Skip to Content

Free TUAW iPhone app -- try it now!
AOL Tech

mozilla posts

Filed under: News, E-mail, Mozilla, Open Source

Mozilla scores enterprise email win: 130,000 French government PCs switch to Thunderbird

by Lee Mathews Oct 29th 2009

A French website [Google Translate link] is reporting that 130,000 Tax Authority computer systems are soon to make a major switch to open source software. Email and calendar duties are being handed over to Thunderbird and the Lightning plugin. The move also includes a transition to OBM's open source groupware/collaboration/messaging platform.

When the General Directorate of Public Finance was formed, two tax agencies were combined. Their users were split, with 80,000 using Lotus Notes and 50,000 running Microsoft Outlook. In the end, the new agency's decision had a lot to do with a desire not to re-license Lotus Notes and Outlook and to simplify operations by supporting a single client.

Thunderbird had already made inroads with the French Department of Defense as well as the Misitry of Culture. The new migration brings the total number of installs to more than 200,000.

Always nice to see Mozilla adoption in the enterprise!

[via OSOR.eu]

Tags: email, mozilla, open source, opensource, oss, thunderbird

Filed under: Macintosh, Mozilla, Browsers

Lightweight Mac browser Camino 2 introduces a release candidate

Macby Jay Hathaway Oct 29th 2009

Mozilla's Camino, the lightweight Mac alternative to Firefox, is getting very close to a 2.0 release. The first release candidate is out now -- you can download it by checking for updates in an earlier version of the browser -- and it's got updates to appearance, security features and more. You'll notice a new, more Leopard-like look for the tabs and toolbars, making Camino blend in better with recent versions of OS X.

One of the best additions to the new version of Camino is a built-in Flash blocker. You can turn it on to block all Flash animations, and then add exceptions the sites whose Flash you actually want to see. Other security features include making use of Google Safe Browsing, which warns you when you're headed for a site that Google has blacklisted for malware or phishing. All-in-all, Camino 2 isn't as feature-packed as Firefox, or as pretty as Safari, but it's lighter than either one (and offers Firefox-equivalent page-load times using Mozilla's Gecko rendering engine).

[via TechCrunch]

Tags: browser, camino, camino 2, Camino2, mac, mozilla, release candidate, ReleaseCandidate

Filed under: Mozilla, Browsers

Firefox 3.6 might become a pretty major "minor update"

by Jay Hathaway Oct 23rd 2009

Firefox 3.6 is due to be the next major version of Mozilla's popular browser, but some people inside Mozilla are pushing to reclassify it as a "minor update." It's not that 3.6 isn't a big deal, it's just that users adopt minor updates at much higher rates than major new versions. That's because Firefox prompts users to install minor updates when they come out, but you're on your to download and install a major one.

The argument for 3.6 as a minor update is that it doesn't bring any UI changes or other high-profile feature updates, but it does do a lot under the hood for stability and compatibility with the latest web technologies. Keeping up with changing web standards makes quicker browser updates a good thing, but Firefox is a special case because of all its add-ons. 3.6 is going to require add-on developers to write updates, and they won't have as much time if it's a minor update.

[via CNET]

Tags: firefox, firefox3.6, mozilla

Filed under: E-mail, Productivity, Web services, Mozilla, Beta

Mozilla Raindrop: don't call it another Google Wave

by Jay Hathaway Oct 23rd 2009

The lead designer for Mozilla Messaging describes Mozilla's new communication tool, Raindrop, this way: "Raindrop is not another email client. We started from scratch with fresh ideas about what a communication application should be ... " Sound familiar? That's the same promise we heard from Google Wave a few months ago. Raindrop is similar to Wave in some ways, but it takes a completely different approach to dealing with integrating different kinds of communication into one service.

Raindrop's main goal is to separate personal conversations from bulk email that's less relevant to you. To that it, it pulls out all of the notifications you get from various web services, as well as messages from newsgroups, and sorts them into separate places. It also brings in Twitter, and separates out replies and direct messages. Other social networks will eventually be integrated, and the UI is still in the draft stages, but Raindrop looks pretty promising for a version 0.1 product. It's not as hard to get your head around (or "revolutionary," depending on who you ask) as Wave, but its focus on the problem of bulk vs. personal communication might make it more useful to the average Internet joe.

