Mozilla embarrassed by Firefox 9 crashes

Mozilla has released an update for Firefox 9 on 21 December after backing out a bug fix that was causing some Mac, Linux and Windows browsers to crash.

Although Mozilla did not specify in 9.0.1’s release notes why it needed to re-release the browser, developers said that the update was prompted by crash reports, primarily from Mac users, although the Linux and Windows versions were also affected.

"We built Firefox 9.0.1 with bug 708572 backed out," said Alex Keybl, an engineering project manager on Mozilla’s release team, on Bugzilla yesterday , "We’ve pushed Firefox 9.0.1 for all platforms. Although we think Windows is mostly unaffected, we still decided to move forward with Windows->9.0.1."

Bugzilla is Mozilla’s change- and bug-tracking database.

To fix the problem — which caused crashes when users ran certain add-on toolbars, including one distributed by the Dallas Cowboys NFL team — Mozilla’s developers removed a patch that had been applied earlier.

This is not the first time Mozilla has had problems with its hectic bimonthly release schedule. On 21 November
the company shipped Firefox 8.0.1 to deal with a high number of crashes on Mac OS X. The crashes were traced to an Apple update of Java earlier that month.

Users who upgraded to Firefox 9 in the time between its release and 9.0.1’s can update to the latter by choosing "About Firefox" from the Firefox menu (Mac) or "About Firefox" from the Help menu under the Firefox button (Windows), then approving the new version’s installation after it downloads.

It’s been a mixed month for Firefox. Figures from Web statistics firm StatCounter have found the browser slip behind Google’s Chrome in the world rankings. On the other hand, a deal just signed with the search giant will net Mozilla $300 million a year to keep its search engine as the Firefox default.

IDG News Service

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