There was a “clerical error” by Mozilla Corporation, which omitted one of the security patched that was going to be included in the Windows version of Tuesday’s Firefox 2.0.0.19 release.

Mike Beltzner, Director of the Firefox: “We don’t think that there is any risk to users right now”. Declining to pin point the missing patch, Beltzner only told - it was of one of the 10 patches those were included in the update that prevented the attackers from taking advantage of the snafu. He also said: “The error is not one of the severe vulnerabilities and there are no known reasons for it”.

Mozilla will release the Firefox 2.0.0.20 including the omitted patch may be by Friday, but no later than Monday.

It has also come to notice that only Windows version was affected by the mistake and the Mac & Linux editions still contain all 10 fixes.

The Firefox 2.0.0.19 was supposed to have five critical patches: “critical,” one “high,” two “moderate” and two “low” in its four-step scoring system. It is said that attackers could steal the information from a user while browsing by using one of the four in the two less-severe categories and the most serious ones.

Mozilla had plans to officially retire the older browser this Tuesday, but now the plan has been delayed till the Version 2.0.0.20 is available. The company has been urging users to upgrade to Firefox 3.0 that was launched last June and has also offered Firefox 2.0 users an update twice. The most recent update was offered two weeks ago. Mozilla expected that around 2 million users will accept the second upgrade this Wednesday. The company has plans to offer the final up-gradation option early next month.

After the Mozilla wraps up the testing, it will post Firefox 2.0.0.20 on its website for a download. Users can retrieve the data either by Firefox’s built-in updater, or they have to wait for the automatic update notification to come.

Mozilla is not the only software maker in the list, who had to re-issue an update. Microsoft also re-released a patch for Windows XP’s implementation of Bluetooth last June. And it was Apple Inc. in September, who released iTunes 8.0 again, after a buggy driver crashed the Window Vista PCs.

Mozilla is going to implement ‘end of life’ (EOL) plan for Firefox 2, which is a part of its policy of ending the support of previous version of product six months after the new version is released. The policy is specifically framed to make the Mozilla developers focus more on the current browser version, Firefox 3, which is likely to be released in mid-May.

EOL plan for users means an end to security and stability updates for the existing version of Firefox plus an end to release of new features of old version. The support for Gecko 1.8 layout engine that underlies Firefox 2 and Thunderbird 2 email client will also be stopped. This is going to have high impact on third-party Gecko based browsers like SeaMonkey, Mac-only Camino and Unix/Linux browser Galeon.

Mozilla has confirmed its statement on the web page that is specially meant for older versions of its software. It is stated that “Firefox 2.0.0.x will contain security and stability updates till mid-December, 2008. All the users are encouraged that they upgrade to Firefox 3”.

Although, many organizations have found the new browser Firefox 3 unusable because of particular bugs, but the company is pressing on with the transition. According to some users, Firefox 3 can be more prone to crashing in comparison to its older browser or it might face problems with too much memory usage. The new location bar of the browser is also heavily criticized by users. Last month, a system administrator from the University of Bergen said that a virus related to the network drive usage means that organization can not install Firefox 3.

Firefox 2 is still fighting with significant number of bug fixes, it is receiving in new releases. Firefox 2.0.0.18 and Firefox 3.0.4 released by Mozilla had dozens of security flaws and half of them were critical. So, Mozilla is currently planning to release only one more update of Firefox 2, version 2.0.0.19.

Mozilla has assured of supporting Thunderbird 2 till 2 past December, regardless of the fact that it is based on the now-outmoded Gecko 1.8 engine. According to Michael Connor of Mozilla, “they will provide support for Thunderbird based on their official lifecycle policy”.

Whereas, director of Firefox Mike Beltzner states: “the support situation for third party browsers, which are based on Gecko 1.8 is indefinite”. He said that Mozilla developers will no longer focus on Gecko 1.8 and third party developers will be free to maintain the software and fix the bugs.

In his recent Mozilla mailing list post, Beltzer wrote “EOL not at all means that everybody should stop coding and doing reviews. It is because we do not have a team, which could do weekly triage on blockers and milestones releases”. He also disclosed in October that two-thirds of Firefox users are already using version 3. A record was set by Mozilla when more than eight million downloads of Firefox 3 were done in June.