[via Slashdot]

Tags: mozilla, mozilla labs, mozilla messaging, MozillaLabs, MozillaMessaging, raindrop

Filed under: Mozilla, Beta, Browsers, Mobile, Android

Mozilla makes its mobile move, brings Firefox 3.6 to Android

Androidby Jay Hathaway Oct 20th 2009

In the mobile browser wars, Webkit-based browsers seem to be pulling away from the pack. Don't count Firefox out yet, though, because the CEO of Mozilla says that Firefox has put together "the most advanced mobile browser," and it's due to hit Android phones soon. Fennec, the mobile version of Firefox, is based on Firefox 3.6, which is a generation ahead of the current desktop version of Firefox. As CEO John Lilly told Om Malik of GigaOM, this browser does "everything - Javascript, CSS, Flash, SVG, video and audio."

Like the desktop version of Firefox, the mobile version uses the AwesomeBar, which provides quick access to bookmarks and browser history, right from the address bar. Mozilla also plans to support add-ons for Firefox's mobile version, which would make it the first mobile browser to do so. Add-ons might be the sole factor keeping Firefox competitive on the desktop. In the mobile space, they'd give it an edge. Along with Android, Mozilla is also developing for Nokia's Maemo OS, which isn't too widespread in the US, but is growing in global popularity.

Tags: android, fennec, firefox, mobile, mozilla

Filed under: Mozilla, iPhone, Browsers

Mozilla getting ready to roll the dice on Weave for the iPhone?

by Lee Mathews Oct 19th 2009

Om Malik waxed poetic over the weekend about a chat he had with Mozilla CEO John Lilly. Among the topics that came up: a Mozilla submission to Apple's App Store.

Don't go getting all excited about a Fennec port for the iPhone. We're all well aware of Apple's stance on apps that compete with duplicate functionality of their own apps or offer choice "potential confusion for users." Fennec most certainly would stomp all over Safari's toes, so that's pretty well out.

Malik mentioned something based on Weave as a possibility, and he received a Nudge-Nudge style knowing grin from the Mozilla crew. Could it be true? Is Weave about to run the gauntlet that is Apple's approval process?

While it's a sync app and might step on MobileMe's toes ever so slightly, Weave for the iPhone should be able to wrangle an approval. After all, the only functionality they would likely share is bookmark syncing.

And what about Apple preferring not to let app out of the sandbox? Vic and I kicked this around, and a simple Safari-based front end to your Weave data in the cloud could very well be a workable solution. Mozilla's actual plan remains a mystery for now.

While I'm sure all Firefox fanatics with an iPhone are pulling for Mozilla, we probably shouldn't hold our breath. Apple's rejected plenty of apps on fairly tenuous grounds before, after all.

Tags: app-store, apple, fennec, firefox, iphone, mozilla, weave

Filed under: Mozilla, Beta, Browsers

Firefox 3.6 reaches beta stage

by Lee Mathews Oct 14th 2009

While it's slightly behind schedule -- having been originally slated for a mid-September release -- Firefox 3.6 has reached beta.

Version 3.6 beta RC1 is now available for download from Mozilla's servers. As Softpedia mentioned a few days ago, Mozilla is pondering an early exit for Firefox 3.5. Mozilla's Mike Beltzner stated, "It's not 100% decided yet, but if we issue a Firefox 3.6 as a minor update, then yes, we'd stop supporting the 1.9.1 branch at that time." He's referring to Gecko 1.9.1, on which Firefox 3.5 is based. 3.6 is based upon version 1.9.2 of the Gecko engine.

It may not benchmark in the same league as Google Chrome, but Firefox 3.6 certainly feels speedier. Our content management system runs more smoothly than it did for me under 3.5.3, and my go-to web apps like GMail and Seesmic are also more responsive.

A couple of features that appear in the 3.6 beta candidate: control-tab previews (as previously mentioned) and taskbar thumbnail previews on Windows 7 (not just for FF3.7 apparently).

Testers - if you've given 3.6 beta 1 a go, tell us what you think in the comments!

Tags: beta, firefox-3.6, mozilla, namoroka

Filed under: Mozilla, Browsers

Mozilla launches SeaMonkey 2.0 RC1 internet suite

by Brad Linder Oct 12th 2009

SeaMonkey 2.0 RC1
Mozilla's SeaMonkey is a utility that bundles a whole slew of internet activities into one application. It's a web browser, email application, IRC client, and an HTML editor. And it's inching toward version 2.0. Mozilla pushed out SeaMonkey 2.0 Release Candidate 1 this weekend.

If the concept of an all-in-one internet app sounds familiar, that's because that's what Mozilla originally did, in the days before there was a Firefox web browser or Thunderbird internet client. While development of that first Mozilla application stopped long ago, SeaMonkey brings the idea back to life.

