Firefox Ready to be the #1 Browser

Are you a Firefox user? Apparently, if you are you’re not alone. Sometime this year when I wasn’t paying attention Firefox rocketed to a new high. For over three years I watched as Firefox hovered between a 30–34% browser share. This month I was surprised to see that Firefox consistently exceeds 40% and is preparing to take over IE as the most popular browser.

Bits From Bill – August 2, 2009

A lot has changed in the past three years.

In June 2008 the release of Firefox 3.0 was a huge event. Mozilla set the Guinness world record for the most downloads in a single day. Over 8 million users downloaded Firefox 3 on Junes 17th, 2008. While it increased the credibility of Firefox the browser world was still dominated by Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

The release of Firefox 3.5 didn’t break records but it was successful in attracting new users. Most folks are happy with the increased performance of Firefox but the availability of Firefox add-ons has really helped push this open source browser over the top. When I asked my friends on Twitter for their reason for the switch to Firefox, add-ons was a consistent reply.

The stats above only reflect recent users to Bits From Bill. Some site will still show higher IE stats. Currently, WinPatrol.com shows IE users as 48% and Firefox as 35%. According to Harry McCracken, Firefox is also popular on sites which have a large number of Mac users.

“52 percent of Technologizer's visitors use Firefox. It's still growing in popularity all over the Web, but its usage is particularly high at sites with more experienced, sophisticated visitors. And it's especially likely to be popular at sites that cater to both Windows and Mac users, since Mac fans almost by definition are using a browser other than IE.”

Steve Bass: Ten More Super-Duper Firefox Add-Ons

Firefox 3.5.1 Fix for Vulnerability

Yesterday I wrote about a vulnerability recently discovered in the month old Firefox 3.5. The folks at Mozilla were quick to find a solution and have published a new build which is safe to use.

If you’re a Firefox users go to the following site to update your browser.

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/firefox.html

If you followed the instructions to disable the JIT(Just-in-Time) compiler you’ll want to enable it again once you’ve installed version 3.5.1.

1. Enter about:config in the browser’s location bar.
2. Type jit in the Filter box at the top of the config editor.
3. Double-click the line containing javascript.options.jit.contentsetting the value to true.

Firefox 3.5 Finally Gets Attention

Last month the Mozilla folks were celebrating the release of Firefox 3.5 but for some reason nobody noticed. Last summer the release of Firefox 3 set a Guinness World Record for the most downloaded software in a 24 hour period.

Even with over a weeks notice, downloads and enthusiasm for Firefox 3.5 just wasn’t the same. Maybe everyone was still tweeting about the election in Iran because the new release of Firefox certainly didn’t get the attention it deserved.

Yesterday Firefox 3.5 finally made it into the news and into the top tweets. Unfortunately, the news was a vulnerability was found in Firefox’s super fast JIT (Just-in-Time) JavaScript compiler

While some have recommend disabiling JavaScipt completely there is a solution that will temporarily disabled the JIT feature until Mozilla provides a patch.

According to the Mozilla Security Blog you just need to do the following…

1. Enter about:config in the browser’s location bar.
2. Type jit in the Filter box at the top of the config editor.
3. Double-click the line containing javascript.options.jit.content setting the value to false.

You can watch for updates and check the Mozilla Blog at http://blog.mozilla.com to see when a fix is published. Once you receive the update, you’ll want to go back to the instructions above and set javascript.options.jit.content to True. That way you’ll still get the benefits of the faster JavaScript engine.

Update: A new version is now available to resolve this vulnerability. http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/firefox.html

CNet: Top 9 Windows Utilities

I was pleased today to see that CNet’s Executive Editor, Tom Merritt was letting folks know about what they called “Must-have Windows downloads”. The article by Peter Butler was also titled, “Giving Thanks: Top Windows Utilities” in honor of this weeks American holiday.

I’m always looking for tips on good programs but I was even more happy to see that WinPatrol was listed as number three!

“For protecting Internet Explorer against browser hijackers and for keeping my startup list free of unwanted entries, I know that I can always count on Scotty the Watchdog and the excellent security app WinPatrol.”

This was a nice present for Scotty on his 10th birthday.

CNet also included some of my other favorites like Process Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. CNet also has a review of the beta 1 of Firefox 3 by Stephen Shankland.

“Firefox 3 beta 1 includes a number of significant features that Mozilla said should improve security, ease of use, rendering of Web pages, and location of previously visited Web pages. And for the new era of rich Internet applications, the browser can run Web-based applications even when the computer is disconnected from a network.“

I use Firefox but will probably wait for the final release before upgrading.