every Firefox user currently working with the 3.5x branch. The bug list lists 43 bugs that have been fixed in this version of Firefox with nine bugs being rated as critical.

Firefox users who do not want to wait for the official release announcement can download the Us version of Firefox 3.5.3. from a file host where we have uploaded the installers to. Firefox 3.5.3 installers for all supported operating systems – that is Microsoft Windows, Linux and Apple Macintosh – have been added to the file host.

Interested users can check the bug list that was fixed in Firefox 3.5.3. Most software portals will soon host this version of Firefox as well on their pages. Cautious users might want to wait until the official release announcement has been made.

A reboot was required after the installation on a Windows system, cannot remember that this ever happened before.

Tags: firefox, firefox 3.5.3, firefox security, firefox-update, mozilla-firefox, web browser

Mozilla Checks Flash Version After Firefox Updates

Martin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:10:05 +0000

Web browser attacks are an increasing threat these days. Attackers not only expoit web browser vulnerabilities but also those of plugins and add-ons that are installed in the web browser. The Adobe Flash plugin is one of the high priority targets of attackers due to its distribution percentage. A recent article at H-Online estimates that about 80% of web surfers use an outdated version of Adobe Flash which can have a severe impact on system stability and security.

That’s where the Mozilla developers began thinking about solutions for this problem. They quickly came up with the solution to test the version of the Adobe Flash plugin after Firefox updates. Regular Firefox users know that Firefox will open a what’s new page after an update. This what’s new page will contain the Adobe Flash version check.

Firefox users with an outdated version of Adobe Flash will receive the notification that it is outdated. This information contains a link that is directly pointing to the latest version of Adobe Flash at the Adobe website. Hopes are that many users who are running an outdated version of Flash will visit the Adobe website after a Firefox update to download the latest version of Adobe Flash to install it on their computer system.

Users who want to try the Flash check right now can visit the upcoming what’s new page for Firefox 3.5.3.

Tags: adobe flash, firefox, firefox security, firefox-update, flash, flash security, flash update, mozilla-firefox

Firefox 3.5.2 Released

Martin — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:29:05 +0000

The latest version of the Firefox 3.5x branch is currently being distributed to all official Mozilla mirror servers around the world. Some are already hosting the latest version Firefox 3.5.2 for all supported languages and operating systems while others are only showing the directory structure but no files yet. It is likely going to take at least a few hours, maybe even more than a day before all servers are populated with the latest version and the release can be officially announced on the Mozilla website. It usually takes between 24-48 hours before the automatic update checker in Firefox picks up on the new release and offers it for download as well.

Ghacks readers can – as always – download the US-English version of Firefox early from a free file host. The new version of Firefox is hosted at Mediafire. Downloads for Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh and Linux are provided as a courtesy to my readers.

Firefox 3.5.2 for Microsoft Windows
Firefox 3.5.2 for Apple Macintosh
Firefox 3.5.2 for Linux

The beta release notes of Firefox 3.5.2 mention several security and stability issues that have been fixed in the new version. This makes it a recommend update for all Firefox 3.5x users. A issue with images with ICC profiles has been fixed as well which now render properly on all computer monitors. The full list of bug fixes and issues can be accessed at Bugzilla.

Please be advised that there might be last minute changes to a release which would then not be covered in this current version of Firefox. While it is usually safe to download and install these releases it is advised to stay away from them if you are a cautious user. Wait for the official release announcement then.

Tags: firefox, firefox 3.5, firefox security, firefox-update, mozilla, web browser

Firefox 3.5.1 Update Available

Martin — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:56:15 +0000

A recently disclosed vulnerability in the Firefox 3.5 web browser forced the Mozilla Firefox development team to release version 3.5.1 of the web browser early to fix the vulnerability. The vulnerability, which is affecting all operating systems that Firefox can be installed on, is linked to the Firefox JavaScript Tracemonkey engine. A temporary fix was published soon after that would disable part of the Javascript engine.

The Mozilla Firefox team is currently distributing the Firefox 3.5.1 update to all mirror websites. It is expected to be announced publicly in the next 48 hours giving Firefox 3.5 users a change to update their web browser to fix the security vulnerability.

The release is not available on any of the popular download portals yet. We took the liberty to upload the US version of Firefox 3.5.1 for the Windows operating to a free file host from where it can be downloaded. Users who use a different operating system or language will have to wait a while longer before they can download and update their version of Firefox.

The big download portals are expected to offer Firefox 3.5.1 soon as a download on their website. Cautious users might want to wait until the new version has been announced officially by the Firefox team. Users who have applied the temporary workaround to Firefox 3.5 should undo the changes by doing the following:

Type in about:config in the Firefox address bar and hit enter. Now filter for the term javascript.options.jit.content and double-click it afterwards to set it to true which enables the Tracemonkey JavaScript engine.

