Mozilla postpones Metro Firefox release to late January

Mozilla last week said that slower-than-expected progress on Firefox for Microsoft's Windows 8 "Modern" user interface (UI) means that the touch-based browser likely won't launch until late January.

Estimates a month ago by the open-source developer had pegged Dec. 10 as the target release for the "Metro-ized" version of Firefox. Metro was the name Microsoft once applied to the Windows 8 and Windows RT radical UI, but the company ditched the moniker in August 2012 over a trademark dispute with a German retailer.

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The Firefox "Preview Release" will still be packaged with the Aurora build of Firefox 26 for the Windows desktop when it launches Tuesday, as originally planned.

"The goal of the Metro Preview Release is to gather feedback and defects from the larger Aurora community," Mozilla said in notes published on its website from a planning meeting last Wednesday. "Whether or not the Metro Preview Release will graduate from Aurora to Beta and Release channels is still to be determined. At a minimum, it should significantly increase the number of testers and feedback."

Mozilla maintains three public build channels simultaneously: Aurora is the least polished and a precursor to Beta, which in turns leads to Release.

Aurora is to graduate Tuesday to version 26, when Beta and Release shift to versions 25 and 24, respectively.

Even though it will appear in Firefox 26's Aurora on Tuesday, a slowdown in development will probably postpone the appearance of Firefox Metro in the Release build to late January, Mozilla said. "The decrease in average team velocity over the two previous iterations positions Metro for a Firefox 27 release on January 21, 2014," the meeting notes stated.

The later release was not completely unexpected: Mozilla has pushed back the launch several times.

Mozilla started work on a Modern, previously known as Metro edition of Firefox 18 months ago. It shipped a rough preview in October 2012, several weeks before Microsoft shipped Windows 8. At that time, Mozilla's schedule said the Firefox app might appear as early as January 2013. In May, however, the company said its developers would complete Firefox for Modern between Oct. 2, 2013, and March 20, 2014, with mid-November the likeliest date.

Third-party browser makers face unique hurdles in Windows 8. Only the default browser -- which is set by the user -- can run in the Modern UI. During setup, Windows 8 assigns Internet Explorer 10 (IE10) as the default browser; when Windows 8.1 ships Oct. 18, IE11 will be set as the default.

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Mozilla postpones Metro Firefox release to late January

September 16, 2013 09:30 AM ETComputerworld - Mozilla last week said that slower-than-expected progress on Firefox for Microsoft's Windows 8 "Modern" user interface (UI) means that the touch-based browser likely won't launch until late January.

Estimates a month ago by the open-source developer had pegged Dec. 10 as the target release for the "Metro-ized" version of Firefox. Metro was the name Microsoft once applied to the Windows 8 and Windows RT radical UI, but the company ditched the moniker in August 2012 over a trademark dispute with a German retailer.

The Firefox "Preview Release" will still be packaged with the Aurora build of Firefox 26 for the Windows desktop when it launches Tuesday, as originally planned.

"The goal of the Metro Preview Release is to gather feedback and defects from the larger Aurora community," Mozilla said in notes published on its website from a planning meeting last Wednesday. "Whether or not the Metro Preview Release will graduate from Aurora to Beta and Release channels is still to be determined. At a minimum, it should significantly increase the number of testers and feedback."

Mozilla maintains three public build channels simultaneously: Aurora is the least polished and a precursor to Beta, which in turns leads to Release.

Aurora is to graduate Tuesday to version 26, when Beta and Release shift to versions 25 and 24, respectively.

Even though it will appear in Firefox 26's Aurora on Tuesday, a slowdown in development will probably postpone the appearance of Firefox Metro in the Release build to late January, Mozilla said. "The decrease in average team velocity over the two previous iterations positions Metro for a Firefox 27 release on January 21, 2014," the meeting notes stated.

The later release was not completely unexpected: Mozilla has pushed back the launch several times.

Mozilla started work on a Modern, previously known as Metro edition of Firefox 18 months ago. It shipped a rough preview in October 2012, several weeks before Microsoft shipped Windows 8. At that time, Mozilla's schedule said the Firefox app might appear as early as January 2013. In May, however, the company said its developers would complete Firefox for Modern between Oct. 2, 2013, and March 20, 2014, with mid-November the likeliest date.

Third-party browser makers face unique hurdles in Windows 8. Only the default browser -- which is set by the user -- can run in the Modern UI. During setup, Windows 8 assigns Internet Explorer 10 (IE10) as the default browser; when Windows 8.1 ships Oct. 18, IE11 will be set as the default.

Even so, Mozilla has said it's important that it have a Modern browser app to remain competitive. Google, for instance, has had a much less ambitious Modern version of Chrome since June 2012.

