Mozilla to release Firefox 1.5 Tuesday

Macworld ^ | 11/29/2005 | Elizabeth Montalbano

[Panerai]

After a host of test releases and one false start, a new version of the Firefox browser will be ready on Tuesday, according to a media alert issued by the Mozilla Foundation on Monday.

Firefox 1.5 will be available for free on Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Pacific Standard Time, at www.getfirefox.com and www.mozilla.com, according to the open-source group. A complete press release outlining the new features in Firefox 1.5, as well as some additional Mozilla news, will be issued at the time the new version is available.

New features in Firefox 1.5 include a better system for updating software, faster navigation using the “Back” and “Forward” tabs, and a redesigned Options/Preferences window that increases the number of category icons and moves them from the left side of the window to the top.

Firefox 1.5 also includes new support for Web standards, adding support for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), JavaScript 1.6 and new versions of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). SVG is a language based on XML (Extensible Markup Language) for writing sophisticated two-dimensional graphics, and JavaScript 1.6 is the latest version of the scripting language. CSS is a W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) standard for adding style elements, such as fonts, colors and spacing, to Web documents

In addition, the Firefox update adds better pop-up blocking and a host of security enhancements, according to Mozilla. Other new features include the addition of Answers.com to Firefox’s list of search engines and a Clear Private Data function that allows users to quickly remove personal data through a menu item or keyboard shortcut.

Firefox, which celebrated its one-year anniversary Nov. 9, has become a popular alternative to Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer browser. Last month, downloads of Firefox topped 100 million.

[goldstategop]

I'm downloading the "gold" version of 1.5 now. Firefox rocks!!!

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

There are suppose to be enhancements in the area of blocking pop-ups and Security!

Also the drag and drop movement of tabs.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Mozilla takes wraps off Firefox 1.5

By Alorie Gilbert
http://news.com.com/Mozilla+takes+wraps+off+Firefox+1.5/2100-1032_3-5975880.html

Story last modified Tue Nov 29 16:53:00 PST 2005

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A new version of the Firefox Web browser debuted Tuesday, promising speedier browsing, swifter updates and better pop-up blocking.

Firefox 1.5, available free via download, is the browser's first major update since creator the Mozilla Foundation introduced it about a year ago. Since then, Firefox has emerged as one of the most popular alternatives to Microsoft's Internet Explorer, with more than 100 million copies downloaded in the first year, more than 40 million active users and about 8 percent of the browser market.

Firefox is also one of the most widely distributed open-source programs, meaning anyone can use and modify the code. Thousands of volunteer programmers contributed to the new version of the browser, and more than 750,000 people were involved in testing it since Mozilla, a nonprofit, released the first test version Nov. 1.

New in the 1.5 version are more sophisticated security and performance features. In addition to a more effective pop-up blocker, the updated browser is designed to ease security updates. The program checks daily for patches, downloads them automatically and then prompts users to install them, said Chris Beard, vice president of products at Mozilla.

Other improvements include "forward" and "backward" browsing buttons designed to load Web pages more quickly. A new drag-and-drop feature for browser "tabs" lets users keep related pages together.

In other news:

• New DVDs to use old video format
• Open channels for software
• Banking on virtual economy
• Wall Street agog over Google
• Hard-disk jockey spins electricity

Firefox 1.5 also supports new Web programming standards, such as AJAX, that enable more graphical capabilities in Web pages. And the browser features more sophisticated application programming interfaces for people who build and use add-on programs, such as browser-based weather updates.

Mozilla plans to introduce new versions more frequently from now on. Firefox 2.0 is due in mid-2006, and the 3.0 release is set for the first quarter of 2007. The group expects to release security and stability updates every six to eight weeks.

In keeping with its grassroots image, Mozilla is tapping its users to help promote the new version of Firefox. It plans to publish their amateur video endorsements on its Web site. Anyone can upload a video for the group's review.

[Dog Gone]

The Google toolbar that I've downloaded for both IE and Firefox has eliminated 100% of the popups. At work, they seem to have eliminated more than I want because they seem to block some javascript popups that I need to do my expense account and I have to find workarounds.

But security is something that happens behind the scenes and I'll take all of that I can get.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

This is interesting....not sure how this ties in with this new firefox release.

***************************************

Browser developers plot against phishers

November 28, 2005 3:30 PM PST

Developers working on four Web browsers met earlier this month to discuss how they can make surfing the Web safer.

