Mozilla News Archives


416 Mozilla open-source and Linux related news articles on Phoronix since 2006.

Mozilla Announces WebAPI, Hopes For A Standard

Mozilla has announced WebAPI this morning, as a means of a consistent API for mobile web browsers to access phone functionality such as the web-camera, file-system, and telephony stack. Mozilla intends to propose WebAPI becoming a W3C standard and for it to be adopted across all major web-browsers.

23 August 2011 - Announcement - 2 Comments
Mozilla Readies Its New Public License

Not only is Firefox 6.0 complete, but Mozilla's new public license may also be ready. Mozilla has made available its release candidate of the Mozilla Public License 2.0.

15 August 2011 - Mozilla Public License 2.0 - 1 Comment
The GPU Acceleration Situation In Firefox 6

Mozilla Firefox 6.0 is to be officially released on Tuesday (it's already out if you look on FTP mirrors) with faster performance, better start-up times, improved plug-in management, greater HTML5 support, more permission controls, and several other features. What's not talked about much, but is huge for the affected Linux users, is that the GPU acceleration situation begins to be sorted out.

14 August 2011 - It Works - 35 Comments
Azure Replacing Cairo In Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox -- particularly the Gecko rendering engine -- has long been a user of the Cairo graphics rendering library. Cairo is also used by GTK+, Mono, WebKit, and many other open-source projects for a vector-based, device-independent 2D drawing API. Cairo now has back-ends for OpenGL, Win32 GDI, Mac OS X Quartz, Direct2D, and many other APIs, but Mozilla developers are doing away with this library. To replace Cairo, Mozilla developers created "Azure" as a new 2D multi-platform graphics library.

26 July 2011 - 2D Graphics Library - 24 Comments
Mozilla Prepares Its Own Web-Based Operating System

Mozilla has announced today they're effectively working on the development of their own operating system. Mozilla "Boot To Gecko" is basically a Gecko-based competitor to Google's Chrome OS operating system. "Mozilla believes that the web can displace proprietary, single-vendor stacks for application development. To make open web technologies a better basis for future applications on mobile and desktop alike, we need to keep pushing the envelope of the web to include --- and in places exceed --- the capabilities of the competing stacks in question."

25 July 2011 - Boot To Gecko - 14 Comments
Thunderbird 5.0 Beta 2 Tips Up

There wasn't any Thunderbird 4.0 mail client release, but now that Firefox 5.0 is out there, Mozilla Messaging has announced the second and final beta release of Mozilla Thunderbird 5.0.

23 June 2011 - It's Here - 1 Comment
Mozilla Puts Out Firefox 5.0 Web Browser

It was only in late March when Mozilla released Firefox 4.0, but under their new development practices that are similar to that of Google's Chrome web-browser, Firefox 5.0 was released yesterday.

22 June 2011 - Already - 31 Comments
Firefox 6 Should Sort Out Linux GPU Acceleration

Mozilla Firefox 4.0 was released in March with many new features, including GPU-based acceleration, but on the Linux side this support was disabled. The Mozilla developers found the Linux GPU driver support to be a problem, even with the open-source solutions. It looks like though by Firefox 6 the Linux GPU acceleration will be in better standing.

6 May 2011 - Hopefully - 34 Comments
Attention Turns To Open-Source Drivers & Firefox

Last week we reported on Mozilla Firefox developers having issues with Linux GPU drivers to the point that the Firefox 4.0 Linux build will not have GPU acceleration enabled by default, but it can be found for Mac OS X and Windows users. Fortunately, to fix the situation, there's now some open-source Mesa/X developers looking into these problems of Firefox GPU acceleration.

17 January 2011 - They Work On It - 25 Comments
Firefox Developers Have Issues With Linux GPU Drivers Too

Mozilla Firefox 4.0 will feature GPU hardware acceleration using OpenGL (or Direct2D/Direct3D under Microsoft Windows) acceleration for WebGL content and even HTML5. This support is there for Windows and Mac OS X, but for Firefox 4.0 the Linux support has been disabled and WebGL is also blacklisted for most drivers. Why? It's the problematic GPU drivers, of course.

15 January 2011 - Thus No GPU Acceleration - 83 Comments
Mozilla Bumps Thunderbird To Version 3.1

The Mozilla Messaging camp has released version 3.1 of the Thunderbird mail client. Mozilla Thunderbird 3.1 features faster search results, a quick filter tool-bar, a new migration assistant, a saved files manager, a new mail account setup wizard, and various performance improvements.

