Firefox Articles

Mozilla releases Firefox 1.5. on schedule. ComputerWorld. 2005-11-29.

Firefox 1.5 is available now at www.getfirefox.com and www.mozilla.com. The latter site is the "new home" of Firefox and Thunderbird, replacing www.mozilla.org as the download address for Mozilla's browser and open-source e-mail application.

Firefox marks its first year on the Net. CNET. 2005-11-09.

Firefox turned 1 year old Wednesday, marking yet another milestone for the popular open-source browser. The public has downloaded 106.4 million copies of the open-source Web browser since version 1.0 last November. Also, within a span of a year, Firefox has grabbed upwards of 8.65% percent of the market.

"Kill Bill's Browser" Site Aims To Cash In On Google's Bounty. Information Week. 2005-11-09.

Four political activists from Massachusetts launched a parody Web site Wednesday dubbed "Kill Bill's Browser" to convince Web users to switch from Internet Explorer to Firefox.

Why the Daily uses Web Standards. The Michigan Daily. 2005-11-05.

The latest version of The Michigan Daily website uses web standards to offer a complete, cross-platform and user-friendly solution to viewers of The Michigan Daily website.

• XHTML 1.0, HTML 4.01 for old browsers, CSS 2

Firefox Reportedly Breaks 10% Barrier Worldwide. Information Week. 2005-11-02.

OneStat, a Dutch web metrics firm based in Amsterdam, now estimates that Firefox is used by 11.5% of users world wide. Although OneStat claims a larger sampling size than US-based rival firms, it lumps Firefox and Mozilla together as one.

• Use of FireFox's major competitor which comes pre-installed on more than 90% of new desktop machines, and cannot be uninstalled, has slipped to 80.7%. Apple's Safari is at 3.6%. That leaves 4.2% for Opera and the others.

Mozilla hits back at browser security claim. ZDNet UK. 2005-09-20.

Mozilla has reacted to a Symantec report issued on Monday which said serious vulnerabilities were being found in Mozilla's browsers faster than in Microsoft's Internet Explorer. The study was conducted over the first six months of 2005.

• according to security company Secunia's statistics, the Microsoft vulnerabilities were more critical, and had been so over a longer timescale. In the period 2003 to 2005 Secunia have issued 22 security advisories regarding Firefox 1.x, and rate it as "less critical". In the same period Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x had 85 Secunia advisories, and is rated as "highly critical".

UK government wakes up to Firefox. ZDNet UK. 2005-08-25.

The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) has pledged to make its Web sites compatible with as many browsers as possible, including the popular open source browser Firefox.

• "We consider Firefox support to be essential and are working on it for the next version of MapGuide," said an Autodesk spokesman. ... This appears to be a change in policy for Autodesk. Earlier this month, one ZDNet UK reader claimed that Autodesk was unwilling to add support for non-IE browsers.

IBM brings Workplace to Firefox. ZDNet UK. 2005-08-10.

IBM has updated its Workplace desktop software product with support for the Firefox Web browser, the company said on Tuesday. IBM's Workplace software provides functions such as word processing, document storage and calendars. The processing actually takes place on a central server that people access with a Web browser.

• Previously, IBM supported only Mozilla and Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

Opera to remove IE disguise?. ZDNet UK. 2005-08-02.

The browser company altered its software to mimic Internet Explorer (IE) during the late nineties when pro-Microsoft Webmasters engineered their sites to send broken HTML code to browsers that identified themselves as Opera. This practice has become increasingly rare which has led Opera to reconsider its decision to mimic IE, according to an company spokesman.

Next Explorer to fail Acid test. CNET. 2005-08-01.

In its browser blog, Microsoft acknowledged that IE 7 would not pass the Web Standards Project's Acid2 test, which examines a browser's support for W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) recommendations including CSS1 (Cascading Style Sheets), HTML4 and PNG (Portable Network Graphics).

Mozilla: IE7 will boost Firefox take-up. ZDNet UK. 2005-07-19.

Windows 2000 users are expected to migrate to Firefox in droves, taking advantage of enterprise-friendly features that will be available in version 1.1 of the open source browser. IE7, which will be available in beta this summer, will not be available to users of Windows 2000.

