Mozilla, Gecko Archive

Mozilla Not Satisfied with Microsoft’s Browser Ballot Proposal

Submitted by Moulinneuf 2009-08-19 Mozilla, Gecko 59 Comments

Remember the very detailed proposal Microsoft submitted to the European Commission not too long ago about the browser ballot? This was quite the detailed proposal, covering just about every possible aspect of such a ballot screen. Responses were positive from within the EC, but now it seems that according to the Mozilla Foundation, the proposal is not good enough.

Firefox 3.7, 4.0 User Interface Mockups

Thom Holwerda 2009-07-27 Mozilla, Gecko 55 Comments

A lot of work is under way in designing the user interface for the next two releases of Firefox - 3.7 and 4.0 - and both of the currently proposed themes (Windows-specific) look interesting. These interface refreshes were needed as well, as the current Firefox interface is showing its age. Looking at the mockup for Firefox 4.0, it all becomes clear: This is Firefox - Chromified.

Audio Recording in the Browser

Kroc 2009-07-17 Mozilla, Gecko 10 Comments

"I'm really excited to announce a new feature in Jetpack 0.4 -- Audio Recording. 'Jetpacks' can now access the microphone with just a few simple lines of Javascript The result is an audio file encoded in Ogg/Vorbis, which you can then playback, or if you choose to upload the file to a remote location". A while ago we discussed Jetpack (and Google's) HTML / JavaScript based browser extensions. Now the ante has been upped, with such creativity as URL-based voice memos!

Firefox 3.5 Released

Thom Holwerda 2009-06-30 Mozilla, Gecko 63 Comments

As was anticipated, the boys and girls at Mozilla have released the final build of Firefox 3.5 today. Firefox 3.5 - originally supposed to be 3.1 - comes with many welcome improvements, chief among which is support for HTML5 audio and video tags.

Mozilla Uses Video for Everybdody, Publishes Non-JS Example

Kroc 2009-06-23 Mozilla, Gecko 30 Comments

Last week, OSNews reported on a letter I had wrote to Mozilla complaining of a JavaScript dependant HTML5 video example they had published. The letter caused a great deal of stir and Mozilla have replied by publishing a new example that does not rely upon JavaScript to see the video. Secondly, Mozilla have actually used Video for Everybody for their "What's new in Firefox 3.5" page! A big win for HTML5 video across the web!

Open Letter to Mozilla Regarding Their Use of HTML5 Video

Thom Holwerda 2009-06-19 Mozilla, Gecko 65 Comments

We're on the verge of a serious evolution on the web. Right now, the common way to include video on the web is by use of Flash, a closed-source technology that is a massive resource hog. The answer is the HTML5 video tag, which allows you to embed video into HTML pages without the use of Flash or any other non-HTML technology; combined with open video codecs, this could provide the perfect opportunity to further open up and standardise the web. Sadly, not even Mozilla itself really seems to understand what it is supposed to do with the video tag, and actually advocates the use of JavaScript to implement it. Kroc Camen, OSNews editor, is very involved in making/keeping the web open, and has written an open letter to Mozilla in which he urges them to not use JavaScript for HTML video. Note that Kroc's website may not work properly in Internet Explorer. (Update The letter has been mirrored in the article, Read More for the full text)

Firefox 3.5 RC1 Released

Submitted by adkilla 2009-06-19 Mozilla, Gecko 34 Comments

Firefox 3.5RC1 has been released. "Firefox 3.5 (Release Candidate) is based on the Gecko 1.9.1 rendering platform, which has been under development for the past year. Firefox 3.5 offers many changes over the previous version, supporting new web technologies, improving performance and ease of use, and adding new features for users."

Mozilla Jetpack And The Battle For The Web

Guest post by snydeq 2009-05-28 Mozilla, Gecko No Comments

Mozilla Jetpack makes it so easy to filter, modify, and mash up pages that it might end up pitting developers and users against content producers in a battle for the Web, writes Fatal Exception's Neil McAllister. By allowing users to modify the behavior, presentation, and output of Web apps and pages to their liking, Jetpack brings us one step closer to a more democratic Web. Yet, as Jetpack produces fruit, expect more SaaS providers and media companies to call for 'guardrails for the Internet.'

Mozilla Asks Users To Improve Tabbed Browsing

Thom Holwerda 2009-05-18 Mozilla, Gecko 78 Comments

Tabbed browsing is pretty much the norm by now, with even someone like me (who disliked it vehemently for a long time) finally giving in and start using tabbed browsing (thanks to Chrome, by the way). Well, apparently, Mozilla thinks its time to move on. They believe tabbed browsing has become obsolete, and are asking users to come up with a better alternative.

Mozilla Releases Prism 1.0 Beta

Submitted by poundsmack 2009-05-12 Mozilla, Gecko 33 Comments

The boys and girls of the Mozilla project have taken the wraps off the beta for Prism 1.0. Prism is a technology which blurs the boundaries between the web and the desktop, allowing you to approach web sites as if they were ordinary desktop applications. Prism is cross-platform, and runs on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows.

