Another new version of Firefox slid quietly off the production line yesterday. Version 27 improves interactivity with certain social web sites, and fixes a few bugs, including a dozen security vulnerabilities.
As usual, the only announcement of the new version was in the form of a post on the Mozilla Blog, which fails to mention that the post is actually about a new version of Firefox. The official release notes for the new version are as usual a total mess, barely even mentioning the new version identifier.
Yesterday Adobe released a new version of Flash (12.0.0.44) that addresses a critical security vulnerability. There is some evidence that the vulnerability is already being exploited in the wild, so everyone should update their browsers ASAP.
As usual, Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 8.1 will receive the new Flash version via Windows Update, and Chrome will update to the new Flash automatically.
Opera 19.0.1326.59 was released yesterday. Apparently the browser engine forming the basis of the browser (WebKit, also the basis of Google Chrome) since version 15 was updated.
The Webkit-based version of Opera is finally starting to look like it may once again distinguish itself from Google Chrome. Version 19 now has a bookmark toolbar; still no bookmark sidebar, but hopefully that’s on the way. The bookmark programming interface has been opened up, so even if Opera developers don’t add a sidebar, someone will.
According to some reports, Microsoft is planning to release the next update for Windows 8 in March this year. It’s being referred to as “Update 1 for Windows 8.1”, which breaks new ground in Microsoft’s ongoing effort to confuse us with version nomenclature. If Windows 8.1 was the equivalent of Windows 8 Service Pack 1, then what’s this new thing? What makes it an ‘update’, while the previous release got its own version number? Both are free updates, so the only real difference is that Windows 8.1 is what you get when you try to buy Windows 8.
Version issues aside, speculation about the changes in Update 1 for Windows 8.1 is rampant. Of note is the rumour that Microsoft will finally relent and bring back the Start menu. The latest is that Microsoft may make it easier to find the controls for shutting down your computer, previously – and inexplicably – hidden in Windows 8 and 8.1. While welcome, it’s difficult to characterize this as progress when the feature was in Windows for decades previously. One step back, one step forward… eventually.
An update for WordPress was announced yesterday. Version 3.8.1 fixes 31 bugs in 3.8, most of them being minor issues. None of the fixes appear to be related to security vulnerabilities.
If your WordPress site is enabled for automatic updates, it should update itself over the next day or so. If you don’t want to wait, you can install the update manually from the WordPress dashboard.
A new version of Chrome fixes eleven security issues and adds some enhancements, including indicators that tell you which tab is generating audio, better blocking of malware files, and stability and performance improvements. The version of Flash embedded in Chrome was updated to the latest version (12.0.0.41) as well.
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