• Nearly half of all Windows-based business desktops are still using Windows 2000, according to a recent survey by AssetMetrix, meaning that there is a big market for the Mozilla Foundation to tap into.

Firefox gains on IE in June. InfoWorld. 2005-07-14.

Firefox increased its market share to 8.71 percent in June, up from 8 percent in May, while IE's share shrank to 86.56 percent from 87.23 percent, according to NetApplications.com in Aliso Viejo, California.

• Since the beginning of the year, Firefox has increased its market share every month between 0.5 percent and 1 percent, mostly at the expense of [MS]IE
• As Firefox approaches the 10 percent market share milestone, it is expected to gain "significant traction" once its acceptance grows among corporations

Firefox storms ahead in Europe. ZDNet UK. 2005-06-07.

In Finland more than 30 percent of Web surfers used Firefox. Germany and Hungary are not far behind

• the biggest Firefox share in Finland, where more than 30 percent of Web surfers used Firefox; Germany, with more than 24 percent, and Hungary, with 22 percent.

Security concerns propel Web browser switch - but many users still unaware of risks. 2005-05-31.

More than half of Internet users believe browser choice is a key security factor. In research carried out by Opera Software, 51 percent of the U.S. online population thought their choice of browser can influence whether they get malicious software such as viruses and spyware on their computers. Nevertheless only around 11% have switched to a more secure browser.

• Most participants said security would prompt them to change browser, however, with 66 percent confirming they would consider using another browser for improved security. The number who had already changed browser (11 percent) indicates a distinct group of discerning Web users.
• ...the majority could still protect their online activity better if they had more information, for example knowing that security measures vary between browsers.

Firefox Inches Ahead One More Point. eWeek. 2005-05-10.

The open-source Web browser has gained one more percentage point in U.S. user share against Microsoft Corp.'s IE browser during the past two months, reported WebSideStory Inc. on Tuesday. As of the end of April, Firefox rose to 6.8 percent of browser usage, while IE dropped one percentage point to 88.9 percent, according to WebSideStory.

Firefox improves pop-up ad blocking. ZDNet UK. 2005-04-04.

Mozilla developers are fighting back against companies who use Java- and Flash-based pop-up and pop-under advertisements. The Mozilla Foundation has developed a beta patch for the Firefox browser that it claims improves the blocking of pop-up ads.

Firefox explorers. The Age. 2005-03-22.

• Mr Robertson, based in Griffith, NSW, doesn't understand why his peers elsewhere choose to be locked in to Microsoft's strategy. "I'm staggered and close to offended that some businesses choose the risk of vendor lock-in, and I'm staggered by the timidity of some IT managers," he says.
• Mr Robertson mandated De Bortoli use free software productivity suite OpenOffice for tasks such as word processing after reading open standards studies from around the world.

Firefox Eats More Microsoft Market Share. Information Week. 2005-03-18.

Firefox continues to steal market share from Microsoft Internet Explorer, according to Net Applications, a maker of Web-monitoring software. According to the company's February figures, use of Firefox rose to 6.17% from 5.59% in January.

• Market share for the open-source Mozilla Firefox climbed above 6% in February, while Microsoft's Internet Explorer share dropped below 90%.
• Firefox's gain comes at the expense of Internet Explorer, which dropped to 89.04% market share, from 90.31% in December.

Firefox sneaks into the enterprise. ZDNet UK. 2005-03-01.

The Thunderbird email client and Firefox browser are being rolled out in 100,000-plus desktop deployments, says The Mozilla Foundation. Firefox has been adopted by large enterprises, but companies are often choosing to keep it quiet to maintain a good relationship with Microsoft.

• Tristan Nitot, the president of Mozilla Europe, speaking at the Free and Open source Developers' European Meeting (FOSDEM) in Brussels on Sunday, said that he knows "a few companies" that have deployed the Firefox browser or Thunderbird mail client across 100,000 seats.
• To encourage businesses to use Firefox, Mozilla is due to release Firefox 1.1 as an MSI install. Other important issues for companies are the availability of commercial support and the ability to lock down the application to restrict what employees can do.

Firefox Continues To Chip Away At IE's Share. Information Week. 2005-02-28.

