Mozilla Releases Firefox 26.0

The Mozilla organization today released a new version, 26.0, of its Firefox Web browser, for all platforms: Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.  The new version includes fixes for 14 identified security vulnerabilities, five of which Mozilla rates at Critical severity.  There are also some other bug fixes:

• Text rendering on Windows 7 or 8
• Improved page load times
• MP3 back end on OS X

This version also incorporates some new features:

• Java plugins default to “click to play”
• H.264 is supported on Linux
• Password manager supports script-generated password fields

More details are available in the Release Notes.

Because of its security content, I recommend that you update your system as soon as you conveniently can.  You can get the new version using the built-in update mechanism, or you can get a complete installation package, in any of 70+ languages, from the download page.

Mozilla Updates Firefox, Thunderbird

Earlier this week, the Mozilla organization released new versions of its Firefox browser and Thunderbird E-mail client, for all platforms: Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows.

The new version, 24.0, of Firefox includes fixes for 17 identified security vulnerabilities, including seven that Mozilla rates as Critical, and four that it rates as High  severity.  It also includes several performance and stability improvements; more information is available in the Release Notes.  You can obtain the new version of FIrefox via the built-in update mechanism, or download a complete installation package, in a variety of languages.

The new version of Thunderbird, also 24.0, has fixes for 13 security vulnerabilities; Mozilla rates six of these as Critical, and three as High severity.  It also includes some new capabilties, including the ability to watch or ignore message threads, and the ability to zoom the composition window.  There are also some miscellaneous bug  fixes.  More detail is available in the Release Notes.   As with Firefox, you can get the new version using the built-in update capability, or download a complete installation package.

Because of the security fixes included in these releases, I recommend that you update your systems as soon as you conveniently can.

Mozilla Updates Firefox, Thunderbird

Last week, the Mozilla organization released a new version, 23.0, of its Firefox browser, for all platforms (Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X).   The new version fixes 13 identified security vulnerabilities.  Mozilla rates four of these as being of Critical severity, and seven as High severity.

In addition, the new version introduces some new and changed capabilities.  It incorporates mixed content blocking, to protect against eavesdropping and “man-in-the-middle” attacks on secure pages.  It also incorporates a new Options panel for the Web Developer Toolbox.

This version also removes the JavaScript options from the Preferences page, and resets all values to the defaults.  (The controls under about:config  still work, but they are for experts.)  The rationale is that, because JavaScript is so widely used, turning it off breaks an unacceptable number of Web pages.  The suggested alternative, for those concerned about JavaScript-based exploits, is to use the NoScript extension, which allows more selective control.  Although my initial reaction to the Preferences change was negative, on reflection I think this approach, with NoScript, really is the better way to go.   I have been using NoScript myself for several years, and recommend it.

For further information on these changes, please see the Firefox Release Notes.  You can obtain the new version using the built-in update mechanism, or download a complete installation package.

Mozilla also released a new version, 17.0.8, of its Thunderbird E-mail client for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X.  This is a security release, which fixes eight identified vulnerabilities; Mozilla rates two of these as Critical, and six as High severity.  For more information, see the Thunderbird Release Notes.

As with Firefox, you can obtain the new version via the built-in update mechanism, or download a complete installation package.

Because of the security content of these releases, I recommend that you upgrade your systems if you have not already done so.

Mozilla Releases Firefox 22

Today the Mozilla organization released a new version, 22.0, of its Firefox browser for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X.  The new version includes some new features:

• HTML5 audio/video playback rate can now be changed
• Social services management implemented in Add-ons Manager
• The WebRTC communications API is now enabled by default
• Additional optimizations for JavaScript

There are also several miscellaneous improvements, and fixes for 14 identified security vulnerabilities, four of which Mozilla categorizes as Critical.  Further information is available in the Release Notes.

Because of its security content, I recommend that you update your Firefox installations as soon as you conveniently can.  You can obtain the new version via the built-in update mechanism, or you can download a complete installation package, in your choice of language(s).

Update Tuesday, 25 June, 16:25 EDT

This blog post on the Mozilla Blog explains some of the new features in more detail.

Mozilla Releases Firefox 21, Updates Thunderbird

Not wishing, apparently, to be left out of the Patch Tuesday festivities, Mozilla today released the next major version, 21.0,  of its Firefox browser for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux.  This version fixes eight security vulnerabilities, three of which Mozilla rates as critical.  The new version also incorporates some new features, including:

• Enhanced “Do Not Track” interface
• Support for multiple providers in the Social API
• Suggestions on how to improve application start-up time, if needed

Further information on the new version is available in the Release Notes.  You can download installation packages, in a variety of (human) languages.

Mozilla also released a new version, 17.0.6, of its Thunderbird E-mail client, for all platforms.  The new version provides an update to the Twitter API is uses, and also fixes six security vulnerabilities, three of which Mozilla rates as serious.  Further information is available in the Release Notes.  You can download installation packages for all languages and platforms.

Because of the security content of these releases, I suggest updating your systems as soon as it’s convenient.

Mozilla Releases Firefox 20

Today, the Mozilla organization released a new version, 20.0, of its Firefox browser for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows.  The new version incorporates bug fixes, performance improvements, and some new features, including

• Per-window private browsing
• An improved download facility
• Ability to close “hanging” plugins without causing other problems

The new release also includes fixes for 11 identified security vulnerabilities, all of which Mozilla rates as Critical.  Further information in available in the Release Notes.

Because of its security content, I recommend that you move to the new version of Firefox as soon as you conveniently can.  You can get the new version via the built-in update mechanism (Help / About Firefox / Check for Updates), or you can get a complete installation package, in one or more of 70+ languages, from the Firefox download page.