Ilya Kozhevnikov

Browser Newsletter #8

February 22, 2008

Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0: New calendar, better search

Thunderbird 3.0 is due to ship by the end of the year with a more comprehensive search feature and official integration of the Lightning calendar add-on, said David Ascher, chief executive of the newly named Mozilla Messaging subsidiary. The first alpha release will come sooner, though, for those who want to test the software.

Mozilla is best known for its success with the Firefox browser, which has dented Microsoft Internet Explorer’s dominance and sparked programmers to build a rich selection of extensions. Now the group is trying to apply the formula to e-mail software. Even though many rely on Web-based services for the chore, e-mail software is still widely used, and Thunderbird could open another major beachhead for open-source software in mainstream computing.

Firefox 3.0 Beta 3 Turns Up The Heat On The Competition

The new Beta release of Firefox 3.0 is drawing glowing reviews, is shaping up by some’s estimates to be an “IE slayer”

While Mozilla obviously will take its time, and stick to perfecting the fourth beta candidate, the third beta looks much more like a finished candidate than its prior brethren. The first beta focused on speed and leanness, and surprised testers with visibly faster page loads than the current generation Mozilla, Opera, Apple, and Microsoft browsers. The next beta maintained this new speed while beefing up security with a number of key improvements and some minor user interface modifications.

Jeffrey on IE8 and not breaking the web

Jeffrey Zeldman, publisher of A List Apart, has come out in support of Microsoft’s controversial strategy for Internet Explorer 8. The basic plan is that IE8 and all later versions will behave exactly like IE7. If that does what you need, “forward compatibility” has arrived. Of course, while IE7 is much better than IE6, it still isn’t properly standards compliant, so what happens to progress? The answer is that IE8 will also follow standards just like other browsers, and your site just has to tell IE8 to use its standards mode. This enables Microsoft to keep improving standards compliance without “breaking the web”.

Firefox, Opera image file flaw may permit attackers to grab users’ web history

An error in the way in which the Firefox and Opera browsers handle image files could allow an attacker to export a user’s web history or crash the Firefox browser, according to advisories from a Polish researcher and The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT).

The vulnerability is caused by the manner in which the two browsers handle a bitmap image file (.bmp), according to a warning posted by Polish researcher Gynvael Coldwind of Vexillium.org. Coldwind also posted a video illustrating the problem.

AOL ending all support for Netscape on March 1

Netscape’s long and storied history as a web browser will come to an end on March 1, as AOL has officially set a date for the browser’s demise. AOL originally put Netscape on death row at the end of 2007, when it announced that it would be ending support for the venerable application.

Even though users can still download Netscape 9, AOL will no longer provide any support at all for the browser. That includes security patches and bug fixes, too. AOL recommends fans of Netscape turn to Firefox, and if they’re especially nostalgic for the Netscape look and feel, install the Netscape theme and extensions for the popular open-source browser.

Firefox 3 developer dates to remember

At Tuesday’s Firefox 3 / Gecko 1.9 meeting, we agreed to the following development dates as targets for Firefox 3 Beta 4: Feb 21st, 11:59pm PST - Beta 4 String Freeze, Feb 25th, 8:00pm PST - Beta 4 l10n Code Freeze, Feb 26th, 11:59pm PST - Beta 4 Code Freeze

Firefox 3 theme for Vista is here. Join the discussion.

Today’s nightly Firefox 3 release features the new icons for Windows Vista featuring an overall blue glassy look.

Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Picasa in for Flock 1.1

Flock has released Flock 1.1 Beta, a development version for testers and enthusiasts, featuring a few more web services.

What is Mozilla? Mitchell Baker at the French Senate

For Mitchell Baker, chairwoman of the Mozilla Foundation Board of Directors, explaining what Mozilla is and what’s not to lots of influential people around the world is an important part of her job.

Her recent keynote at the French Senate, kindly recorded by Mozilla Europe’s President, Tristan Nitot on February 14, is a good example of how complex it is to define the Mozilla project, specially from a business point of view.

Click [...] to listen Mitchell’s keynote.

Browser Newsletter #8

Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0: New calendar, better search

Firefox 3.0 Beta 3 Turns Up The Heat On The Competition

Jeffrey on IE8 and not breaking the web

Firefox, Opera image file flaw may permit attackers to grab users’ web history

AOL ending all support for Netscape on March 1

Firefox 3 developer dates to remember

Firefox 3 theme for Vista is here. Join the discussion.

Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Picasa in for Flock 1.1

What is Mozilla? Mitchell Baker at the French Senate

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