Firefox 3.5.1 US for Windows can be downloaded from Mediafire.

Tags: firefox 3.5, firefox security, firefox vulnerability, firefox-update, web browser

Firefox 3.5 Final

Martin — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:05:17 +0000

The Mozilla Firefox development team has finished the final version of Firefox 3.5. The new version is currently distributed to all official mirror websites with the official announcement expected to hit the web later today. No download portal is currently offering the new version for download which is surely going to change in the next hours once they get notice of the new release.

Once the release has been officially announced it can be downloaded from the Mozilla website or by using the built in update checker in the web browser. Considering that the release of the third release candidate of Firefox 3.5 is just a few days ago it is likely that there are not many considerable changes in this version compared to the release candidate.

No changelog has been posted yet to verify this statement. We took the liberty to upload Firefox 3.5 final US for Windows users to a free file host from where it can be downloaded. Users who need other language or operating system installers of the web browser might need to wait until the release becomes officially announced or uploaded to download sites.

You might be interested in the Firefox 3.5 feature set if you have not been using Firefox 3.5 yet (as you might have been waiting for a final release before doing so). You can take a look at the features at the Mozilla Wiki.

Tags: firefox 3.5, firefox release, firefox-update, mozilla firefox 3.5, mozilla-firefox, web browser

Firefox 3.5 RC3 Released

Martin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:25:16 +0000

The third, and most likely last, release candidate of Firefox 3.5 is currently being uploaded to Mozilla ftp mirror servers throughout the world. the distribution can take between 24-48 hours to complete before users will receive update notifications in the web browser or on the Mozilla Firefox website.

Firefox 3.5 RC3 introduces several non-critical changes to the web browser including localization corrections, performance tweaks and changes to the Firefox icon. The final release of Firefox 3.5 is still expected to be released by the end of June. The third release candidate has already been uploaded to some major download sites such as Betanews from where the English version of Firefox 3.5 RC3 can be downloaded for all supported operating systems.

Cautious users are again encouraged to wait for the official Mozilla announcement before they start updating their web browser. The announcement is expected to hit the web in the next 24 hours.

Tags: firefox, firefox 3.5, firefox-update, mozilla, mozilla-firefox, web browser

Firefox 3.5 RC2

Martin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:27:25 +0000

A new Firefox release appeared on the Mozilla ftp site in the release directory only a day after the release of Firefox 3.5 RC1. The new Firefox release is currently being distributed to all Mozilla mirror websites before it is being made available to the public. The web browser can then be downloaded directly from the Mozilla website or from within Firefox using the automatic update option.

Third party download sites are already hosting Firefox 3.5 RC2 so that users can download it from there without having to wait until the distribution of the release to all mirror servers has been finished. Users can download it from Major Geeks for example already.

No news yet on what changes have been added to Firefox 3.5 RC2 as the release notes have not been updated yet. Cautious users are encouraged to wait for the official announcement before they start downloading, installing and using Firefox 3.5 Release Candidate 2. Everyone else might just want to give it a try right now.

Tags: firefox, firefox 3.5, firefox release, firefox-update, mozilla-firefox, web browser

Mozilla Firefox 3.5 RC1

Martin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:55:15 +0000

The Mozilla Firefox development team is currently releasing the latest public build of the upcoming Firefox 3.5. The first release candidate of Firefox 3.5 has already been transferred to all mirror servers. Users who already work with a Firefox 3.5x version can perform an update check right in the web browser in the Help > Check for updates menu to download and install Firefox 3.5 RC1 automatically. The version has not been made available for public download yet but major download portals such as Betanews are already providing users with the download of the latest version.

This version of Firefox seems to contain bugfixes which will be also included in the final release of Firefox 3.5. according to a post on the Mozilla Developer News blog. This update does fix the incompatibilities with the Wordpress blogging platform that were introduced with Firefox 3.5b99.

The release notes that have been written for the release candidate release of Firefox 3.5. also contain a download link which users can use to download and install the latest browser version. They do not reveal many information about this particular release though but concentrate on Firefox 3.5 Release Candidate information.

Firefox 3.5 RC1 should be definitely installed by users of previous versions of Firefox 3.5 especially those who have been stuck with 3.5b4 because of the bugs introduced in 3.5b99.

Tags: firefox, firefox 3.5, firefox-update, mozilla, mozilla-firefox

Internet Browsers: Firefox 3.0.10 Update

Martin — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 06:40:53 +0000

An update to the Internet browser Firefox has been released a couple of hours ago out of the usual release cycle. It is a security update that is fixing one critical security vulnerability and one major stability issue. Critical security vulnerabilities are classified as those that require no user interaction and allow the attacker to run code and install software on the attacked computer system.