I challenge Lance's column because of the browser stats I'm getting from my personal weblog, based on a 50,000-person sample, after running three statistical programs and monitoring hourly activity. I think a lot of people who read this column and who run weblogs see browser trends the way I do. Right now, Microsoft is barely holding on to a 50 percent share of the browser market.

• While there are indications that Firefox's growth rate is slowing -- the latest numbers show a growth of about 15 percent over the previous period, while that period had grown by 22 percent over the one before that -- Johnston saw it differently. "I don't see [the growth] stopping or flattening," he said.
• Another Web usage measuring firm, OneStat, reported slightly different data, and called Firefox a bigger winner. According to its numbers, Firefox owns 8.5 percent of the browser market, IE has dipped to 87.3 percent, and Safari, Netscape, and Opera each account for between 1.1 and 1.2 percent.

Microsoft out-Firefoxed?. ZDNet AU. 2005-02-21.

Commentary: Does Microsoft now feel confident it's found a way to slow the rise of Firefox--maybe even win back some lost customers?

Firefox community weighs up IE 7 threat. ZDNet UK. 2005-02-16.

Firefox supporters are confident that Microsoft's plans for version 7 of Internet Explorer will not hinder the open source browser's rapid growth. One Firefox contributor thinks the browser could grab a 25 percent market share before IE 7 even launches.

• Already 4.8 percent of Internet surfers are using Firefox, while 92.7 percent are using IE, according to online measurement company WebSideStory's figures from January.
• Barnett also warned that developers should not assume that Microsoft will not adapt to the open source threat.

State officials stump for Linux code bank. 2005-02-16.

The GOCC, launched in June 2004, is an open source code repository, based in the University of Rhode Island, where participating states can deposit and withdraw code and view open source projects being developed.

• Willis added that he believed in five years it will seem very strange to him if 50 states are writing 50 separate checks for a piece of software because it should be available freely through avenues like the GOCC and open source.
• "Anecdotally, we had one guy whose job 30% of the time was visiting various machines and checking for virus and locked-up workstations," Willis said. "As soon as we moved away from [MS-] Internet Explorer to Firefox, he did not have to do those jobs anymore."
• "We've moved more toward open source software because it is more robust; it leaves more time for creative development," he said. "Now we are not just maintaining existing software, but we are developing our own software as well."

Mozilla tries out native XForms. 2005-02-16.

A beta of an XForms extension is now available for both the Firefox browser and the Mozilla suite XForms uses XML and other W3C technologies such as XML Schema, XML Events and XPath to create interactive forms. It separates form structure from presentation and the data entered into the form. CSS is used to create the form layout.

• The XForms standard has been available for some time now, having been ratified on 14 October, 2003

Reversal: Next IE update divorced from Windows. ZDNet AU. 2005-02-16.

Reversing a longstanding Microsoft policy, Bill Gates said on Tuesday that the company will ship an update to its browser separately from the next version of Windows. The new browser version will work only on machines running on Windows XP Service Pack 2.

• "Any released information stating your commitment to modern coding practices -- meaning XHTML, CSS, XML, not to mention full PNG support?" asked Web designer Brady Frey in response to Hachamovitch's blog posting. "Aside from security, this has been the reason why we've dropped IE's usage company wide --
• I have the choice of building one Internet application for all users, or one for IE users. We don't want to waste money doing both anymore."

Firefox gets multimedia plugin. ZDNet UK. 2005-02-11.

Australia's CSIRO research organisation has developed a Firefox plug-in for Windows named Annodex that allows browsing through time-continuous media such as audio and video in the same way that HTML allows browsing through text.

• Currently the software only supports playback of media webs that are encoded using the open source Ogg Theora (for video) and Ogg Vorbis (for audio) codecs.

Firefox gains search support from Yahoo. ZDNet UK. 2005-02-10.

Yahoo's toolbar has been customised for Firefox. Yahoo started offering a beta version of its toolbar for the open source browser Firefox on Microsoft Windows on Wednesday, with versions for Linux and MacOS X following at some expected "shortly".

Firefox moves on the enterprise. ZDNet UK. 2005-02-04.

A commercial support partner for Firefox is to be unveiled within weeks, as the Mozilla Foundation prepares for a push into the enterprise space in 2005

• From the public sector side, a representative of the French Home Office revealed at the same conference that it had already "evaluated Firefox".
• According to a recent study of browser use by Xiti Monitor, Firefox now has over 10 per cent of the market in France.

