Mozilla released an updated version of the Firefox browser, the application getting the most attention lately, version 1.0.1. The release includes several fixes to guard against spoofing and arbitrary code execution and changes designed to boost the stability of the browser.

The update includes several fixes to guard against spoofing and arbitrary code execution, and improves stability, said The Mozilla Foundation. The Mozilla Foundation said that it "encourages all users to download the update", that means the 25 million users to have already downloaded the 1.0 version of Firefox.

An unintended result of the IDN (International Domain Name) standard was that domain names can be registered with certain international characters, which look like other commonly-used characters, in order to mislead users into believing they are on a different, trusted site.

Instead of disabling IDN, Firefox settled for a temporary solution, where International Domain Names are displayed by the updated version as "punycode" by default so that spoofed websites are easier to spot. This isn't considered to be a permanent fix and some security specialist still recommends users to disable IDN.

Although the latest Firefox release is essentially a minor update users moving up to 1.0.1 are advised to uninstall 1.0 first, an installation snag that has been around since the early days of Firefox.

What else comes with the Firefox update? The Mozilla Foundation claims improved stability, and several security fixes.