Mozilla will launch the Release version of Firefox 24 for Windows, OS X and Linux desktops early Tuesday. Among the expected changes will be support for OS X's vanishing scrollbars -- a feature Apple introduced in mid-2011's Lion -- and the ability to close all tabs to the right of a selected tab.

This article, Mozilla postpones Metro Firefox release to late January, was originally published at Computerworld.com.

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed . His email address is gkeizer@computerworld.com.

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Mozilla considers rejecting long-lived digital certificates following similar decision by Google

Mozilla is considering the possibility of rejecting as invalid SSL certificates issued after July 1, 2012, with a validity period of more than 60 months. Google already made the decision to block such certificates in Chrome starting early next year.

"As a result of further analysis of available, publicly discoverable certificates, as well as the vibrant discussion among the CA/B Forum [Certificate Authority/Browser Forum] membership, we have decided to implement further programmatic checks in Google Chrome and the Chromium Browser in order to ensure Baseline Requirements compliance," Ryan Sleevi, a member of the Google Chrome Team said Monday in a message to the CA/B Forum mailing list.

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The checks will be added to the development and beta releases of Google Chrome at the beginning of 2014. The changes are expected in the stable release of Chrome during the first quarter of next year, Sleevi said.

The Baseline Requirements for the Issuance and Management of Publicly-Trusted Certificates, sometimes simply referred to as the Baseline Requirements, is a set of guidelines agreed upon by all CAs (certificate authorities) and browser vendors that are members of the CA/B Forum.

Version 1.0 of the Baseline Requirements went into effect on July 1, 2012, and states that "Certificates issued after the Effective Date MUST have a Validity Period no greater than 60 months." It also says that certificates to be issued after April 1, 2015, will need to have a validity period no greater than 39 months, but there are some clearly defined exceptions to this requirement.

The shortening of certificate validity period is a proactive measure that would allow for a timely implementation of changes made to the requirements in the future. It would be hard for future requirements, especially those with a security impact, to have a practical effect if older certificates that aren't compliant with them would remain valid for 10 more years.

Google identified 2,038 certificates that were issued after July 1, 2012, and have validity periods longer than 60 months, in violation of the current Baseline Requirements.

"We encourage CAs that have engaged in this unfortunate practice, which appears to be a very limited subset of CAs, to reach out to affected customers and inform them of the upcoming changes," Sleevi said referring to the fact that Chrome will start blocking those certificates in the beginning of 2014.

On Thursday, a discussion was started on the Mozilla bug tracker on whether the company should enforce a similar block in its products.

"Everyone agrees such certs, when newly issued, are incompatible with the Baseline Requirements," said Gervase Markham, who deals with issues of project governance at Mozilla, on the bug tracker. "Some CAs have argued that when reissued, this is not so, but Google does not agree with them. We should consider making the same change."

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Mozilla 'Plug-n-Hack' project aims for tighter security tool integration

Mozilla is developing a protocol that aims to let security tools and Web browsers work better together.

Configuring a Web browser to work with a security tool involves writing platform and browser-specific extensions, a nontrivial process that discourages people with less experience, wrote Simon Bennetts, a security automation engineer with Mozilla, on Thursday.

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The proposed standard, called "Plug-n-Hack," will define how security extensions can work with a browser in a more usable way, Bennetts wrote. PnH will allow the security tool to "declare the functionality that they support which is suitable for invoking directly from the browser."

Under the current arrangement, if a user wants to, for example, intercept HTTPS traffic, a user must configure proxy connections through the tool and browser correctly and import the tool's SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate, Bennetts wrote.

"If any of these steps are carried out incorrectly then the browser will typically fail to connect to any website -- debugging such problems can be frustrating and time-consuming," Bennetts wrote.

Users may also have to switch often between the tool and their browser to intercept an HTTPS request.

"PnH allows security tools to declare the functionality that they support which is suitable for invoking directly from the browser," Bennets wrote. "A browser that supports PnH can then allow the user to invoke such functionality without having to switch to and from the tool."

The PnH protocol is being designed to be browser and tool independent. The implementation for Firefox has been released under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 and can be incorporated into commercial products for free, Bennetts wrote.

The next phase of the project is being planned, but it is expected it will allow browsers to "advertise their capabilities to security tools," he wrote.

"This will allow the tools to obtain information directly from the browser, and even use the browser as an extension of the tool," Bennetts wrote.

Send news tips and comments to jeremy_kirk@idg.com. Follow me on Twitter: @jeremy_kirk

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Mozilla may follow Google's lead and reject long-lived digital certificates

IDG News Service - Mozilla is considering the possibility of rejecting as invalid SSL certificates issued after July 1, 2012, with a validity period of more than 60 months. Google already made the decision to block such certificates in Chrome starting early next year.

