Browser security has become a raging debate these days, with the myriad of plugins and extensions you can install on your computer to customize your internet experience. However plugins like Java, Silverlight, Flash etc. are powerful stuff that if found vulnerable can give hackers multiple attack points targeting a huge audience.
So what Mozilla is trying to do is trying to make plugin management as easy as managing extensions in Firefox is. Though the plugin check page is limited by what it can do at the moment, it will be fully utilized starting Firefox 3.6 to update plugins just like extensions do so now.
For now the scripts on the page will check for installed plugins and compare the version of the installed plugin with the latest version that is available. At the moment some of the plugins supported are (among others) Apple Quicktime, Shockwave Flash, Adobe Acrobat, Java, Silverlight, RealPlayer and Windows Media Player plugins.
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If you ever wondered why changing themes in Firefox was so time consuming, then Mozilla has got an answer for you. Mozilla has just released an extension called Personas that takes the pain out of changing the look of your Firefox. After a quick install you can change the look and feel of Firefox at the click of a button without having to restart the browser.
Personas is a prototype that builds upon the ideas that:
- themes today are too hard to find, install and use
- graphic designers should be able to style the browser without having to code
- browsers can be more than just desktop software, they can include online components
- people just want their computer to be a little more fun and personal