What's New in Firefox 1.5.0.1

Firefox 1.5.0.1 is a stability and security update that is part of our ongoing program to provide a safe Internet experience for our customers. We recommend that all users upgrade to this latest version.

Here's what's new in Firefox 1.5.0.1:

• Improved stability.
• Improved support for Mac OS X.
• International Domain Name support for Iceland (.is) is now enabled.
• Fixes for several memory leaks.
• Several security enhancements.

Downloading and Installing

System Requirements

Before installing, make sure your computer meets the system requirements. Starting with Firefox 1.5, Mac OS X users must have Mac OS X 10.2 or greater.

Downloading Firefox 1.5.0.1

Mozilla.com provides Firefox for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X in a variety of languages. To get Firefox 1.5.0.1, download it here or browse the FTP site. For builds for other systems and languages not provided, see the Contributed Builds section at the end of this document.

Installing Firefox

Once you have downloaded Firefox, follow these instructions to install:

Windows

Double click the Firefox Setup 1.5.0.1.exe installer to start the install.

Mac OS X

Once you have downloaded the Firefox 1.5.0.1.dmg file, double click the Firefox Disk Image to open it in Finder, and then drag the Firefox application onto your hard disk. Drag the icon to your Dock if you want it to appear there.

Linux/GTK2

Extract the tarball in the directory where you want to install Firefox:

tar -xzvf firefox-1.5.0.1.tar.gz

This will create a firefox subdirectory of that directory.

Other Platforms

Extract the compressed archive and run firefox.

Uninstalling Firefox

To uninstall Firefox, follow these instructions:

Windows

From the Start menu, choose Control Panel. When the Control Panel appears, double click Add/Remove Programs. Find "Mozilla Firefox (1.5)" in the list and click Remove to uninstall.

Mac OS X

Drag the Firefox application to the Trash.

Others

Remove the firefox folder.

These instructions leave your profile in place in case you install Firefox again in the future. If you wish to remove your profile folder, remove the location described below in the "Profile Folder" section. Note that by doing this you are destroying all of your Bookmarks, saved passwords, settings and other information and should you decide to use Firefox again you will be starting with a clean profile.

 

Other Information

Profile Folder

Firefox stores your user data in one of the following locations:

Windows 2000, XP	Documents and Settings\<UserName>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox
Windows NT	WINNT\Profiles\<UserName>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox
Windows 98, ME	Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox
Mac OS X	~/Library/Application Support/Firefox
Linux and Unix systems	~/.mozilla/firefox

Other Changes

• On Linux, Firefox now follows GTK's setting for textbox keybindings, so pressing Ctrl+letters triggers application shortcuts instead of readline-like text-editing shortcuts. For details, see this document.

 

Known Issues

This list covers some of the known problems with Firefox 1.5.0.1. Please read this before reporting any new bugs.

Extensions and Themes

You may run into issues with our new Extension Compatibility and Update mechanism. There are simple workarounds for each of the three problems we're aware of.

• If after you run the Firefox 1.5.0.1 installer, the extension compatibility and update wizard does not appear, go to the Extension Manager and manually check for updates.
• If the Extension Compatibility and Update wizard downloads and installs extension updates but those updates are not applied, open the Extension Manager and manually check for updates.

Extensions installed under Firefox 1.0 may be incompatible and/or require updates to work with Firefox 1.5.0.1. Please report any issues to the maintainer of the extension. When you install Firefox 1.5.0.1, your Extensions and Themes may be disabled until Firefox 1.5.0.1 determines that either a) they are compatible with the Firefox 1.5.0.1 release or b) there are newer versions available that are compatible. This is because Firefox changes from release to release and as such the ways in which some extensions integrate changes, meaning there can be problems when running an older extension with a newer version of Firefox. If you find that your favorite Extension or Theme has not been updated to be compatible with this release of Firefox, write the author and encourage them to update it.

All Systems

• Some firewall software may silently block Firefox from running. Most firewalls will ask you whether to allow a program to connect to the Internet. It's important that you always grant Firefox access. If you deny access, you must go into the firewall's configuration program and re-allow access. Even when disabled, some firewalls deny access. Here is some more information on configuring your firewall.
• If Firefox 1.5.0.1 is installed on a multi-user system in a location which is not writable by users, Firefox must be run once by a privileged user. If this is not desirable, an empty file must be created in the following directory: <install-directory>/extensions/talkback@mozilla.org/chrome.manifest
• Software Update will not work if Firefox 1.5.0.1 is installed to a location that you do not have write access to, since Software Update needs to replace or create files in this location.
• If you disabled xpinstall in Firefox 1.0.x by unselecting the Allow Web sites to Install Software preference (changed in Firefox 1.5), go to about:config and set the xpinstall.enabled preference to true to re-enable installs.
• Older versions of Adblock may cause the Clear Private Data confirmation window to appear when Firefox 1.5.0.1 starts. If you experience this, make sure you are using the newest version of Adblock or Adblock Plus.