25 June 2010 - New Thunderbird Release - 3 Comments
Mozilla Firefox 3.6 Is Now Available

Mozilla Firefox 3.5 was released over six months ago, but as of a few hours ago, Firefox 3.6 has been built and is ready for release. Mozilla Firefox 3.6 focuses on security enhancements, performance improvements (including JavaScript), support for Personas, better plug-in management, native HTML5 video improvements, and much more.

21 January 2010 - Officially Out There - 7 Comments
Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0 Released, Finally

At long last, Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0 has been officially released. Thunderbird 2.0 was released about two and a half years ago (April 2007) and while Mozilla Firefox has sped along with a number of releases in the 3.x series, Thunderbird has not. However, the 3.0 release of this Mozilla mail client should be rather great and does boast many improvements.

8 December 2009 - It's About Time... - 12 Comments
Mozilla SeaMonkey 2.0 Released

SeaMonkey, the Mozilla Internet suite of software that has everything from an HTML editor to IRC client to web browser, has reached version 2.0. New in Mozilla SeaMonkey 2.0 is RSS/Atom feed support in the Mozilla Mail portion, a modern look-and-feel, tabbed mail support, automated updates, faster JavaScript processing, and HTML5 support.

27 October 2009 - New Internet Suite Release - 11 Comments
Ubuntu's Firefox May Gain JPEG 2000 Support

JPEG 2000, the image file format that has been around for nearly a decade and offers better compression performance and greater flexibility in the code-stream that can allow for higher quality photographs compared to a traditional JPEG, may get a boost on the Linux desktop. JPEG 2000 hasn't seen much adoption in large part because of the lack of web browsers that natively support this JP2 ISO standard, including Firefox. While there was an attempt before to add JPEG 2000 support to Firefox through a Google Summer of Code project, Mozilla developers have largely been opposed to adding this support since this file format is not used enough nor "important enough" to justify the work and face any possible legal threat in implementing this open-source support.

25 August 2009 - Says Mark Shuttleworth - 32 Comments
Mozilla Releases Firefox 3.5 Officially

Finally, the Mozilla Foundation has announced the official release of Mozilla Firefox 3.5. This sizable open-source browser update (formerly known as Firefox 3.1) brings HTML 5 support, a new JavaScript engine (a.k.a. TraceMonkey), a private browsing mode, and a number of other new features.

30 June 2009 - HTML 5 Support & More - 21 Comments
Thunderbird 3.0 Beta 1 Released

It's going on two years since Thunderbird 2.0 was released and six months since the introduction of Firefox 3.0, but Mozilla's Thunderbird mail client is finally getting closer to reaching version 3.0. Mozilla Messaging, the subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation that now guides work on this open-source mail client, has released Thunderbird 3.0 Beta 1.

9 December 2008 - Thunderbird 3 Is Finally Moving Along - Add A Comment
Mozilla Releases Firefox 3.0

This news is coming a bit late thanks to delays with air travel here in the United States, but Mozilla Firefox 3.0 is now available! Firefox 3.0 has a horde of improvements over Firefox 2.0. Some of the new features include one-click bookmarking, improved performance, smart location bar, instant web-site ID, full zoom, and a multitude of other significant open-source advancements. For all of the details and download links, head on over to the Firefox web-site.

18 June 2008 - Next-Gen Open-Source Web Browser - 6 Comments
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.9 Now Available

The official announcement hasn't yet come down the wire, but Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.9 is now available. Like many of the minor Firefox 2.0.0.x releases, Firefox 2.0.0.9 contains stability and security updates. One mirror that has been synced already for this new web browser release can be found here.

1 November 2007 - New Firefox Update - Add A Comment
Mozilla Firefox 3 Alpha 7 Released

The seventh alpha release of Mozilla Firefox 3.0 is now available for developers and those feeling adventurous. Firefox 3.0 Alpha 7 "Gran Paradiso" adds full page zoom for images, layout, and text, reworking of XUL menus and pop-ups, new clipboard events, cross-site XMLHttpRequest specification implemented, color profile support, and a number of other features. This release also contains a number of Gecko 1.9 bug fixes. The complete list of changes along with other information can be found in the Mozilla release notes.

4 August 2007 - Add A Comment
Thunderbird Mail 2.0.0.6 Update

Earlier this week marked the release of Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.6 to fix two newly-presented security vulnerabilities and the Thunderbird mail-client has now been updated to fix the same set of issues. Thunderbird 2.0.0.6 has no other changes aside from the two security fixes. The release notes are available from Mozilla.

2 August 2007 - Add A Comment
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.6 Released

Being released ten days after Firefox 2.0.0.5 is now Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.6. This latest browser update, once again, is to address security vulnerabilities. The two issues fixed in Firefox 2.0.0.6 is unescaped URIs being passed to external programs and privilege escalation through chrome-loaded about:blank windows. Additional information is available from the Firefox release notes.