The Firefox Explosion. Wired. 2005-02-01.

It's fast, secure, open source - and super popular. The hot new browser called Firefox is rocking the software world. (Watch your back, Bill Gates.)

Firefox's rise predicted to continue. ZDNet UK. 2005-01-27.

Firefox has been predicted to see its market share rise to 20 percent by the end of 2005 as users act on fears over privacy and security. A fifth of the UK's 35 million business and home internet users are predicted to switch from Microsoft's Internet Explorer to Mozilla's Firefox before the end of the year, according to a new report.

Opera, the Forgotten Browser. Wired. 2005-01-26.

Ironically, many of the features that are now favorites among Firefox users first appeared in Opera, such as Multiple Document Interface, known as tabbed browsing in Firefox, and Mouse Gestures, which allow users to control the browser by moving their mouse instead of clicking on icons.

• Von Tetzchner said he doesn't believe the ads in the free version have kept users from adopting Opera. He thinks the problem is that many users simply don't know there is a free version of Opera.

Firefox Continues Biting into IE's Market Share. Linux Insider. 2005-01-25.

As downloads continued to surge, measurement firms such as WebSideStory and OneStat began releasing data tracking Firefox gains and IE declines. In December, OneStat reported that IE's market share had slipped to 88.9 percent, a figure Microsoft disputed.

Firefox gnaws further into IE's lead. ZDNet UK. 2005-01-24.

Firefox is approaching five percent market share, with its gains being at the expense of Microsoft's much-maligned Internet Explorer, according to statistics from WebSideStory.

• In December, OneStat reported that IE's market share had slipped to 88.9 percent, a figure Microsoft disputed.

FireFox continues gains against IE. CNET. 2005-01-21.

From the beginning of December through mid-January, 4.78 percent of Internet surfers studied by online measurement company WebSideStory used the Mozilla Foundation's FireFox browser, a gain of 0.88 percentage points. At the same time, IE usage declined 0.7 percent to 92.7 percent, the firm reported. WebSideStory said IE use has declined from 96.7 percent since June.

Internet Explorer Use Keeps Falling. eWeek. 2005-01-20.

In the past month, use of Microsoft Corp.'s dominant browser fell another 1.5 percentage points to 90.3 percent. Meanwhile, the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox browser rose 0.9 percentage points to reach 5 percent, Web analytics provider WebSideStory Inc. confirmed Thursday. Surveys from another Web analytics provider, OneStat.com, have reflected a similar pattern and even put IE's worldwide share below 90 percent.

A bug-free surfing zone. 2005-01-14.

Firefox Emerges as Internet Alternative. 2005-01-08.

It's All About Options. Linux Insider. 2004-12-29.

Firefox: A Browser for Embedded Applications. Linux Insider. 2004-12-28.

One reason Firefox will be of interest to developers is its modular plug-in architecture. While it's significantly simpler than Eclipse, another open-source project design for application development, Firefox already has a host of plug-ins that enhance its functionality.

Opera hints at version 8 with latest beta. ZDNet AU. 2004-12-24.

The new Opera browser includes an updated and more prominent RSS tool, and rendering technology designed to cut out the need for horizontally scrolling across Web pages, regardless of screen size. The same technology also means that online content can be printed on any size of paper without cutting off the edges. The browser will also contain an accessibility feature that allows uses to magnify Web pages and view them without scrolling sideways.

• The new version of Opera also features voice technology, allowing users to browse the Web using spoken commands, such as "Opera next link", "Opera back", or "Opera speak".
• Another Web site metrics firm, Amsterdam, Netherlands-based OneStat.com, last month showed IE dipping below the 90 percent mark.

Firefox's Times ad late as 10 million downloads near. CNET. 2004-12-07.

• The trouble for Mozilla's ad campaign is that about 1,000 of the contributors didn't follow instructions in submitting their names. Now Davis is going through the list manually and contacting contributors who submitted Web addresses, company names, joke names and the like to clarify how they want to be listed in the ad.
• Davis expects the ad to cost Mozilla less than $50,000. The Times declined to confirm that estimate, instead referring queries to the newspaper's 2004 rate book. Times spokesman Toby Usnik said that while Mozilla is a nonprofit, it provides a "business service" and as such will likely be charged the business rate, or more than $130,000.

