Browsers

Mozilla Enables Click To Play for Java

Java Release 7 Update 11 (released January 13, 2013) fixes this issue. More info here. In response to the recent news about the major vulnerability found in Java 7 Update 10, Mozilla has enabled click to play for recent versions of Java on all platforms (Java 7u9, 7u10, 6u37, 6u38). This is being done automatically for users who are using Firefox 17 or newer. The Click To Play feature ensures that the Java plugin will not load unless a user specifically clicks to enable the plugin. This protects users against drive-by exploitation, one of the most common exploit techniques used to compromise vulnerable users….

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Changes to ‘Esc’ key behavior

Starting with Firefox 20, the ‘Esc’ key will no longer stop a page from loading or stop animated GIFs from animating. This change goes back to November of 2010 with Bug 614304 (ESC key aborts XMLHttpRequest and WebSocket). Without getting into too much technical details, pressing the Esc key can cause major problems for sites that use Web Apps that are coded in Ajax or use jQuerry. With the growing popularity and number of web apps came a great number of users accidentally hitting the escape key. So effective with Firefox 20 the Esc key will no longer stop anything, it simply won’t…

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Fix ‘Close Other Tabs’ Warning ‘Fix’

Note: Yes, the post title is suppose to be that way. This is a ‘fix’ to fix the ‘fix’ in Firefox 18 which wasn’t fixed. Back in September we first talked about Close Other Tabs Warning being displayed even if the user had ‘turned off’ the warning in the options. In late October we posted an update that a ‘fix’ was suppose to land with Firefox 18. I had pretty much forgotten about this issue as I don’t use the ‘Close other tabs’ option in Firefox. Firefox 18 came out earlier this week and on the release post Cheryl commented “The…

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3 New Features Coming to Firefox For Android in 2013

The Den has posted three new features that will be coming to Firefox Android later this year: Private Browsing Customization including themes and start page content More supported devices and languages No word yet on exactly when this year these features will be landing.

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Firefox 18 Released

Mozilla has released the next version, Firefox 18 on January 8, 2013 for both desktop and Android users. Several fixes and enhancements including faster JavaScript performance via IonMonkey compiler and support for Retina Display on OS X 10.7 and up. See release notes [Desktop | Android] for full details. Firefox for Organizations 10.0.12esr and 17.0.2esr are in process of being released. Depending on your settings (Firefox Menu > Options > Options > Advanced > Update Tab) you will be promoted within the next the 24-48 hours to update or can manually check via Firefox Menu > Help > About Firefox. You can also download…

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Windows H.264 Support Coming To Firefox 20

The move away from Flash is ever so slow, but at least there is movement. Starting with Firefox 20 (due out in April 2013) Windows users will have support for H.264 videos via the Windows Media Foundation Playback. Also Firefox for Windows will be able to support AAC audio in MP4 and M4A files, and MP3 audio files without having to rely on third-party plug-ins such as Flash and QuickTime. This feature is available, but not enabled on the current Windows Firefox Nightly Builds. Those currently using (can also get it here) the current Firefox 20 wishing to take advantage of this…

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Mozilla to Continue 64-Bit Windows Firefox Builds

It seems Benjamin Smedberg has had a change of heart (or was it all the negative feedback) in his earlier decision to discontinue the Firefox 64-Bit Windows builds. After I announced my decision to disable 64-bit Windows nightlies, there was significant negative feedback. After reviewing that feedback, and consulting with Release Engineering, I believe that we can keep a set of users happy by making a modification to the original plan. At this point, the Mozilla project does not have the resources to actively support this use case. Making these builds, however, is not a significant burden on our Release Engineering…

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Per-window Private Browsing Coming To Firefox 20

Changes are coming to way Firefox handles Private Browsing with Firefox 20 due out in early April 2013. In private browsing mode your browsing history is not saved and your existing cookies do not carry over into session, nor will any cookies from the private browsing session carry back to your main session. Currently in Firefox when you enable Private Browsing, your current session is saved and Firefox ‘restarts’ in private browsing mode. When you are done and select the Stop Private Browsing option, Firefox ends the sessions and ‘restarts’ back to where you left off prior, reloading your tabs…

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Firefox 17.0.1 Released

Mozilla released an update for the desktop version of Firefox 17 on November 30th, 2012 with Firefox 17.0.1 to address these two issues: 17.0.1: Reverted user agent change causing some website incompatibilities 17.0.1: Font rendering issue in Firefox 17.0 bug 814101 Users should be prompted to update soon, or can manually check for update via Firefox Button > Help > About Firefox or download and install via the getfirefox.com site. Note: At this time there is not an update to Thunderbird 17.0.1.

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