Windows

• When installing as a restricted-access user on a shared machine into a location that you can write to, there may still be negative side effects (default browser/other keys not being set correctly). The browser should still function however. When installing as a restricted access user do not attempt to install over an installation in a restricted-access/shared location as this may destroy that installation.
• Firefox 1.5.0.1 may hang when closing after viewing a PDF file in some older versions of the Adobe Acrobat Reader plug in. If you experience this, make sure you are using the newest version of the plug in.

Mac OS X

• Intel Mac users may run Firefox 1.5.0.1 under Rosetta. We are planning to natively support Intel Macs starting with Firefox 1.5.0.2.

Linux and Unix systems

• If Firefox 1.5.0.1 is installed to a location with spaces in the path, it may not be able to set itself as default browser and may keep prompting at startup. The work around is to install into a path without spaces.
• GNOME integration does not work properly with Fedora Core 3. Users of Fedora Core 3 will need to download and install linc-1.0.3-3.1.i386.rpm. After installing the RPM, perform the following command in the directory you installed Firefox 1.5.0.1 into (you will need write permission):

  touch .autoreg

  The next time you start Firefox 1.5.0.1, GNOME integration should be functional.

• firefox -remote (mozilla-xremote-client) no longer works on urls containing commas, and is deprecated. firefox -new-window /url/ will open the url in a new window; firefox -new-tab /url/ will open the url in a new tab.

Web Page Rendering

Troubleshooting

• Poorly designed or incompatible Extensions can cause problems with your browser, including make it crash, slow down page display, etc. If you encounter strange problems relating to parts of the browser no longer working, the browser not starting, windows with strange or distorted appearance, degraded performance, etc, you may be suffering from Extension or Theme trouble. Restart the browser in Safe Mode. On Windows, start using the "Safe Mode" shortcut created in your Start menu or by running firefox.exe -safe-mode. On Linux, start with ./firefox -safe-mode and on Mac OS X, run:

  cd /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/
./firefox-bin -safe-mode

  When Firefox is started in Safe Mode, all extensions are disabled and the Default theme is used. Disable the Extension or Theme that is causing trouble and then start normally.

If you uninstall an extension that is installed with your user profile (i.e. you installed it from a web page) and then wish to install it for all user profiles using the -install-global-extension command line flag, you must restart the browser once to cleanse the profile extensions datasource of traces of that extension before installing with the switch. If you do not do this you may end up with a jammed entry in the Extensions list and will be unable to install the extension globally.

If you encounter strange problems relating to bookmarks, downloads, window placement, toolbars, history, or other settings, use the Firefox Safe Mode to disable all extensions, themes, and optionally attempt to clean up any corrupted data.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What can I do to help?

   We need all the exposure we can get. Make it your mission to convert as many of your friends, family members and coworkers as possible. If you're a student, get it distributed at your college. Submit a story to Slashdot and other news sites about the release. Make some noise on your blog. Mass distribution via the Internet is possible -- look at Kazaa. Spread the word!

2. I use another browser because...

   If you're not using Firefox, tell the development team why. We read the feedback at the Firefox forums.

3. Why haven't you responded to the mail I sent you?

   Use the forums. The Firefox team reads them regularly. We all get a lot of email and your email may get lost.

4. Where can I get themes and add-ons (extensions)?

   Extensions and themes can be downloaded from Mozilla Update.

5. Who is working on Firefox?

   Lots of people. See Help->About Mozilla Firefox, Credits for a list of some of the people who have contributed to Firefox.

6. Where's the Firefox source code?

   A tarball of the Firefox 1.5 source code is available for download. The latest development code can be obtained by cvs. Firefox-specific source is in "mozilla/browser", "mozilla/toolkit", and "mozilla/chrome". Please follow the build instructions.

7. Where is the mail client?

   Firefox works with whatever mail client is the default on your system. However, we recommend Mozilla Thunderbird, our next generation email client and the perfect complement to Firefox.

8. How do I capitalize Firefox? How do I abbreviate it?

   Only the first letter is capitalized (so it's Firefox, not FireFox.) The preferred abbreviation is "Fx" or "fx".

 

Other Resources and Links

The following resources contain useful information about Firefox:

• Firefox Help
• MozillaZine's Knowledge Base
• Developer Information

 

Contributed Builds

These are unofficial builds and may be configured differently than the official Mozilla.org builds. They may also be optimized and/or tested for specific platforms.

Localized Builds

Many localized builds are now produced and distributed by Mozilla.org on behalf of their authors. Visit GetFirefox.com or view All Systems and Languages to see the set of official builds that we offer.

Builds that have not yet been certified as official Firefox 1.5 localizations are available by browsing the FTP site.

Previous versions of the Release notes: 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6.1 | 0.7 | 0.7.1 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.9.1/0.9.2 | 0.9.3 | 1.0 Preview Release | 1.0 | 1.0.1 | 1.0.2 | 1.0.3 | 1.0.4 | 1.0.5 | 1.0.6 | 1.0.7 | 1.5 |

• Back to Firefox Page

• Downloading and Installing
• System Requirements
• Downloading
• Installing
• Uninstalling
• Profile Folder
• Extensions and Themes
• Other Changes
• Known Issues
• Troubleshooting
• FAQ
• Other Systems
• Other Languages
• Other Resources and Links