Mozilla, racing to release Firefox 3.6 before the end of the year, has released a second beta of the open-source browser for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Firefox 3.6 beta 1 introduced most of the new features, most visibly the ability to customize Firefox's look through Personas, less than two weeks ago. But among the 190 patches in the new beta is what Mike Beltzner, Mozilla's director of Firefox, described in a blog post as "a mechanism to prevent incompatible software from crashing Firefox."
There also are a number of deeper changes in Firefox 3.6 that Web developers likely will be more interested in. Note that one of them, the ability to use color gradients with formatting technology called Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), has changed syntax in between Firefox 3.6 beta 1 and beta 2.
Mozilla is trying to accelerate the pace of Firefox releases; Firefox 3.7 is set for release in the first half of 2010 and 4.0 some time later that year. The project faces new competition from Google's Chrome browser.
With plenty of affordable products in their library to help out those who are serious about Web development, Blumentals Software now has an even more impressively priced product: a package of CSS tools that's absolutely free. The freeware CSS Toolbox includes a handful of helpful tools that should save time for anyone who works with CSS.
The CSS Editor comes with syntax highlighting and simplified auto-complete; the CSS Formatter/Beautifier helps you reformat and prettify your code; the CSS Checker tracks down errors and makes your code old-browser-friendly; and the CSS Compressor makes your code load faster, reducing its size by up to 70 percent. However, if you're a CSS newbie, you might want to read a few online tutorials before diving in. Only a small amount of knowledge is required before you get started, but that modicum will reap big dividends.
Anyone who wants to clean up or check their CSS should check out this set of useful tools.
On Thursday, Mozilla pushed out a new security update for its new Firefox browser. Version 3.0.1 for Windows and Mac addresses vulnerabilities in malformed GIF files on Mac OS X, command-line URLs that could launch multiple tabs when Firefox is not running, and a potential remote code execution by overflowing CSS reference counter.
Meanwhile, Mozilla updated the earlier version of Firefox with 2.0.16 on Tuesday. The update addresses two of the Firefox 3 critical issues--command-line URLs and overflowing CSS reference counter.
Version-specific updates have been pushed out automatically to existing Firefox users.
Mozilla will continue to update Firefox 2 until mid-December.
With the advent of blogs and blog-tool plug-ins, the burning need for Web design at home has dulled somewhat. Power Downloader knows that good custom design is still appreciated, though, and this week he brings you a program that excels at helping home users achieve their Web design desires. CoffeeCup HTML Editor 2008 is suitable for design newbies, HTML hotshots, and everyone in between. The latest version introduces a new CSS and HTML autocompletion tool to join CoffeeCup's well-known WYSIWYG and standard HTML editors.
CoffeeCup HTML Editor 2008 features tabbed navigation and control panels, previews panes for images and a WYSIWYG editor.
(Credit: CNET Networks)It continues to offer powerful features melded to a straightforward and compact interface that is organized by tabs--perfect for keeping track of multiple projects. Advanced features include HTML and CSS scripting, Flash animations, and drag-and-drop Java scripts. Beginners, meanwhile, get an excellent tutorial and a WYSIWYG editor that supports simple drag-and-drop. Power really likes that those just starting off can easily jump back and forth between the WYSIWYG and the HTML to see what the preprogrammed code looks like. Heavily trafficked support forums are also available, and Power Downloader knows the value of such a community can be invaluable. An extensive array of samples and templates includes site designs and JavaScript-based widgets such as calendars and calculators.
Power appreciates the included list of tags, too. Inserting an image, a table, a list, or a DHTML menu is a snap, with tags self-completing--although that feature can be turned off. Tabbed editing lets you simultaneously change multiple pages, and a built-in FTP client facilitates one-click uploading. The status bar displays valid usage suggestions, and you even get a built-in thesaurus. Full-featured and easy to use, users who are worried about the $50 price tag should be comforted by the fact that it includes an unfettered 30-day trial and lifetime free upgrades.
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