Mozilla ponders major Firefox UI refresh
Mozilla is working on a revamp of Firefox to synchronize its various versions -- desktop, tablet, phone and Windows 8 Metro -- into a single visual style, according to documents posted by members of its user interface (UI) design team.
The project, which does not have a name, and the earlier blending of Mozilla's mobile and desktop design groups, is meant to bring more coherence to the various versions of the open-source browser. Read more...
Mozilla to kill Firefox 3.6 by auto-upgrading old browser
Mozilla will give Firefox 3.6 the coup de grace next month by automatically upgrading users of that 2010 browser to Firefox 12.
The move isn't a first for the open-source developer: A year ago, it gave Firefox 3.5 the same auto-upgrade death blow.
According to Alex Keybl, Firefox's release manager, the automatic upgrade of Firefox 3.6 to Firefox 12 will take place in early May, although a date has not yet been set. Read more...
Mozilla delivers silent updating with Firefox 12 release
Mozilla today released Firefox 12, patching 14 security bugs in the browser and moving it one step closer to matching rival Chrome in silent updating.
The latest in the line of updates that have rolled off the Mozilla development line every six weeks since mid-2011, Firefox 12 fixed seven vulnerabilities labeled "critical," the highest threat ranking in Mozilla's four-step scoring, four bugs tagged "high" and three pegged "moderate." Read more...
Mozilla blocks Java in Firefox for some Mac users
Mozilla this week began blocking outdated versions of a Java plug-in in Firefox for some Mac users after calling the threat posed by the Flashback malware "evident and imminent."
The move came two weeks after Mozilla disabled unpatched versions of Oracle's software on Firefox for Windows.
Although Mozilla said on April 2 that it might add the Java plug-in to Firefox for Mac's blocklist -- a list it maintains of add-ons and plug-ins that the company disables because they're infected with malware or have been targeted by attackers -- it didn't follow through until Monday. Read more...
Mozilla sets end of Firefox for Win2K, early XP
Mozilla on Friday announced that next month's Firefox 12 will be the last version to run on early editions of Windows XP and the 12-year-old Windows 2000.
The company also reiterated that it will stop serving security updates for 2010's Firefox 3.6 in April.
Starting with Firefox 13, the browser's minimum requirements will be XP Service Pack 2 (SP2). Firefox 13 will not work on Windows 2000, Windows XP RTM (release to manufacturing, the original mid-2001 build) or XP SP1.
Firefox 12, set to ship April 24 and due to be replaced by the next edition on June 4, will be the last that supports the three older Windows.
"This support change allows us to significantly improve Firefox performance on Windows by using a more modern build system," Mozilla said in a Friday post to a company blog. Read more...
Mozilla will start Firefox silent updates in June
Mozilla yesterday reiterated that it's still working on silent updates for Firefox, and said it should have the Chrome-like service in place by early June.
In a sweeping summary of 2011's accomplishments and an outline of plans for 2012, Robert Nyman, a Mozilla technical evangelist, listed silent updates as one the projects the company will finish this year. "Updates will now be downloaded and installed silently in the background," wrote Nyman in a Wednesday post to the Hacks Mozilla blog. "Silent updates are currently planned to land in Firefox 13."
Mozilla unloads a Firefox upgrade every six weeks -- it launched Firefox 11 just two days ago -- and has Firefox 13's release on the calendar for June 5, 2012. Read more...
Mozilla nixes Firefox 11 delay, will launch upgrade today
Mozilla on Monday announced it was postponing the release of Firefox 11, but changed its mind today, saying that the browser upgrade would go out on schedule.
Yesterday, Johnathan Nightingale, senior director of Firefox engineering, said Mozilla was delaying Firefox 11's launch to examine a bug unveiled at last week's Pwn2Own hacking contest and to give developers time to scrutinize Microsoft's security updates, set to release today at approximately 1 p.m. ET.
On the last day of Pwn2Own, a two-man team -- Vincenzo Iozzo and Willem Pinckaers -- exploited a Firefox vulnerability to take the contest's $30,000 second-place prize. Read more...
Mozilla to drop Windows 8 Firefox bomb on IE 10
The Mozilla Foundation has started work on a Firefox port that will run in the Windows 8 classic desktop and the tablet-friendly Metro user interfaces.
Moz dev Brian Bondy, who described the project in detail on his blog, said the goal is to deliver a single browser capable of straddling the Microsoft operating system's split personalities, rather than building two separate applications.
Mozilla unveiled its plans for Firefox on Windows 8 in February. An alpha and beta are due in the second half of 2012.