Firefox Declares War in Germany. Deutsche Welle. 2004-12-03.

Over 2,400 Firefox fans donated money to pay for a full-page ad for the open source browser that appeared Thursday in a German newspaper, spearheading the battle in Europe against Microsoft's Internet Explorer. The ad, entitled "FEUER!" (fire), for Mozilla's Firefox 1.0 Web browser appeared in the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).

5.6 Million Choose Firefox In First Two Weeks. EETimes UK. 2004-11-26.

More than 5.6 million copies of the Firefox 1.0 stand-alone browser have been downloaded in the first two weeks of its release, the Mozilla Foundation said this week.

• "People are frustrated and fed up with Internet Explorer," said Hofmann. "That's the thing driving the look for other solutions. It kind of starts out as a security concern about IE, but once they bring up Firefox, they see it has a clean and simple UI, and has several powerful features that IE lacks, like tab browsing."
• "Our goal is to provide choice and ensure that we have continued innovation in browser," he said, not necessarily to unseat IE.

Firefox snaps at IE's heels. ZDNet UK. 2004-11-23.

As Firefox marks its five-millionth download and moves to retail stores, a survey showed Microsoft's heavyweight Internet Explorer slipping below 90 percent market share.

Microfox. 2004-11-23.

Microsoft gave the press an MSN Search screenshot – using Firefox, but denies that it had done so. Also recently, MSN.com's Tech and Gadgets section's "Today in Downloads" recommended software was Firefox. But that may not have been done by design, as the software recommendations originate in CNET's Download.com. Microsoft declined to comment on this.

Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft's 'enemy within'?. The Register. 2004-11-23.

Publicity doing the rounds to support stories about Microsoft's MSN Search seems to include screenshots of something that looks strangely like Firefox. Ido Kenan of Israeli site NRG Maariv has investigated the strange case of a PR shot of this combination labeled "AP Photo/HO/Microsoft".

Browser Wars Back On. eWeek. 2004-11-22.

Firefox Excites Web Browser World. PC World. 2004-11-22.

Mozilla Firefox Browser Blazes Across the Globe. Linux Insider. 2004-11-22.

Mozilla's new browser is fast, free, expandable. 2004-11-22.

Firefox fortune hunters. CNET. 2004-11-17.

new businesses are cropping up to provide organizations ranging from museums to software companies to the U.S. Department of Defense with Mozilla-based applications--for a fee.

Firefox Could Give IE A Run For The Money. Information Week. 2004-11-15.

By the day of its release last week, Mozilla Foundation's Firefox 1.0 had already garnered 3% of the Web-browser market. Not bad for a new product competing directly with Microsoft's widely entrenched Internet Explorer.

• show Firefox gaining share quickly--at Internet Explorer's expense. Internet Explorer's share slipped from 95.5% in June to 92.9% in October.
• [MS] introduced a major upgrade to Internet Explorer in August, but it works only on PCs running Windows XP Service Pack 2, which is about 20% of what's out there. Other Windows users are stuck with an older version of Internet Explorer that's vulnerable to security breaches.

Firefox's 'Peter Parker' complex. 2004-11-11.

In both the films and the comics, Spiderman's alter-ego Peter Parker was given some advice from his uncle: "With great power comes great responsibility." With more than 8 million downloads recorded for its preview version alone, an irrefutable trend exists with the Web browser Firefox, Mozilla Foundation's most popular creation: it's on fire.

• The open source browser, coupled with the success of other Mozilla and Netscape-based browsers, now holds 6% of the Web browser space,

Product Review: Why Firefox Is A Viable Alternative To IE. Information Week. 2004-11-11.

The Firefox browser -- released this week -- packs security protections and other welcome features that emphasize just how little Microsoft has innovated with its aging Internet Explorer browser in recent years. And how Firefox is a viable alternative right out of the gates.

• The biggest reason to consider Firefox is security.

Firefox lanceret - Er browserkrigen på vej?. Computerworld DK. 2004-11-09.