Downloads have already been pushed to the update mirrors and the Mozilla homepage has been modified to show Firefox 3.0.10 as the latest available version of the web browser. Users can also initiate the download from the Firefox menu by clicking on Help > Check for Updates. The release notes only list the two fixes mentioned in the first paragraph.

Our new software updates notification site appnews broke the news more than 4 hours ago. Make sure you check it out if you have not been there before ;)

Tags: firefox 3, firefox-update, internet browser, internet security, web browser

Prepare For Firefox 3.0.9.

Martin — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:09:57 +0000

A new version of the popular web browser Firefox is currently distributed to all major and minor Firefox mirror sites to be ready for the usual traffic demand when millions of Firefox users try to update their web browser to the latest version. Both the update check in the web browser and the links on the Mozilla website are still listing Firefox 3.0.8. as the latest available version of the browser.

The Mozilla web development team does not want websites to draw attentions to their mirror sites during the distribution phase. Interested users can download it from various third party download sites like Betanews which unfortunately does only host English language versions of the latest Firefox (Linux, Mac).

The changelog lists the following updates and changes to previous versions of the web browser:

Fixed several security issues.
Fixed several stability issues.
Many users experienced an issue where a corrupt local database caused Firefox to �lose� its stored cookies. (bug 470578)
Fixed an issue where, starting with Firefox 3.0.7, inline attachments on popular webmail services (like AOL and AIM) would not display. (bug 482659)
Large forms would sometimes take a long time to submit. (bug 426991)
In certain cases, new windows would not have proper focus. (bug 446568)

The security and stability updates are reason enough to update the web browser to the latest version as soon as possible. Cautious users might want to wait until the Mozilla team updates the reported version as 3.0.9. in the updater and on the website.

Tags: firefox, firefox 3, firefox-update, mozilla, web browser

Web Browser: Firefox 3.0.8

Martin — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:25:28 +0000

The Mozilla Firefox development team had to react quickly after a working vulnerability was discovered affecting all the latest versions of the Firefox web browser. (read Latest Firefox Web Browser Vulnerable to 0-Day Exploit). After news about the vulnerability spread like wildfire on the Internet a first official statement was released that was suggesting an early release of Firefox 3.0.8 on March 30, 2009. Many users felt that the Mozilla team should release the new version earlier than that after fixes for the vulnerabilities had been confirmed to close the security hole for every Firefox user.

The good news is that Firefox 3.0.8 has already been uploaded to the official Mozilla ftp site. It can be downloaded from there by everyone. The problem is that some users and the Mozilla team discouraged users to post links to those new releases to avoid disturbing the mirror distribution process and to avoid complications if that release will receive a last minute fix.

That’s a catch-22 situation as you can imagine. Interested users should perform a search for the Mozilla ftp site on Google or another search engine to locate it. They will find a Firefox directory there and another subdirectory called 3.0.8 which contains downloads for all languages and operating systems supported.

If you want to be safe download it right away. If you want to wait for the official announcement install and use the No Script add-on to increase Firefox security and avoid falling prey to the vulnerability.

Tags: firefox, firefox 3, firefox vulnerability, firefox-update, mozilla-firefox, web browser

Firefox 3.0.6 Update

Martin — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 18:17:44 +0000

Mozilla is currently distributing an update to their Firefox web browser. The new Firefox 3.0.6 version is already available on the official Mozilla website as well as in Firefox. The browser should be able to pick up the update automatically if it is configured that way. The update process can be initiated by clicking the Check for updates button in the Firefox help section.

Firefox 3.0.6 fixes several security and stability issues of Firefox 3.0.5. One critical, two high, one moderate and two low rated security issues have been fixed in the web browser. The bug list contains dozens of issues that have been fixed in Firefox 3.0.6 but the main reason for the update were the security and stability issues.

It is advised to update the web browser as soon as possible to fix the security issues and prevent the possibility of exploiting those vulnerabilities on the computer system.

Tags: firefox, firefox 3, firefox release notes, firefox security update, firefox stability update, firefox-update

Automatically Install Firefox Add-on Updates

Martin — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:28:10 +0000

One of the most annoying aspects of the Firefox web browser is the way add-ons are updated in the browser. Firefox will display that an update for an installed add-on has been released. It takes a couple if clicks and a browser restart to install the Firefox add-on. Especially having to press the button Continue after the installation has been heavily criticized as there are no other options in that dialog.

Update Notifier (via Cybernet News) automates the process by removing the user input from add-on update installations. The add-on can be configured to automatically check for Firefox add-on updates and install those add-ons automatically without user interaction. This includes an automatic restart of Firefox after downloading and installing the add-on updates.