The meeting in Toronto included security developers for Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera and Konqueror, according to blog postings by several of the attendees. The meeting focused on combating phishing scams, which use phony Web sites to trick unsuspecting victims into giving up sensitive information.

Attendees talked about different ways of displaying secure and trusted sites in Web browsers and other measures to thwart phishers.

For example, the next version of IE will show the lock icon indicating a secured Web site more prominently: in the address bar instead of the status bar, Microsoft's Rob Franco wrote on the IE blog. Other browsers, including Firefox, already display the lock more visibly.

Also, to battle Web site spoofing the address bar in a Web browser should always be displayed, including in pop-up windows, according to Microsoft's delegation.

"A missing address bar creates a chance for a fraudster to forge an address of their own. To help thwart that, IE7 will show the address bar on all internet windows to help users see where they are," Franco wrote.

Additionally, the browser developers agreed on removing support for lower-levels of encryption in their browsers.

While hashing over ways to secure browsing the Web, the developers also called for a new "strongly verified" security certificate for high-profile sites such as online banks.

"Presently all CAs (certificate authorities) are considered equal in the user agent interface, irrespective of their credentials and practices. That is to say, they all simply get a padlock display when their issued certificate is validated," George Staikos, developer on Konqueror, wrote on the KDE blog.

The padlock icon in a Web browser means that traffic with the Web site is encrypted and that a third party, a certification authority, has identified the site. However, there is no standard method for issuing certificates and some phishers have signed their own certificates, resulting in a lock icon when displaying their site in a browser.

"Certification authorities offer certificates with broadly different levels of background checking for the website. Unfortunately, there is no industry standard method for anyone to tell what level of background checking was performed for a given site," Microsoft's Franco wrote.

Representatives for Opera and Firefox in their own blog postings agree that stronger certificates can help address the phishing problem. Web sites with the stronger certification would get a special tag in the browser, telling the user it is safe to conduct business on the site.

IE7 is expected next year for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 and will ship as part of Windows Vista, the successor to Windows XP, due out in the second half of 2006.

Posted by Joris Evers

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

and I have to find workarounds.

Check thru the nearly 800 extensions available for Firefox...although some have not been updated yet for this latest release...

[TomGuy]

The 'theme' below does seem to correct the problem while retaining much of the 'default' theme.

Classic Winstripe 1.5.1 2005.11.12

It is at this link:

https://addons.mozilla.org/themes/showlist.php?application=firefox&category=Miscellaneous&numpg=10&pageid=2

[This version works with FF 1.5. I tried to install another version and it would not work with FF 1.5, so be sure to use the above link to get the right version.]

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Looks like I need to wait for some updates to some of my favored extensions.....

TBP 1.2.8.7 has been released. TBP 1.3.0, compatible with Firefox 1.5 only, is coming soon.

TBP is TabBrowser Preferences....

I need that and Forecastfox,,,,,

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I have had some previous FF installs that ruined my settings; resetting them all can be a pain.

Yeah! Why is that? I hesitate to go to 1.5. I have tons of extensions and have to reconfigure the whole mess every freepin' time.
It's getting old real fast.

[Bush2000]

I'm no confuser geek, but have been using Firefox since January and one thing I like about is you can change font sizes by using the "control key" with the + or -, keys, which is very useful when jumping between online stories and replies on FR etc.

This is done in IE by pressing the Ctrl key and sliding up or down on the wheelie-mouse wheel.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I'm either going to have to uninstall this version, if I can, or use System Restore to get rid of it.

Frustrated by happenings like this and other disasters that lunched my Firefox, I wrote a quick batch file that will copy the whole Firefox profile directory and another to restore it back.
I keep a shortcut to them handy next to my Firefox icon and use the backup often. It's a real hair saver.

[Psycho_Bunny]

I figured it out....I was so busy converting everything to XP 64-Bit that day I totally forgot I downloaded Deer Park.  It must have been the Final Release Candidate for Firefox 1.5 so the Firefox team would have swapped-out the Deer Park icons for the final Firefox icons.

Hence, it's the released version of Firefox 1.5 from the Deer Park site.

My bad.

[TomGuy]

Back up your existing FF first.

This is a freeware backup program for Mozilla/Firefox:
http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/

Then try 1.5. If you don't like it, you can reinstall the former and restore the profile.

[zeugma]

Frustrated by happenings like this and other disasters that lunched my Firefox, I wrote a quick batch file that will copy the whole Firefox profile directory and another to restore it back.