"As a result of further analysis of available, publicly discoverable certificates, as well as the vibrant discussion among the CA/B Forum [Certificate Authority/Browser Forum] membership, we have decided to implement further programmatic checks in Google Chrome and the Chromium Browser in order to ensure Baseline Requirements compliance," Ryan Sleevi, a member of the Google Chrome Team said Monday in a message to the CA/B Forum mailing list.

The checks will be added to the development and beta releases of Google Chrome at the beginning of 2014. The changes are expected in the stable release of Chrome during the first quarter of next year, Sleevi said.

The Baseline Requirements for the Issuance and Management of Publicly-Trusted Certificates, sometimes simply referred to as the Baseline Requirements, is a set of guidelines agreed upon by all certificate authorities (CAs) and browser vendors that are members of the CA/B Forum.

Version 1.0 of the Baseline Requirements went into effect on July 1, 2012, and states that "Certificates issued after the Effective Date MUST have a Validity Period no greater than 60 months." It also says that certificates to be issued after April 1, 2015, will need to have a validity period no greater than 39 months, but there are some clearly defined exceptions to this requirement.

The shortening of certificate validity period is a proactive measure that would allow for a timely implementation of changes made to the requirements in the future. It would be hard for future requirements, especially those with a security impact, to have a practical effect if older certificates that aren't compliant with them would remain valid for 10 more years.

Google identified 2,038 certificates that were issued after July 1, 2012, and have validity periods longer than 60 months, in violation of the current Baseline Requirements.

"We encourage CAs that have engaged in this unfortunate practice, which appears to be a very limited subset of CAs, to reach out to affected customers and inform them of the upcoming changes," Sleevi said referring to the fact that Chrome will start blocking those certificates in the beginning of 2014.

On Thursday, a discussion was started on the Mozilla bug tracker on whether the company should enforce a similar block in its products.

"Everyone agrees such certs, when newly issued, are incompatible with the Baseline Requirements," said Gervase Markham, who deals with issues of project governance at Mozilla, on the bug tracker. "Some CAs have argued that when reissued, this is not so, but Google does not agree with them. We should consider making the same change."

Reprinted with permission from IDG.net. Story copyright 2012 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

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Mozilla to ship 'Metro-ized' Firefox Dec. 10

Mozilla will launch Firefox for Microsoft's Windows 8 "Modern" user interface in mid-December, more than a year after the operating system's launch, according to the open-source developer's planning documents.

Called the "Preview Release," the touch-ready browser will be packaged with Firefox 26 for the Windows desktop. Firefox 26 is slated to ship Dec. 10.

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Work on the browser -- a so-called "Metro-ized" version of Firefox -- will continue up until release, Mozilla said in notes from a planning meeting Wednesday published on its website.

Before the final release of Firefox 26, Mozilla will pair the Modern version with the browser's "Aurora" and "Beta" channel builds, which are to release Sept. 16 and Oct. 28, respectively. At each step, Mozilla will quash bugs and possibly respond to user feedback with changes.

Mozilla started work on a Modern edition of Firefox, one that would run in the user interface (UI) once known as Metro, more than a year ago. The open-source developer released a rough preview in October 2012, several weeks before Microsoft shipped Windows 8.

At the time, Mozilla's schedule claimed that the Firefox app might appear as early as January 2013. In May, the company said its developers would complete Firefox for Modern between Oct. 2, 2013, and March 20, 2014, with mid-November the likeliest date.

Third-party browser makers face unique hurdles in Windows 8. Only the default browser -- which is set by the user -- can run in the Modern UI; during setup, Windows 8 assigns Internet Explorer 10 (IE10) as the default browser; when Windows 8.1 ships in October, IE11 will be set as the default.

Even so, Mozilla has said it's important that it have a Modern browser app to remain competitive. Google, for instance, has had a Windows 8 Modern version of Chrome since June 2012.

Windows RT, the touch-only spin-off designed for tablets, is a different story. Unlike Windows 8, Windows RT bars all third-party developers from accessing the limited "desktop" mode; only Microsoft's programmers can call the APIs there, which they do to power much of the Modern version of IE on the tablet OS.

A year ago Mozilla accused Microsoft of anticompetitive behavior by purposefully blocking others from building browsers that could effectively compete with IE10 on Windows RT. That may be moot at this point, as Windows RT has struggled even more than its bigger brother, Windows 8, and increasingly looks moribund at best, a bad bet by Microsoft at worst.

Firefox for Windows 8's Modern UI puts the address bar at the top, the usual spot for browsers. Microsoft's IE11 stubbornly puts the bar at the bottom.

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed. His email address is gkeizer@computerworld.com.

See more by Gregg Keizer on Computerworld.com.

Read more about Internet in Computerworld's Internet Topic Center.

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