firefox3

A major update to the Firefox browser, version 3.5, is on track to launch tomorrow. CNET News senior writer Stephen Shankland tells us what to expect, why it matters, and how Firefox is faring against Microsoft and the new browser up-start, Google.

Also, how Michael Jackson's death swamped Google, how to run OLPC software on your laptop, Shaq's Twitter challenge, and a look deep inside the Cheyenne Mountain Complex.

Today's stories:

Firefox 3.5 to ship on Tuesday?

DOJ extends investigation into Oracle-Sun deal

Report: Microsoft to cut Razorfish loose… Read more

Updated June 26 at 3:45 p.m. PDT: Mozilla stated in an e-mail today that it expects Firefox 3.5 to go public on the morning of Tuesday, June 30, almost missing its self-imposed deadline of "the end of June."

Despite hoping that Firefox 3.5 would receive only one release candidate, Mozilla has now published Firefox 3.5 RC 3 for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Details on what's changed between RC 2 and RC 3 are light, with Mozilla saying only that the changes are based on user feedback. Given the history of Firefox updates, … Read more

Fans of Firefox's beta builds can now download Firefox 3.5 Release Candidate 2 for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The latest build contains bug fixes although, according to Mozilla's Director of Firefox, Mike Beltzner, these were minor stability issues corrected after the release of the first release candidate.

Belzner also addressed some confusion among the 800,000 or so beta users about Firefox's beta-naming conventions. When the beta moves into release candidate mode, he said, it takes on the name of the final version because if no further problems are found the RC build will simply become … Read more

If you've been using the Firefox 3.5 beta, you now get to upgrade to the release candidate for Firefox 3.5. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, The noticeable changes to the release candidate from beta 4 and the b99 pre-release version are not readily apparent. Generally, you can expect the release candidate to be more stable than its beta predecessors, although if you're using an add-on such as Nightly Tester Tools or MR Tech to force incompatible add-ons to work in the beta you may be compromising your stability somewhat.

The upgrades to Firefox 3.5 … Read more

Mozilla has fixed a number of security holes and made some stability improvements to the public version of Firefox. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, Firefox 3.0.11 also addresses a specific bug that would corrupt a user's bookmarks database.

According to the Bugzilla report, the corrupted bookmark database was the most common bug reported via Live Chat and in the Firefox support forum.

The security patches in v3.0.11 fix a hole in a JavaScript chrome execution along with other arbitrary code executions, URL spoofing, and memory corruption. The full list of security fixes can be … Read more

On the same day that Apple released the public version of Safari 4 for Windows and Mac, Mozilla published an update to its Firefox 3.5 beta. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, they're not calling this a beta version, but it's not a release candidate, either.

Within the next 24 hours, the Firefox 3.5 beta 4 will auto-update to what Mozilla is calling a "preview" version. Users can also force the update by going to the Help menu, then Check for Updates. At the time of writing, it doesn't appear that users can … Read more

Reports (like this one on The Apple Blog) persist that beta releases of the Mozilla Firefox 3 browser have rendered it a "perplexingly sluggish performer" on the Mac. Despite Mozilla's speed improvements in Minefield, those tweaks haven't seemed to make it into beta releases of Firefox 3.

Until now.

As an open-source Web browser, Firefox is, of course, open to community tinkering. One member of that Firefox community, Chris Latko, has developed his own version of Firefox 3.5 beta, dubbed Shiretoko, and my informal tests confirm what The Apple Blog and others have been saying: … Read more

Updated May 1, 2009, at 8:40 a.m. PT with more specifics about how the Google Location Service works, and again at 11:40 a.m. with additional background information.

When Google Labs released its experimental browser toolbar with its My Location finder for Internet Explorer last week, we wondered why it wasn't available for Firefox. Now we know. Instead of being added on through a toolbar or extension, it was intended to be built in. So, on Thursday, Mozilla turned on a new feature for Firefox 3.5 beta 4, and for Fennec, the code name for … Read more

Today we find out why Jeff is walking around with his head down all day, and why Justin's new canine glows in the dark. It seems some genetic engineering has turned man's best friend into a flashlight.

Next we pick apart Best Buy's decision to roll out a closet-sized vinyl section in all of its stores, and why we think this might be a step backwards in terms of progress. We're not trying to put record players down; we just think our blue-and-yellow friends are jumping on that bandwagon a little too late and probably for all of the wrong reasons.

We mentioned the App Store's one-billionth app yesterday, but failed to talk about it. Today we'll reveal the useless piece of software and why we'd be happier with that baby-shaking app taking its place.

Then it's off to Firefoxland, where we discuss the highly anticipated version 3.5. We go around the room geeking out by sharing browser fantasies, thus permanently ensuring Wilson and Justin will never date again.

Finally, we dive into the world of 4chan, quite possibly the most influential crew on the Internet. So influential, in fact, that the community has voted its fearless leader to the top of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people list. That's kind of a paradox, isn't it?

All this plus Calls From the Public on today's show!