14 DAY TRIAL // Mozilla has just released an update for its Firefox browser that includes fixes for a critical page loading bug discovered on Windows after installing version 58.
Officially released earlier this month, Mozilla Firefox 58 introduced a series of improvements, including patches for the infamous Meltdown and Spectre security vulnerabilities disclosed in the first days of January.
But as many Windows users found out after updating to the latest version, loading pages in the browser often failed for a reason that could not be determined, making it impossible to run the browser on Microsoft’s desktop operating system.
According to bug reports, the issue even affected local pages, with Firefox displaying nothing else than a blank page on systems where this problem has been reported.
Mozilla Firefox 58.0.1 now available
Version 58.0.1 specifically addresses the bug, as Mozilla explains in the official release notes for Windows:
“When using certain non-default security policies on Windows (for example with Windows Defender Exploit Protection or Webroot security products), Firefox 58.0 would fail to load pages.”
What’s important to know, however, is that there still are two known bugs on Windows, and one of them concerns Firefox users running the browser over a Remote Desktop Connection. Mozilla says in such cases there’s a chance audio playback is disabled because of the increased security restrictions.
Furthermore, the company says that on some screen readers, users could experience performance issues, and for the time being, the only workaround is to switch to Firefox ESR until a fix is offered in an upcoming update.
Linux and Mac versions of the new Firefox release also include bug fixes and performance improvements.
You can download Firefox 58.0.1 for Windows, Linux, and Mac from Softpedia right away, and it goes without saying that users of Microsoft’s desktop operating system are the ones who should consider updating a priority given the bug described above.