31 July 2007 - Add A Comment
Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0.0.5 Released

Earlier this week Firefox 2.0.0.5 was released with security and stability updates, and today marks the release of Thunderbird 2.0.0.5. Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0.0.5 marks the fixing of two security vulnerabilities -- remote code execution by launching Firefox from Internet Explorer and crashes with evidence of memory corruption. The Thunderbird release notes can be read on Mozilla.org.

20 July 2007 - Add A Comment
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.5 Released

In Mozilla's battle against stability and security bugs, Firefox 2.0.0.5 has been released. Eight known security vulnerabilities have been corrected in this release including crashes with evidence of memory corruption, frame spoofing, file type confusion, and remote code execution by launching Firefox from Internet Explorer. The release notes for Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.5 are available from Mozilla.org.

18 July 2007 - Add A Comment
Mozilla Firefox 3.0 Alpha 6

Mozilla Firefox 3.0 Alpha 6 (or also known as Gran Paradiso 1.9 Alpha 6) has been released with a number of updates since the fifth alpha release. Some of the changes include the SQLite engine being upgraded to version 3.3.17, improved cookie performance, support for site-specific preferences, a new Quit dialog box, added a permanent "restart Firefox" button to the add-ons manager, fixes to the download manager, Places fixes, and Gecko 1.9 bug fixes. Ernst Persson had also passed along that while it's not officially mentioned in the Firefox 3.0 Alpha 6 release notes from Mozilla, this version does in fact support GTK theme HTML form controls on Linux.

3 July 2007 - Add A Comment
Firefox 3.0 Alpha 5 Released

The fifth alpha release of Mozilla Firefox 3.0 "Gran Paradiso" is now available. Firefox 3.0 is based upon the Mozilla Gecko 1.9 engine and some of the changes with Firefox 3.0 Alpha 5 include Bookmarks portion of Places have been enabled, the implementation of the Breakpad reporting system, new JavaScript-based Password Manager, Mac OS X improvements, and a variety of bug fixes. More information is available in the Gran Paradiso Alpha 5 release notes.

7 June 2007 - Add A Comment
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.4 Released

The fourth Firefox update in the 2.0 branch is now available. Firefox 2.0.0.4 fixes several issues, and adds support for several new languages. More information on the security fixes and download links are available from Mozilla.

31 May 2007 - Add A Comment
Mozilla Firefox 3.0 Alpha 4 Available

The Gecko 1.9 Alpha 4 release has resulted in a new release of Firefox 3.0 Alpha 4 (codename: "Gran Paradiso") along with some interesting features. New in this testing release is the FUEL JavaScript library for extension developers, new page information window, Cocoa interface improvements with bug fixes, Mac OS X crash reporting via Breakpad, improvements to offline application support, and miscellaneous bug fixes. The release notes for Mozilla Firefox 3.0 Grand Pardiso Alpha 4 are available from Mozilla.org along with download links.

28 April 2007 - 1 Comment
Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0 Released

After what had seemed like an eternity, Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0 is finally available (Firefox 2.0 was released last October). Thunderbird 2.0 offers new ways to manage and organize email with message tags, advanced folder views, message history navigation, find as you type, and improves new mail alert notifications. More information on the new features for this mail and RSS client is available here while MozillaZine has the announcement from Team Thunderbird's Scott MacGregor.

18 April 2007 - Add A Comment
Mozilla Firefox Updates

For the Mozilla Firefox 1.5 and 2.0 branches there are new updates available -- 1.5.0.11 and 2.0.0.3 respectively. These new updates introduce no new features but continues with security and stability improvements. For more information see Mozilla.org.

21 March 2007 - Add A Comment
Mozilla On The Desktop

On the Mozilla development planning list, the possibility of delivering a Mozilla-based desktop environment is being discussed, which would be similar to GNOME or KDE and run off either the Linux or FreeBSD kernel. The complete discussion is available to read and provide input here.

20 March 2007 - Add A Comment
Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.2

Firefox 2.0.0.2 has been released today. New in Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.2 is security updates, new language support, and the permissions bug fixed. The release notes are available here.

23 February 2007 - Add A Comment
Mozilla Firefox 3 Alpha 2

While Mozilla Firefox 2.0 "Bon Echo" has only been in existence now for a few months, the second Alpha release for Mozilla Firefox 3.0 "Gran Paradiso" is now available. Among the changes in Firefox 3 Alpha 2 is some core layout code being rewritten, ACID2 test compliance, support for Web Apps 1.0 API, XML load document changes, improvements in the Cairo graphics layer, and much more. Mozilla Firefox 3.0 "Gran Paradiso" is based upon the Mozilla Gecko 1.9 branch and is due out later this year. More information on Gran Paradiso Alpha 2 is available here.

