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"Mozilla on Wednesday patched five vulnerabilities, three of them critical, in older editions of Firefox and in the process extended the support life of Firefox 3.0 by at least one more month."

The latest browser, Firefox 3.6 already has the patches so you don't have to worry about this update if that is the version you have. This update fixes "critical flaws in the Gecko rendering engines, the HTML parsers and their implementations of Web Worker." Basically it allowed hackers to inject their own malware onto the machines. This update also covered a couple more moderate vulnerabilities and also extended the support for this version of Firefox until August of 2010. You can download version 3.5x here, or go ahead and get 3.6 here. 

"Head on over to Getfirefox.com, Firefox fans. Version 3.6 of your favorite browser is now ready."

Mac beta was available last October, but now you can get the full-fledged version here. I am stuck in a Safari rut, I still like it and haven't really played around with other browsers but in the past I always used Firefox. I may have to just get this and give it a trial run. 

"This fall, I was lured to Panama. Friends who settled there a year ago had regularly regaled me, an avid traveler, with visions of a lively Latin city with nearby, unspoiled beaches bordered by jungle."

If you are traveling anytime soon, this article has some good tips for you, and references some handy websites to use to get organized. One of them, Gliider, is a pretty slick Firefox add-on that will also be coming out with an iPhone app in the first part of 2010. Unfortunately no Safari plug-in at this time or in the near future if at all according to what I've been able to ascertain. David Pogue also blogs about another app called Flight Track that helps him out in his travels. There are many options out there for travelers, what do you use to help you get from point a to point b and all points in between?

"Want to see something scary this Halloween? Like, perhaps, a browser that doesn't coddle you with all that silly stability and reliable performance? Feel like spending a little time on the bleeding edge? You too can taste the future (which, I am told, has a distinctive metallic tang) by downloading the first public beta of Firefox 3.6, now featured over at the Mozilla developer blog."

According to the official blog, "this beta version of the next version of Firefox is built on the Gecko 1.9.2 web rendering engine, containing many improvements for web developers, Add-on developers, and users." You can download your Windows or Mac OS X or Linux version here.

"We've been working hard to make sure Firefox 3.5 brings you the best of the modern web. With new features like private browsing, tear-off tabs and enhancements to the Awesome Bar, plus major performance enhancements, you'll enjoy life on the cutting edge."

You immediately notice the performance increase. If you don't, I suggest you buy a dog and a cane. It really is that dramatic.

I was happy to see tear-off tabs. That was one of my most used features in Safari and now I don't need Safari to get it. Overall, Firefox has been very good to me. As frustrating as it can be, it's my go-to browser when I need to get things done and has been for the last few months (after a brief time of using Safari exclusively).

Caveat: Some of your extensions may not work, but you already knew that!