In an effort to improve the security of its flagship browser—Firefox—Mozilla has gone ahead and launched version 19.0 yesterday morning.
The update is somewhat modest on new features, but it does include a built-in PDF viewer, which will eliminate the need for third-party plugins (unless you’d prefer said plugins for aesthetic reasons or for some additional functionality). The PDF viewer incorporated in the browser uses PDF.js, a JavaScript library that converts PDF files into HTML5. Users only need to upgrade their Firefox browser and open a PDF to take advantage of it.
Mozilla also fixed two bugs that slowed Firefox’s launch time. Now, when the user clicks the Firefox icon, it should result in a box immediately, rather than forcing the user to wait for the page to load—and click again and again as the user sees nothing, only to have eight pages open a minute later. My experience regarding this feature, is that the browser is the same as before. I haven’t experienced any increase in speed. I own and old HP desktop system with2GB RAM and a cable modem connection with a broadband of 7 MB, which is quite fast. However, Firefox is still as fast as it was before the launch. That’s okay with me, I’m not that demanding in speed. My computing needs are quite modest.
According to TechCrunch, Mozilla also released an update to its Firefox for Android browser, lowering the minimum CPU requirements to 600MHz. Now, Firefox will “run on over 15 million devices, including the LG Optimus One, T-Mobile myTouch 3G slide, HTC Wildfire S and ZTE R750.”
Being the Internet a very dangerous place to be, I would strongly encourage you to update your Firefox browser as soon as possible. It’s not as safe to surf the Web as it used to be, not even for Apple users and you probably know. Chinese hackers were able to compromise several Apple computers recently. Nobody is safe from these evil guys nowadays. Good Day.
I’m hesitant to upgrade to 19, as my upgrade to 18 whatever caused me every sort of problem. It took forever to get my scrolling to work again – disable this, tweak that. A whole weekend went down the tubes while I fussed and fumed and roamed the forums. Now, everything is working perfectly again – I’m going to stick with the old “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” philosophy, especially since I’ve got java disabled and am not too worried about my launch time.
But I’ll still pay attention.
Hi Linda:
I’m sorry to hear that. In the sake of security, I upgraded yesterday to version 19 and so far everything is fine. Both, desktop and laptop are working fine. Usually I like to have the latest versions in order to avoid unnecessary inconveniences. I’ve been hit a couple of times with very dangerous viruses.
Even Apple computers have been hacked by Chinese geeks. The internet is now like a huge minefield.
Bye,
Omar.-