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New Firefox web browser pulled
A security glitch with the new version of Firefox raises questions about its future.
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Firefox had to yank the new Firefox 16 this week because of a security problem. The flaw could have let hackers see a user’s browsing history. Firefox has issued a patch, but it’s still not out of the woods.
Now, I use Firefox. I’ve resisted the allure of Google’s shiny Chrome browser because I’m worried about privacy. I ignore the catcalls that I'm not cool because I use Firefox. I’ve never been cool. Why start now? But this security glitch has me spooked.
Jeff Howe, who teaches multimedia journalism at Northeastern University, says he doesn’t think Firefox will lose a lot of users because of the flaw - that's because people hate to change browsers. “They would rather curse under their breath, have Firefox automatically provide the patch,” he says.
That’s probably what I’ll do, but Howe says Firefox can’t afford another big mistake. Then there’s that coolness factor I mentioned. Roger Kay, a tech analyst with Endpoint Technologies, says Firefox hasn’t realized that the computing market has changed. “It’s become more like an automobile market," he says. "Where it’s about consumer marketing and branding and style and things like that.”
Kay says Firefox has to get up to date, or die.
I know what you mean about the privacy concerns with Chrome, but it runs so well, and so quickly, that I am glad I made the switch away from Firefox to it a couple of years ago. They're coming up with some great addons for Chrome, and in some cases the extensions that also have Firefox versions work much better in Chrome than in Firefox.
Two things I did in Chrome that's helping keep Google's nose out of my business: I disable tracking wherever possible, and I switched my web searching to DuckDuckGo.com. I'm actually getting much better search results because DDG refuses to track what you're looking for, and because of it they can't put you in a filter bubble either.