Update Notifier comes with a few additional settings like configuring the check interval or displaying update notifications in the Firefox status bar. The Firefox add-on takes another burden away from Firefox users who can use the add-on to automatically update add-ons in Firefox without user interaction.

Tags: firefox, firefox add-on updates, firefox extension updates, firefox updates, firefox-add on, firefox-extension, firefox-update, mozilla-firefox, update notifier, web browser

Firefox 3.05 Security Update

Martin — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:57:24 +0000

The Mozilla Firefox development team released version 3.05 of the popular web browser a day after the Opera team updated their browser. The latest update – like the Opera update – is considered a security update and therefor recommended to install as soon as possible to patch the security vulnerabilities.

A total of eight security vulnerabilities are patched in Firefox 3.05 including three critical vulnerabilities. Critical vulnerabilities are described as vulnerabilities that require “no user interaction beyond normal browsing”.

The other security vulnerabilities are rated as high, moderate and low. Most Firefox users should already be able to check for a new update directly in their web browser by clicking on the Help > Check For Updates link in the main Firefox menu.

The alternative is to head straight to the Mozilla website and download the latest version of the Firefox web browser from there.

Five new languages (Bengali, Esperanto, Galicia, Hindi, and Latvian) have been added in this release as well. This is also the first release without an EULA during setup.

Tags: browser update, firefox 3, firefox download, firefox security, firefox-update, web browser

Firefox 3.04 is out

Martin — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:11:00 +0000

Mozilla released a new version of Firefox 3 a few hours ago. The update is already available on the Mozilla website, the mirror servers and also available from the Check For Updates option in the Firefox Tools menu.

The release is a security and stability update. A total of nine security vulnerabilities have been fixed in the update including four critical vulnerabilities. You can access the list of security fixes at the Security Advisories page for Firefox 3. The release notes do not contain information about the stability updates but the full list of bug fixes mentions a few fixes that stop browser crashes.

Lastly language support and language related additions seem to have been a priority. Firefox 3.04 adds support for Thai and Icelandic as well as beta test releases for Bulgarian, Esperanto, Estonian, Latvian, Occitan, and Welsh.

There have also been several important bug fixes for the following annoying problems:

Fixed an issue where some passwords saved using Firefox 3.0.2 did not work properly.
In some cases, Firefox would not properly save proxy settings for protocols other than HTTP
Fixed an issue where the IME input tool used to enter Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Indic characters was covered by the “Add Bookmark” panel

Firefox 3 users are asked to update as soon as possible. All updates that had been installed on a test system were not affected by the update and it is unlikely that many will be. Let us know if you encounter problems after installing or updating to the new Firefox release.

Tags: firefox 3, firefox browser, firefox security, firefox vulnerabilities, firefox-update, mozilla fireofx

Firefox 3.03 released

Martin — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:38:40 +0000

What a surprise. Only two days after releasing Firefox 3.02 the Mozilla firefox team released the new version Firefox 3.03 which is usually a sign of a serious bug in the previous version. Firefox 3.03 fixes only one bug that affected some users of the previous version.

The bug made it impossible for some users to retrieve saved passwords or to save new passwords. A serious problem for everyone who used the Firefox Password Manager to store passwords in the web browser.

The new version of Firefox is currently distributed to all official mirror servers. The process is currently still underway. One of the mirrors that has already been updated is the ISC San Francisco mirror. The release notes link to the bug report which contains additional information about the password manager bug.

Tags: firefox, firefox 3, firefox security, firefox-update, mozilla, mozilla-firefox

Firefox 2 Users Nagged To Update

Martin — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:43:51 +0000

The time would eventually come that Firefox 2 users would be reminded (nicely at first) that a new version of Firefox was available. The new version is Firefox 3.0.1. and it could be quite a shock for those guys who decided to stick with Firefox 2 because they did not want the features that Firefox 3 was offering them. This includes the location bar and the new way of storing bookmarks and RSS News Feeds.

Nevertheless all Firefox 2 users will receive a nag screen telling them that a new version for Firefox is available. The user has the option to select Later, Never or Get The New Version. Later would remind him after 24 hours, never would mean that he won’t be bothered for the next weeks and Get The New Version downloads Firefox 3 immediately.

It is quite surprising that selecting never could still mean that the user will receive another update notification in the future. I have written about my Firefox Switching Experience and excessive Firefox CPU usage before which might be helpful before making the switch.

It is also recommended to backup the personal settings before updating to the latest version of Firefox, check out the Backup Firefox article if you need help with that.

Firefox 3 is a good browser and the initial problems that I had are almost all gone. I had to make a few compromises to get there but I would say that it was worth it in the end.

Tags: backup firefox, firefox, firefox cpu, firefox-update, mozilla

gHacks technology news » firefox-update

Firefox 3.5.5

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