Something fishy has been going on for at least a week, involving Google.
I had an unusual Firefox configuration, in that I still use the long-overdue-for-an-update FF preloader. Suddenly, repeatedly, I started getting browser crashing memory errors, but only when trying a web search in Google.
No other websites, no other programs created or were affected by the problem. And FF “knew” that it had been crashed, and properly recovered.
Since I have used FF preloader for years, and it is very stable, the problem almost has to be that Google is doing something invisible and questionable, that it just started doing.
On top of that, now I learn that Microsoft is trying to violate Firefox as well. But this one doesn’t involve me, at least I don’t think it does:
http://www.robertnyman.com/2009/01/26/microsoft-force-installs-firefox-extension/
“Microsoft force-installs Firefox extension
The update I installed was Microsoft Visual Studio 2008
Service Pack 1, and naturally it was needed as an update
to Visual Studio...
...What came as a complete surprise to me is that it also
installed an extension in Firefox, mentioned nowhere in the
documentation and not as an optional install in the installer.
Ok, bad and annoying enough, but things were about to get
worse...
Trying to uninstall it from the Add-ons menu
(Tools > Add-ons in Firefox), the Uninstall button is disabled!
Yes, my dear developers, Microsoft has actually and intentionally
made it impossible to uninstall it!...”
That’s been happening to me, too. I also keep getting a pop-up to update Firefox.