Two days ago, Mozilla released the “12.0” version of their open source web browser, Firefox. Other than the bug fixes and a “less prompting” update procedure in Windows Vista and 7 (which was a bit hectic in the past, due to the “User Account Control” feature), it didn’t bring new major features (concerning most end-users).
However, it did include few improvements to the “developer tools” packages such as the: Web Console, Scratch-pad, Page inspector, Page Source viewer (now shows line numbers), Mac OS X users might experience a Web GL performance degrade (update: it seems to be fixed now) and few other minor details according to this Firefox 12 release notes page.
If you use Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (which was released yesterday, and looks pretty good BTW :D), then you must have received the Firefox 12.0 version through the “update manager’s” notifications.
However, if you use older versions of Ubuntu, then you might have to use the Mozilla Security PPA for properly updating Firefox.
So, if you use Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot, 11.04 Natty Narwhal and 10.04 (no packages for the “10.10” though), then you can install Firefox 12.0 by simply using the below commands in your Terminal window.
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-security/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install firefox
As mentioned, if you use Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin, then you should’ve received this update. But, if you’re unsure, then enter the below command to get the updates manually.
sudo apt-get install firefox
That’s it. Now you should have the most secured version of the Firefox web browser installed in your Ubuntu OS ;-). Enjoy!.