I first looked at version 2.0 back when it was still in beta this summer. The release candidate build features a number of bug fixes and is generally more stable than the beta. It also feature the ability to reopen closed browser windows, delete/cut bookmarks from the bookmark search view, and it features a Thunderbird-style tabbed mail client.

There's also a long list of new features since SeaMonkey 1, including support for RSS and Atom feeds in the MailNews component, an improved password manager, an updated web page rendering engine, customizable toolbars in MailNews, and a web browser component that behaves more like Firefox.

SeaMonkey is an open source, cross-platform application that's available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Tags: mozilla, seamonkey, seamonkey-2.0, seamonkey-2.0-rc1, web-browsers

Filed under: Security, Mozilla, Beta, Browsers

Turn your head and cough, Firefox! Mozilla's plugin check is live

by Lee Mathews Oct 5th 2009


Whichever browser you happen to be using, there's more to keeping it up to date than running automatic updates for the browser itself. There are all those nasty plugins -- like Flash, Java, and Quicktime. Each one presents new opportunities for malware pushers, so an outdated plugin can put an unsuspecting web user at great risk.

Mozilla announced a while back that they were tweaking the "What's new?" landing page to alert users to possible danger. After a Firefox update installs the page is displayed in a new tab when your browser re-opens, hopefully urging you to update an unpatched Flash player.

Taking things a step further is the new Plugin Check, which looks at all the popular plugins. If things are up to date, you'll see only green "Learn More" buttons. If you fall behind and aren't running the latest version but there's no major risk, you'll get a yellow "Update" button.

If there's a known exploit fixed by a newer version of a plugin, you'll get an un-subtle red "Update NOW." And in the event that some horrible exploit is floating around with no known patch, the button will offer to disable the offending plugin for you.

Am I the only one daydreaming about a 1950's style public service announcement warning Johnny about this sort of thing?

"Not so fast, Johnny! You shouldn't be browsing with that old Flash Player plugin. Haven't your parents talked to you about unsafe browsing?"

Tags: firefox, flash, java, mozilla, online-safety, plugins, quicktime, security

Filed under: E-mail, Productivity, Mozilla

Mozilla releases Thunderbird 3 Beta 4

by Jay Hathaway Sep 23rd 2009

The upcoming version of Mozilla's desktop email client, Thunderbird 3, just entered its 4th beta. This new beta adds significant features, including better Gmail integration, smart folders, and better search filters. If you've been looking for an excuse to stop using webmail - especially if you're a Gmail user - it looks like Thunderbird now has most of the features you would have missed.

Gmail integration now includes syncing for your sent mail and trash folders, and uses All Mail as the archive folder. Smart Folders allow you to combine special folders (like your inboxes, and the aforementioned sent and trash folders) from multiple accounts. Advanced Filtering lets you search by a specific category, including by sender, tags, and attachments. Sure, there might still be something you can do in Gmail on the web that you can't do in Thunderbird, but that list seems to be shrinking with every new beta.

[via Lifehacker]

Tags: email, gmail, mozilla, open source, OpenSource, thunderbird, thunderbird 3, Thunderbird3

Filed under: Developer, Mozilla, Browsers

Firefox learns some new accelerometer tricks

by Jay Hathaway Aug 26th 2009

You might be able to get more use out of your accelerometer. That little component that recognizes which way your device is tilted - you can find one in the Macbook Pro and the iPhone, amongst others - is getting some love from the Firefox developers at Mozilla, who have just added orientation support to the latest trunk build of Firefox. While it may seem like it should be far from a top priority for browser development, accelerometer support has a lot of potential, especially since it will eventually be available on Windows Mobile devices running Firefox's mobile version, Fennec.

Mozilla developer Doug Turner initially started building the orientation API because he was impressed by a Labyrinth game on the iPhone, where the player rolls a ball through a maze by tilting the phone. iPhone users already know that orientation support is great for gaming, but if it comes to Fennec on other devices that actually support Flash, we could see some amazing web-based accelerometer games. So far, however, the Macbook Pro is the only supported device.

[via MozillaLinks]

Tags: accelerometer, API, firefox, mozilla, orientation

Filed under: Internet, Mozilla, Open Source, Browsers

Handful of users re-download Firefox 3.5 for the billionth time

by Adam Maras Jul 31st 2009

I'm Celebrating 1 Billion DownloadsIt looks like the folks over at Mozilla are quite proud of their flagship product's odometer reading. After all, some time between 10:46 AM and 11:00 AM (our time) this morning, Firefox was downloaded for the billionth time.

Of course, if you're anything like us here at Download Squad, you can probably account for more than simply one download. Lee admits to having downloaded just the latest version 30+ times himself (some day he'll remember to save it to a flash drive), and if I counted all the times I downloaded Firefox... well, I would most likely be counting through my retirement years.