Mozilla-browseren Firefox er blevet frigivet, og folkene bag har meget store forventninger. De håber, at lanceringen kan få en ny browserkrig til at bryde ud. Firefox snapper især efter Microsofts standardbrowser, Internet Explorer, der dominerer markedet totalt.

Firefox maps its next moves. CNET. 2004-11-09.

• Now that it has the Firefox 1.0 milestone under its belt, the Mozilla Foundation has identified three areas for future growth and development: cell phone and small-device browsing, desktop search integration, and OEM (original equipment manufacturer) distribution.

Browsing the browsers. ComputerWorld. 2004-11-08.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer is the default Web browser for Windows users, but it may not be the best choice for your organization.

Microsoft’s Worst Nightmare. Business 2.0. 2004-11-01.

Ross, a software prodigy who interned at Netscape at age 14, is the lead architect behind Mozilla's Firefox -- a revolutionary new browser that's catching on the way Mosaic did in 1993. In beta for the past four months, Firefox version 1.0 is set to be released in November. With that, Ross will issue the first truly formidable challenge to Internet Explorer that the world has seen in seven years.

• "We're hoping for 10 million downloads in 10 days," Ross says proudly.

Study: Firefox still gaining on Internet Explorer. CNET. 2004-11-01.

The percentage of Americans using Mozilla and Firefox, two open-source browsers funded by the Mozilla Foundation, grew to 6 percent in October from 5.2 percent in September and 3.5 percent in June. That 6 percent was split evenly between the two browsers.

Experts Warn of Security Flaws in Alternative Browsers. 2004-10-21.

Secunia issued a warning that the so-called tabbed browsing function in many alternative Web browsers from Mozilla, Opera, Netscape, Avant, Camino and others leave users vulnerable to spoofed Web sites that seek to steal personal information.

Browser Vendors Need to Quit Monkeying Around. eWeek. 2004-10-04.

• Firefox browser surpassed that group's own 10-day goal by achieving more than 1 million downloads of the 1.0 Preview release—on only the fifth day of its availability.

Microsoft is making it easy to upgrade -- to a non-IE browser. eWeek. 2004-10-04.

It's official. Microsoft recently stated definitively -- and contrary to rumors -- that there will be no new versions of Internet Explorer for users of older versions of Windows.

• Microsoft recently stated definitively—and contrary to rumors—that there will be no new versions of Internet Explorer for users of older versions of Windows.

Why I dumped Internet Explorer. CNET. 2004-10-01.

After months waiting for Microsoft to give me a reason to remain loyal, I finally dumped Internet Explorer for the Firefox Web browser last week.

• Unfortunately for Web surfers [still using MSIE], it's as if the calendar stopped in 1999.

Planning to dump IE? Think again. CNET. 2004-09-30.

For many people, using a non-Microsoft browser such as Firefox is now a must for secure Web surfing--but most still keep a copy of Internet Explorer around just in case.

• The biggest reason why most people can't dump IE, however, is Microsoft itself: The software giant's Windows Update site blocks out non-IE browsers completely. That means anyone running Windows who wants to download and install the latest security updates from the Web will have to keep IE close at hand. Some consider that ironic or worse, given that authoritative groups such as Carnegie Mellon University's Computer Emergency Response Team now warn people to stay away from IE because of its myriad security problems.
• There was no independent verification by Capgemini of the cost of ownership figures and migration costs that were supplied by Microsoft

Firefox beats million-download deadline. ZDNet UK. 2004-09-21.

Released six days ago, the first preview release of the Firefox 1.0 Web browser passed the million-download mark early in its fifth day, according to the Mozilla Foundation. By Monday afternoon, the download number had swelled to 1.3 million.

The Fight Has Just Begun. PC Magazine. 2004-09-13.

Homeland Security Warns Against Internet Explorer. Newsfactor. 2004-06-30.

The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) is a partnership between the Department of Homeland Security and the public and private sectors. It was established in September 2003 to protect the nation's Internet infrastructure against cyber-attacks. Until Microsoft fixes the security flaw, however, the surest way of not giving computer access to an intruder is to stop using Internet Explorer.

Firefox browser easy, fun, fast, safe, free. Houston Chronicle. 2004-03-13.

Both frequent and casual Web users should rush to give Firefox a try — it is a delight to use.