Why you may have lost access to plugins or extensions in Firefox 21

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" ... If you have upgraded your Firefox browser to Firefox 21, the version that got released yesterday, you may have noticed that plugins or extensions that were formerly usable in the browser were not anymore after the upgrade.
"While you may not even mind that, depending on the plugins or extensions that disappeared, some of you may have noticed that they could not make use of functionality on specific websites or the browser anymore due to the change.
"So what happened during the update that caused this? ..."

Source: Ghacks Technology Newsletter
Details  Why you may have lost access to plugins or extensions in Firefox 21

Firefox 21.0/17.0.6esr Released

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Mozilla has released Firefox 21 on May 14th, 2013. New in this release include:

  • The Social API now supports multiple providers
  • Enhanced three-state UI for Do Not Track (DNT)
  • Firefox will suggest how to improve your application startup time if needed
  • Preliminary implementation of Firefox Health Report

See the Release Notes for more details and complete list of changes.

Also released was an update for Firefox 17esr (Firefox for Organization) with 17.0.6esr. The Firefox esr update only contains bug fixes and security/stability updates.

Depending on the operating system and update settings (Tools > Options… > Advanced > Update Tab), users will be prompted to update within in the next 48-hours. Windows users can also go to Help > About Firefox and click the Check for Updates button. Users may also manually download and install Firefox via getfirefox.com. The next scheduled releases will be Firefox 22.0 and 17.0.7esr on June 25th, 2013.

Mozilla: UK spyware company hijacking our brand

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"... Gamma is far from the only such company. Governmental surveillance is a thriving market—worth about $5 billion annually, according to the Wall Street Journal. Firms such as the German Trovicor and Vupen, from France, also deal in “government grade exploits.” ..."
Map

Source: Quartz
 36 governments (including Canada’s) are now using sophisticated software to spy on their citizens
This has been all over the net the last couple days.
"Mozilla accuses Finfisher makers of 'hiding' under name
BBC News-22 hours ago
The Mozilla Foundation has accused UK software group Gamma International of falsely associating one of its products with the Firefox name.
FinFisher spy kit's C&C servers are popping up around the world
Help Net Security-4 hours ago
Mozilla: UK spyware company hijacking our brand
Sydney Morning Herald-14 hours ago
Spyware used by governments poses as Firefox, and Mozilla is angry
Highly Cited
-Ars Technica-22 hours ago"


Much, much more.

Firefox prefetching: what you need to know

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" ... While it is in theory an interesting concept to speed things up for the user, critics argue that it is creating unnecessary overhead and that it has privacy implications. Resources that are prefetched but not accessed are wasted for instance as they remain unused. As far as privacy is concerned, the server the information are retrieved from notices the user's connection even if it is caused by the automated process. ...
...
"Firefox users can disable this prefetch feature the following way: ..."
Source: Ghacks.net
Address : Firefox prefetching: what you need to know

Firefox OS Not in US until 2014

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However, if you happen to live in Venezuela, Poland, Brazil, Portugal or Spain you can get a Firefox phone starting in June. Eleven more countries yet to be announced can get the phones by the end of the year. North America though, we will have to wait until sometime in 2014. Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs explains:

Unfortunately, North Americans looking to purchase a local smartphone packed with Mozilla’s new Firefox OS won’t see them on the market until 2014. Why? Because unlike the rest of the world, Silicon Valley sees everything through high-end devices, he said.

via Tom’s Hardware

Firefox Stub Installer on Beta Channel

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Not sure when Mozilla did this as today is the first time in awhile that I have done a fresh download/install of Firefox Beta. The stub installer (another feature copied from Chrome) downloads a smaller ‘stub’ of the Firefox (Beta) installer and then once you run the Stub Installer then it downloads and installs the rest of Firefox (Beta). The problem with this, is you can not specify where you want Firefox installed and it runs automatically upon completion of the install. Since I wanted to keep the release and beta version in their own folders and with their own profiles this would not work.

I ended up aborting the install and then going over to the FTP server and download the full version of the Beta installer (in this case Firefox 21 Beta 2). The stub installer is also on the Auora and Nightly channels as well. Again, if you want the full version of the installer, you should be able to find it on the Mozilla FTP sever.

Download Manager Tweak

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One of the new changes in Firefox 20, that didn’t go over so well when Firefox 20 was released was the changes to the downloads manager behavior. In the past downloads manager would pop-up in a movable window, however with Firefox 20 it is in a fixed balloon type pop-up. It is possible to revert back to the old pre-Firefox 20 download manager via an about:config tweak:

  • In a new tab type about:config and press enter
  • If you get a warning about “Voiding you warranty”, click the I’ll be careful, I promise button
  • In the filter field type: browser.download.useToolkitUI
  • Double-click the entry to change the value to true

Now, you are back to the old movable window. However, there is talk that once Australias (user interface) is finally fully implemented the old Toolkit UI based downloads window may be going away.

There is another option, which I prefer to use: Download Manager Tweak add-on. This add-on will also restore the old window based download manager, plus for those who prefer to have their downloads in a tab or in the sidebar this add-on gives you that option. There are many more options as seen in the screenshots below:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Download Manager Tweak add-on works with Firefox 3.0 to the present release version. There has been some feedback that the add-on is not working correctly in Firefox 21 Beta at press time.

Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs Stepping Down

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Yet, another CEO is leaving Mozilla Corporation and the search is on for a their fourth CEO. Gary Kovacs announced on April 10, 2013, he will be stepping down as CEO later this year, but will remain on the Board of Directors. Kovacs put much of his attention to get Mozilla to transition into the mobile market. This included Firefox for Android and the upcoming Firefox OS Phones. Mitchell Baker explains on her blog:

Gary joined us to make a dramatic pivot — to move Mozilla from the desktop browser world into the mobile ecosystem. In 2010 we knew that we would need to change many things in order to be effective in the mobile computing environment: our technology, our expertise, our worldview, our focus. Gary’s leadership during this period has helped us build on the strong foundation to make these changes, and to bring that strength into the mobile environment. Gary has reinvigorated our focus on working with commercial partners, a trait that was central in Mozilla’s early life but less so during the Firefox desktop era.

Mozilla Corporation CEO’s:

  • Mitchell Baker – August 2005 – January 2008 – Currently Chairperson of the Mozilla Foundation
  • John Lilly – January 2008 – May 2010 – No longer with Mozilla
  • Gary Kovacs – October 2010 to present

via PC Magazine

Firefox 20.0.1 For Android Released

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Firefox LogoMozilla released an update for Android users with Firefox 20.0.1 on April 11th, 2013. This update fixed ANR hangs and DB-lock related crashes on older devices. User should be prompted to update their devices or can get the latest update via the Google Play Store.
The next scheduled releases will be Firefox 21.0 for Android on May 14th, 2013.

Firefox 20.0.1 (Windows Only) Released

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Firefox LogoMozilla released an update for Window users with Firefox 20.0.1 on April 11th, 2013. This update addresses issues around handling UNC paths. See bug 846848 for more information.

Depending on update settings (Tools > Options… > Advanced > Update Tab), users will be prompted to update within in the next 48-hours. Windows users can also go to Help > About Firefox and click the Check for Updates button. Users may also manually download and install Firefox via getfirefox.com. The next scheduled releases will be Firefox 21.0 and 17.0.6esr on May 14th, 2013.