Mozilla Details Firefox 3.6, Publishes Roadmap

Thom Holwerda 2009-04-06 Mozilla, Gecko 73 Comments

The browser wars are well underway. Apple released a beta for Safari 4, Chrome 2.0 is in beta, Internet Explorer 8 has just been released, and Firefox 3.5 is almost here. Still, that isn't stopping the Mozilla team from looking ahead, beyond Firefox 3.5. They call it Firefox 3.6, but since that version number is likely to be bumped higher, they actually prefer the code name Namoroka, or the alternative name Firefox.next. A new roadmap for Namoroka has been published, and it details some interesting goals.

Fennec Leaps Into Beta

Thom Holwerda 2009-03-19 Mozilla, Gecko 5 Comments

"Fennec, the mobile version of Firefox, has gone to beta. Though currently only available for the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, it appears to be functional and stable. Firefox introduced many innovations into desktop browsing, most of which have since been emulated by the competition. On mobile phones the competition is already fierce, and Fennec will have a hard time proving its value against other browsers which already offer much of what made Firefox so compelling." Ars has more.

Firefox Faced More Flaws in 2008, But Fixed Them Faster

Thom Holwerda 2009-03-06 Mozilla, Gecko 38 Comments

We've got two bits of good news, and one bit of bad news about Mozilla's Firefox web browser. Starting with the bad news - in 2008, Fiefox suffered from considerably more security holes than Internet Explorer and Safari. However, the first bit of good news is that Mozilla was much faster at patching zero-day exploits, according to a report by Secunia. The zero-day flaws of Firefox were also less severe than those of IE. The other bit of good news is that Firefox' upcoming Tracemonkey JavaScript engine is so good, the next Firefox release has been bumped from 3.1 to 3.5.

Mozilla Labs: Introducing Bespin

Kroc 2009-02-13 Mozilla, Gecko 13 Comments

Bespin is an experimental in-browser text/source-editor created by Mozilla Labs. Using any modern web browser (that means no IE, obviously), you can edit your projects from any computer, or with the added flexibility of the web - such as online collaboration, decentralisation, and extensibility. Read more for Kroc's review.

Mozilla Joins Opera in Celebrating EU’s Actions Against IE

Thom Holwerda 2009-02-10 Mozilla, Gecko 86 Comments

Recently it became known that the European Union is charging Microsoft with anticompetitive behaviour concerning its Internet Explorer web browser. The EU is considering forcing OEMs to offer consumers a choice of browser. Opera responded quite positively to these events, and now Mozilla has responded as well: they fully support the EU.

Short Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 New Feature List

Guest post by Rahul 2009-01-21 Mozilla, Gecko 4 Comments

Firefox 3.1 beta 2 includes a host of new features including built-in support for Ogg Theora videos and Ogg Vorbis audio, better memory management, improvements in the smart search location bar and source view, and several other minor enhancements.

Mozilla’s Ubiquity Logo Contest

Submitted by Sebastiaan 2009-01-12 Mozilla, Gecko 11 Comments

You may have thought Mozilla could not open up beyond its current state, but you may be wrong: Aza Raskin, Mozilla Labs' UX Lead and Sebastiaan de With, a freelance icon designer, have completely opened up the process of designing a new logo for Mozilla Ubiquity. The second round of conceptual exploration has just started, and the popular vote is very welcome on the blog or in the comments. What's your favorite concept, and why?

Mozilla Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 Released

Thom Holwerda 2008-12-08 Mozilla, Gecko 33 Comments

The Firefox guys at Mozilla have released the 2nd beta for Firefox 3.1. "The public beta of Mozilla's first Web browser to incorporate a private browsing mode, is being made available to the general public today, although as before, the organization has yet to make it official." This build also includes the new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine, and for web content, it's enabled by default. If you want to enable it for XUL/chrome as well, go to about:config, search for 'jit' and set the XUL/chrome option to 'true'.

A Mozilla End of Year Report

Guest post by Rahul 2008-11-20 Mozilla, Gecko 10 Comments

Mitchell Baker, chairperson of the Mozilla Foundation and former CEO of Mozilla corporation has posted a report the details the financial status of Mozilla for this year. "Our revenue remains strong; our expenses focused. Mozilla's revenues (including both Mozilla Foundation and Mozilla Corporation) for 2007 were $75 million, up approximately 12% from 2006 revenue of $67 million. As in 2006 the vast majority of this revenue is associated with the search functionality in Mozilla Firefox, and the majority of that is from Google. The Firefox userbase and search revenue have both increased from 2006"

Top 3 Features of Mozilla Firefox 4

Submitted by techsin 2008-11-04 Mozilla, Gecko 20 Comments

Developers have proposed an out-of-the-world browsing experience for Mozilla Firefox 4. Here is a user who peeks into those features and gives us insight. Taragana.com looks at Mozilla initiatives that might make it into Firefox 4.