12 February 2007 - Add A Comment
Mozilla Thunderbird 2 Beta 2

Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0 Beta 2 has been released. Among the new features is message tagging, new interface, session history navigation, find as you type, updates to extension system, and much more. The release notes can be found here.

24 January 2007 - Add A Comment
Mozilla SeaMonkey 1.1 Is Out

The SeaMonkey Internet application suite from Mozilla has now reached version 1.1. There are many new features in this release, and the release notes for Mozilla SeaMonkey 1.1 can be read here.

19 January 2007 - Add A Comment
Mozilla Firefox 3.0 Features

The desired features for Firefox 3 have been organized and released after a recent Mozilla meeting. Among the mandatory Firefox 3 features include improved interaction with ad-ons, support for remote bookmarks, robust plug-in support, improved printing support, improved password management, and Airbag crash system implementation. Among the highly desirable features (but not guaranteed for Firefox 3.0) are saving web pages as PDF files, pause/resume downloads across sessions, and Microformats support. More on the Firefox 3 features and other information can be found in the Wiki. Mozilla Firefox 3.0 final should be out third quarter this year.

11 January 2007 - Add A Comment
Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0 Beta 1

While Mozilla Firefox 2.0 has been out now for almost two months, the Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0 branch is still catching up. Coming out of the Mozilla camp today is Thunderbird 2.0 Beta 1. Some of the new features in this development milestone is message tagging, improved default theme, session history navigation, folder views, improved extensions support, improved offline management, improved new mail notification alerts, folder summary pop-ups, cached search folders, improved filing tools, and an update to the Thunderbird extension system. Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0 Beta 1 can be grabbed for all major platforms. Thunderbird 2 final is anticipated for release in the first quarter of next year.

13 December 2006 - Add A Comment
Mozilla Firefox 3.0 Alpha

Last week we reported on the Gecko 1.9 Alpha 1 release, and with that the first Alpha release for Mozilla Firefox 3.0 is now out the door! Gran Paradiso is both the codename for Firefox 3.0 as well as Gecko 1.9 (as well as being the highest mountain group in the Graian Alps). Some the changes between Firefox 2.0 and Firefox 3.0 Alpha 1 is the Cairo graphics library being used by default, updated threading model, changes to how DOM events are dispatched, changes to how elements are loaded, changes to how web pages are painted, and new SVG elements and filters. The release notes for Mozilla Grand Paradiso Alpha 1 can be found here.

13 December 2006 - Add A Comment
Gran Paradiso Alpha 1

Gran Paradiso Alpha 1 is out! Gran Paradiso is the project codename for Firefox 3.0. Gran Paradiso Alpha 1 is the first early development milestone based on the Gecko 1.9 branch. While no significant user-end changes have been made in this release, Cairo is now the default graphics library and there are new SVG elements. The Gran Paradiso Alpha 1 announcement can be read here.

8 December 2006 - Add A Comment
Mozilla Gecko 1.9 Alpha

The tree for Gecko 1.9 Alpha has been closed. This will be the first (of many) Alpha releases in the Mozilla Gecko 1.9 branch. After the builds have been completed, they will be announced, but is a release for the core Gecko rendering engine only. No front-end changes will be made in Mozilla Gecko 1.9 Alpha 1 from the recent release of Firefox 2.0.0. See more information at Mozilla Developer News.

30 November 2006 - Add A Comment
Mozilla Firefox / Thunderbird 1.5.0.8

In the Mozilla 1.5 Gecko 1.8 branch, new versions of Firefox and Thunderbird have been released. Both Firefox 1.5.0.8 and Thunderbird 1.5.0.8 feature product stability improvements and security fixes.

9 November 2006 - Add A Comment
Mozilla SeaMonkey 1.0.6 & 1.1 Beta

Along with the new 1.5.0.8 release of Firefox and Thunderbird, Mozilla SeaMonkey 1.0.6 has been released along with a 1.1 Beta of SeaMonkey. Some of the new improvements being worked on for SeaMonkey 1.1 are tab previews, spell checking, e-mail tagging system, better new mail notifications, and an updated ChatZilla IRC client. For those that have never used SeaMonkey, it's an all-in-one Internet suite. The release announcement can be found at MozillaZine.

9 November 2006 - Add A Comment
Firefox 2.0 Released

Mozilla Firefox 2.0 has been released. Firefox 2 features a great deal of features and other improvements as we have shared in many articles (Firefox 2.0 Beta 1; A Tour of Bon Echo Alpha 2; Firefox 2.0 Alpha 1). The Mozilla website has been updated to reflect today's release of Firefox 2.0.

24 October 2006 - Add A Comment

416 Mozilla news articles published on Phoronix.