The updated version has now been made available for download. With this launch of Firefox 3.1 beta 1, Mozilla is mainly attempting to test the added new features and incorporate changes in core functionalities of Firefox 3.1.

One can follow the ongoing planning for Firefox 3.1 at the following :

• Firefox 3.1 Planning Center
• mozilla.dev.planning
• irc.mozilla.org
  

So what are the much-hyped additional features incorporated in this upgraded versions. From new shortcut buttons meant for tab-switching to additional support for CSS properties, there are many indeed. A complete list of these changes are presented as follows:

• The version features standards web improvements in the Gecko layout engine.
• There has been support added for CSS 2.1 and CSS 3 properties.
• Provision of a new tab-switching shortcut. The shortcut also shows previews of the tab you’ll be switching to.
• The version features improved control over the Smart Location Bar by using special characters to restrict searches.
• There is also support for various new web technologies, such as the <video> and <audio> elements, the W3C Geolocation API, JavaScript query selectors, web worker threads, SVG transforms and offline applications.

You can access more information on the new developer features of this version in Mozilla’s Web Tech Blog Post.

You can directly download the Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 for your different Operating System’s of ‘Windows’, ‘Mac OS X’ and ‘Linux’ in 36 different languages. Developers are encouraged to first go through the ‘Firefox 3.1 for Developers’ article on the ‘Mozilla Developer Center’.

The official Firefox Add-ons website, describing the Video DownloadHelper 3.2, states, “Just surf the Web as you are used to, when DownloadHelper detects it can do something for you, the icon gets animated and a menu allows you to download files by simply clicking an item. For instance, if you go to a YouTube page, you’ll be able to download the video directly on your file system. It also works with MySpace, Google videos, DailyMotion, Porkolt, iFilm, DreamHost and others. Since version 3.1, you can setup the extension to automatically convert the downloaded movies to your preferred video format. DownloadHelper also allows you to download files one by one, so that you keep bandwidth to surf for other stuff to download. To modify your preferences, like changing the download directory, right-click on the icon and choose ‘Preferences’. ”

This super extension works with Firefox versions ranging from 1.5 – 3.0. So, what are you waiting for? Christmas?

In keeping with the promise of letting Firefox users personalize their browsing experience, Firefox Add-ons describes the following installation procedure to get rid of these ads and banners -

“Right-click on a banner and choose “Adblock” from the context menu - the banner won’t be downloaded again. Maybe even replace parts of the banner address with star symbols to block similar banners as well. Or you select a filter subscription when Adblock Plus starts up the first time, then even this simple task will usually be unnecessary: the filter subscription will block most advertisements fully automatically”.

Go check this cool extension out. It really works!

‘Firefox is the Best’ has been keeping track of all new Firefox 3.0 extensions, and we would like to give special mention to the Open IT Online 1.2.1 add-on, purely due to the fact that it enables you to access your documents and images online even without having installed any software to facilitate this process!

The Open IT Online add-on basically handles the following;

• Documents (*.doc, *.rtf, *.odt, *.sxw)
• Spreadsheets (*.xls, *.csv, *.ods, *.sxc)
• Presentations (*.ppt, *.pps, *.odp, *.sxi)
• Images (*.jpg, *.gif, *.png)

According to Firefox Add-ons, “When Firefox encounters one of the file types supported by Open IT Online, it shows the “Open With” dialog: if you have installed Open IT Online, you will get, among the others, an option to open the file online. Choosing this option, you will also have the possibility to choose which online service you want to use to open the file”.

Go, check it out!

‘Dig The Blog‘ highlighted this extension’s primary functionalities, stating them as follows,

Notifications: No matter where you are on the web, you can discover popular Digg stories and stay up to date on what your friends are Digging, submitting and commenting. These notifications are fully customizable. Within your preferences you can track different categories and media types, and turn notifications on or off.

Digg Toolbar: Displays Digg counts & comments as you browse around the web. You can also Digg and submit stories directly from the toolbar, which is collapsible to save space. Note that the toolbar respects user privacy by passing only hashed URLs to Digg to check if they’ve already been submitted”.

Revewing this extension, Asa Dotzler, remarked, “The basic features of notifications and site-specific Digg status are right on and ‘just work’.I especially appreciate the easy on/off switches that pull the UI for those out of my way when I’m not using it. My only gripes so far are really just feature requests that most Digg users probably wouldn’t find terribly useful.”

