Mozilla Patches Firefox 2 And 3

Chicago (IL) - Mozilla updated both Firefox 2 and 3 in order to plug security critical security holes, squash some annoying bugs and deliver a few user-centric tweaks. Although users are recommended to update their browser, TG Daily noticed that some popular add-ons for Firefox 3 are not yet compatible with the patched browser.

Mozilla, the open-source organization behind the Firefox web browser, released the first update for the recently released Firefox 3 web browser and, in parallel, updated the aging Firefox 2. The two updates deliver minor user-centric improvements and important security and stability fixes. "We strongly recommend that all Firefox users upgrade to this latest release," Mozilla said.

Firefox 3.0.1 fixes three critical security issues, improves stability, resolves printing issue, squashes bug with offline browsing mode under Linux and fixes SSL certificate problems and malware/phishing database issues. Firefox 2.0.16 plugs two critical security holes and resolves an instability issue that occurs when the browser is installed into the same directory as Firefox 3.

Both Firefox 3.0.1 and Firefox 2.0.16 are now posted for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Users of both Firefox 2.0.x or 3.x may have already been notified of the update through the browser’s automated update notification system. If you did not receive such notice, Mozilla recommends that you initiate a manual update check by choosing the "Check for Updates..." option available in the Help menu.

Before you allow Firefox 3 to download and install the update, the browser will inform you of possible add-on incompatibilities. It is a good idea to review possible conflicts before updating, because incompatible add-ons will stop working when you update to Firefox 3.0.1 until their authors release updated versions. In my case, the Tab Mix Plus add-on was not compatible with Firefox 3.0.1 at the time of this writing.