The unified build of Firefox will be a "Metro-style enabled desktop browser", allowing it to compete directly against Internet Explorer 10. This is a third application type; until now the assumption had been there would be just two operating modes for Windows 8 programs: classic desktop or Metro. Read more...
Mozilla throws ‘freedom’ at Microsoft, Google, Apple tanks
The Mozilla Foundation is coming to the rescue of Tim Berners-Lee's sanity.
The Firefox shop is this year throwing itself at walled gardens from Apple, Amazon, Google and Microsoft: armed with a device-neutral and API-neutral app store and a "web platform".
Mozilla's building a Marketplace for Apps that will open in June and serve web-ified apps to smartphones, tables and desktops regardless of hardware, operating system or maker.
That's the promise at least.
Announcing its 2012 roadmap, here, Mozilla said: "Through this Marketplace, developers will be able to distribute and monetize their apps. Users will be able to find, install and use their Apps across all of their devices, regardless of the underlying device/OS platforms." Read more...
Firefox 10 relieves add-on updating pain
Mozilla today patched eight vulnerabilities in Firefox as it shipped the latest iteration in its rapid release schedule.
Firefox 10, sixth in the line of updates that have been rolling off the development line every six weeks since mid-2011, fixed half a dozen flaws rated "critical," Mozilla's highest threat ranking, and another two labeled "high."
One of the notable vulnerabilities addressed in Firefox 10 could open users to cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks because the browser did not properly run a security check when calling untrusted scripting objects, said Mozilla.
"The fix enables the Script Security Manager (SSM) to force security checks on all frame scripts," an accompanying advisory noted. Read more...
Mozilla OKs Firefox 10 launch this week
Mozilla developers have given the green light to ship Firefox 10 on Tuesday.
Notes from a Mozilla meeting last week said that the upgrade was on for Jan. 31, the next ship date in the every-six-week schedule that the company adopted last year.
The new version includes one of the first components of Firefox's planned silent update mechanism: The browser automatically disables incompatible add-ons and marks all others as compatible.
Add-ons that work with Firefox 4 or later will be marked as compatible in Firefox 10, Mozilla said. Read more...
Mozilla pushes browser-based alternative to passwords
Mozilla is promoting a browser-based alternative to usernames and passwords for website logins.
Browser ID offers a decentralized system for user identification and authentication along the same lines as OpenID. To use BrowserID users first have to create an account with Mozilla. After this users would be able to use the technology to enter websites that support BrowserID simply by entering their email address.
Developers can add support to the technology by adding links to a JavaScript library and hooks into a JavaScript API and verification service, as explained in a blog post by Mozilla here. Read more...
Mozilla, Firefox join anti-SOPA strike
Mozilla, the open-source organization responsible for Firefox, joined other major technology companies today to protest anti-piracy legislation by blackening the browser's home page.
From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET, Firefox's default home page -- essentially a search field for Google -- will change from its usual white background with the Firefox logo to a blacked-out version displaying a modified graphic emblazoned with "Stop Censorship."
Meanwhile, the English language versions of Mozilla's sites -- mozilla.com and mozilla.org -- will redirect visitors to an "action page" asking for their support in stopping what it called "Internet blacklist legislation." Read more...
Mozilla slows pace of Firefox 9 upgrades
Mozilla dramatically slowed the update pace of Firefox 9, the browser it shipped late last month.
The company also said it may repeat the slow-down in the future.
Firefox 9, which Mozilla released Dec. 20, has yet to be completely "unthrottled," or offered as an update to all users, according to notes from a company meeting last week.
Like other software vendors, including Microsoft and Apple, Mozilla can offer upgrades to a fraction of its users rather than to everyone at once. The practice is designed to ensure that download servers aren't overwhelmed, and to prevent bugs -- if there are any in the update -- from reaching all users.
Firefox 8, the edition that launched Nov. 8, 2011, accounted for 40% of all versions of Mozilla's browser five days after its release, and broke the 50% mark 18 days after it shipped, according to usage statistics from Irish metrics firm StatCounter. Meanwhile, Firefox 9 accounted for just 7% of all editions of Firefox five days after its debut and required 24 days to reach 50%. Read more...
Mozilla moves forward with plan for enterprise version of Firefox
Mozilla is advancing its plans to release a version of Firefox tailored for organizations whose IT departments manage it for their employees from a central console.
This version of Firefox, to be called ESR (Extended Support Release), will be updated at a much slower pace than the regular version of the browser, in order to give IT departments enough time to appropriately test, certify and adopt the new releases.
The proposal to develop Firefox ESR has now been escalated from a "proposal" to what Mozilla calls "a plan of action," Mozilla official Jay Sullivan said in a blog post on Tuesday. Read more...