Watch this video to get to grips with the real deal behind the Digg extension!

The Mozilla team expressed the gratitude felt by the team, saying “It’s wonderful to finally have this official document - a great accomplishment for our community and one that we can all be proud. Thank you and Well Done!”

Firefox was launched in the year 2004, and since then has garnered the support of over 180 million users across more than 230 nations. Firefox has exhibited only exponential growth each day and sets a remarkable example for the e-commerce world in its entirety.

Here at ‘Firefox is the Best’, we have been tracking these numerous extensions and have finally put together a classic collection of ‘10 Must Have’ Firefox 3 extensions, only for you. These extensions will help you reap the sweetest benefits of your browser if you have already been using the upgraded version of Firefox. So, brace yourselves, because here goes the list:

Foxy Tunes 3.0.4: The Foxy Tunes extension could prove to be very exciting for all the music enthusiasts out there as it grants you control over any media player and positions it just a right click away form you.

Stumble Upon 3.26: This extension guides you through your exploration of websites of your interest and adds more to your list once it successfully detects your inclinations.

Video Download Helper 3.2: This tool has been essentially designed for extraction of content. Downloading web videos, audio or even picture galleries was never this easy while surfing the net. They are all just a click away now.

Facebook Toolbar 1.2.1: With social networking at its best, this extension will help you never lose sight of your social life on the web. The Facebook Toolbar keeps you updated with your mails, pokes and all other action on Facebook.

Adblock Plus 0.7.5.5: This extension is the best tool to be used in order to get rid of those ad banners on web pages that take up an entire lifetime to be downloaded. Even worse, who wants to see them? You can install Adblock Plus and block such banners forever.

Delicious Bookmarks 2.0.95: This is the official Firefox add-on for Delicious that helps assimilate Firefox with your important bookmarks and tags to make your browsing experience more systematic and easy.

ColorfulTabs 3.3: This tool provides users with the perfect combination of style and sensibility as each tab is easily distinguished owing to its unique color and the colors of course add some extra funk to the look and appeal of the window.

FireGestures 1.1.3: This happens to be an extension for mouse gestures that is customizable and helps you use five types of mouse gestures to execute different commands and user scripts.

NoScript 1.7.8: This tool ensures full-proof security in your Firefox browser and allows content to flow only from the websites that you trust, blocking you against cross-site scripting attacks (XSS).

Firefox Universal Uploader (fireuploader) 0.3.5: As is self-implied by the name of the extension, the Firefox universal Uploader enables you to download files from almost all websites, barring a few. This extension will upload the files for you.

The use of every extension mentioned on this list will accentuate the pleasure of your browsing like never before. Job well done, Firefox!

Confirming that the Firefox 3.0 users will be automatically notified about this update between 24 hrs – 48 hrs within the same being available, the Mozilla Corporation stressed immensely upon the importance of incorporating their latest release.

The Mozilla Corporation also motivated the Firefox 2.0.0.X users to reap the benefits of the new upgraded 3.0.1 version of Firefox and have requested users aspiring to download the same from http://getfirefox.com/ .

The Firefox 3 Release Notes gave a detailed description of all the new and exciting appendages that its users would come face-to-face with in the process of using Firefox 3.0.1. Under the ‘What’s New in Firefox 3.0.1′ section, they stated:

• Fixed several security issues
• Fixed several stability issues.
• Fixed an issue where the phishing and malware database did not update on first launch.
• Under certain circumstances, Firefox 3.0 did not properly save the SSL certificate exceptions list.
• Updated the internal Public Suffix list.
• In certain cases, installing Firefox 2 in the same directory in which Firefox 3 has been installed resulted in Firefox 2 being unstable. This issue was fixed as part of Firefox 2.0.0.15.
• Fixed an issue where, when printing a selected region of content from the middle of a page, some of the output was missing (bug 433373).
• Fixed a Linux issues where, for users on a PPP connection (dialup or DSL) Firefox always started in “Offline” mode (bug 424626).

Browsing powered by Firefox had never been better. So, make the necessary updates and enjoy a hassle-free and secure browsing experience with Firefox 3.0.1.