BSR, that's really good advise. Prior to upgrading, it is really smart to back up all your preferences. For Linux users, this is really easy.

tar czvf mozilla.20051129.tgz .mozilla

If your settings get borked, to back out:

rm -rf .mozilla
tar xzvf mozilla.20051129.tgz

I don't use windows, so I'm not sure where that stuff is kept.

Along the same lines, I do essentially the same thing. My /usr/local/firefox directory is a symlink to the version I'm currently using.

[ze@zprc download]$ ls -l /usr/local/
total 276
drwxr-xr-x   3 root root   4096 Oct 20 19:01 Adobe
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root   4096 Nov 29 18:13 bin
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root   4096 Aug 12  2004 etc
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root     22 Nov 29 20:48 firefox -> /usr/local/firefox-1.0.7
drwxr-xr-x  12 root root   4096 Sep 23 23:09 firefox-1.0.6
drwxr-xr-x  11 root root   4096 Sep 23 23:09 firefox-1.0.7
drwxr-xr-x  11 root root   4096 Nov 11 19:00 firefox-1.5
drwxr-xr-x  12 amp  amp    4096 Oct 21 22:58 flock
drwxr-xr-x   3 amp  amp    4096 Nov 17 22:57 folding
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root   4096 Aug 12  2004 games
drwxr-xr-x   4 root root   4096 Nov 26 15:00 include
-r--r--r--   1 root root 116273 Jun 15  2003 info
drwxr-xr-x   5 root root   4096 Nov 26 16:02 lib
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root   4096 Aug 12  2004 libexec
drwxr-xr-x   8 root root   4096 Nov 26 16:02 man
drwxrwxr-x  10 root root   4096 Jun 24 05:38 nvu
drwxrwxr-x  10 amp  amp    4096 Mar 31  2005 nvu.old
drwxr-sr-x  10 root root   4096 Mar 28  2005 RealPlayer
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root   4096 Mar 28  2005 sbin
drwxr-xr-x  12 root root   4096 Nov 26 16:02 share
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root   4096 Aug 12  2004 src
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root     28 Nov 29 18:13 thunderbird -> /usr/local/thunderbird-1.0.7
drwxr-xr-x  10 amp  amp    4096 Jul 21 00:35 thunderbird-1.0.6
drwxr-xr-x  10 root root   4096 Sep 23 17:29 thunderbird-1.0.7

To go from version 1.0.7 to 1.5:

(as root)
rm firefox ln -s /usr/local/firefox-1.5 /usr/local/firefox

If I need to go back, I do the same thing but point to the previous version number instead.

[Golden Eagle]

For Linux users, this is really easy.

tar czvf mozilla.20051129.tgz .mozilla

If your settings get borked, to back out:

rm -rf .mozilla

tar xzvf mozilla.20051129.tgz

LMAO

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I don't use windows, so I'm not sure where that stuff is kept.

I do. Since you started it...I'll pop in the Windows XP batch file contents in case anyone wants to use them.

Create a new document with Notepad and enter the text below then save the file as firefox_backup.bat. (Where <login-name> is the directory that has your login name)

@echo off
C:
cd \
xcopy /E /Y "C:\Documents and Settings\<login-name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\*.*" "C:\Documents and Settings\<login-name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Profile Backup\Profiles"

Next, create a new file with Notepad and enter the text below then save the file as firefox_restore.bat.

@echo off
C:
cd \
xcopy /E /Y "C:\Documents and Settings\<login-name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Profile Backup\Profiles\*.*" "C:\Documents and Settings\<login-name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles"

The above commands will work for all Windows OSs but the paths will be different if you aren't using XP or Win2k. For Win 98/ME for example, the ~\Application Data\... folder will be under the C:\Windows directory.

That's it. Place both files in any directory you want and then create shortcuts for them on your desktop. If you want to get really fancy, use an icon editor and make some nifty Firefox icons for them.

I offer these for free use:

Backup:

Restore:

[Golden Eagle]

Why is this necessary? No wonder I don't like open source, and I started out entering hex on multi-tap switches.

[zeugma]

I would figure that having to type in one command to backup your data and two to restore it would be beyond your limited ability.

As usual, GE has nothing to contribute to a thread. Just trolling, as always.

[zeugma]

Excellent stuff. Better safe than sorry. I like the icons. I might make a similar Linux batch file for the wife and MiL and drop it on their desktop with your icons :-)

[Golden Eagle]

Your systems are crashing? Or you are losing your settings? I've never had those problems, but if you need a real backup, you'll want some removable media, ever better if it's write once, and I didn't see where you addressed that. Let me know where I'm wrong.