Now, reaching one billion downloads is certainly nothing to shake a stick at! I did a quick news scan for "billion downloads," and only managed to turn up articles on Firefox (of course) and Apple's App Store, which has a total download count of over a billion and a half; however, this count is split up over the tens of thousands of applications served by the store.

So, whether you're a proud Firefox user saying "awesome!" or a proud Opera user saying "another Download Squad post about Firefox?," you should check out their celebratory page. Oh, and apparently something cool is supposed to show up at "onebillionplusyou.com" on Monday, so keep an eye on it.

Tags: billion downloads, BillionDownloads, firefox, mozilla, mozilla firefox, MozillaFirefox

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, E-mail, Mozilla, Beta

Thunderbird 3 Beta 3 adds tabs and more

WindowsMacLinuxby Jay Hathaway Jul 24th 2009


The latest version of Mozilla's email client, Thunderbird 3, is now in beta and available to preview. Thunderbird 3 packs a ton of new features, including tabbed browsing and improved Gmail integration. It also includes some fixes specifically for extension developers.

You can now open a message in a new tab by double-clicking it or hitting enter, and Thunderbird saves your open tabs when you quit. For Gmail users, Thunderbird 3 has a lot to offer. It properly recognizes Gmail's special folders, including Sent and Trash, and uses All Mail as your archived message folder. Setting up and configuring accounts is now easier, too, and it works almost automatically with Gmail. Other new features include Smart Folders that allow you to combine multiple mailboxes, and per-mailbox column customization.

Tags: email, mozilla, thunderbird, thunderbird-3

Filed under: Audio, Developer, Utilities, Mozilla, Browsers

Jetpack 0.4, now with audio recording and page mods

by Jay Hathaway Jul 22nd 2009



Jetpack is Mozilla's new favorite power tool for customizing the browsing experience. As Lee has explained here on Download Squad, Jetpack makes creating Mozilla add-ons easier, allow developers to build using HTML, CSS and Javascript. The latest Jetpack release, 0.4, includes APIs for audio recording and encoding, as well as a page modification API.

Audio can be recorded directly to Ogg-Vorbis, which is the sound format of choice for Firefox 3.5's audio tag. That means you can allow recording and embedding, straight from the browser and all within Jetpack's APIs. There's a voice memo demo you can check out to get an idea of the way these features can be useful.

The page mod API makes it easy to implement Greasemonkey-style modifications to web pages. Some code examples are posted, including a little page mod that blacklists a site for a set amount of time to deter proscrastination.

Tags: API, audio, firefox, jetpack, mozilla, recording

Filed under: Developer, Mozilla, Browsers

Good night, and don't forget to tip your add-on developers!

by Jay Hathaway Jul 18th 2009


Mozilla's add-on repository recently added a new feature that might make the developers of popular Firefox extensions very happy: a tip jar. Nobody's charging users to download add-ons, but at least the option is there to reward the (mostly) unsung heroes behind some of the software we use every day. Add-ons aren't really the most glamorous or profitable arena in software development, but Adblock, Greasemonkey and other favorites make daily life on the web a lot more enjoyable.

Because Mozilla's add-on site does such a good job cataloguing and signing add-ons, most people who use them never need to visit a developer's website where there might be a way to donate, so the PayPal tip jar on the Mozilla site might be the only way they get paid anything for their work. I know most people writing Firefox extensions aren't doing it for the big money, but in some cases, I'm actually making money by using their add-ons to work more quickly. I don't see a problem with kicking back a few bucks to the folks who made them.

[via Webware]

Tags: add-ons, donation, firefox, mozilla, tip-jar

Next Page →

Featured Time Waster

Graveyard Shift - zombie-busting Time Waster

With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet. They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...

View more Time Wasters

Featured Galleries

Defective by Design, London: Protest Pictures
Microsoft Security Essentials
Chromium Pre-Alpha on CrunchBang Linux
Safari 4 Beta
10 Firefox themes that don't suck
IE8 RC1
Download Squad at the Crunchies After-Party
Download Squad at the Crunchies
WordPress 2.7
Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals
Windows 7 Hands On
Comodo Internet Security
Android First-look: Amazon.com MP3 Store
Android First-look: Twitroid
Google Reader Android
Android Hands-On
Twine 1.0
Photoshop Express Beta
Mozilla Birthday Cake
Palm stuff
Adobe Lightroom 1.1

 


Follow us on Twitter!

Flickr Pool

www.flickr.com

Most Commented On (7 days)

Recent Comments

More Tech Coverage

AOL Radio