Mozilla is hard at work on the next version of Firefox, and the latest alpha builds include out-of-process support for plugins.

“Plugins such as Flash and Silverlight run in a separate process from the browser. If a plugin crashes it will not crash the browser, and unresponsive plugins are automatically restarted” said an announcement from Mozilla.

Currently, out-of-process support is only available on Windows and Linux versions, with Mac support still under development. This is only the first step, with each tab also expected to be moved to it’s own process in time, much like rivals Internet Explorer and Chrome have already done.

You can download the new test version of Firefox from the Mozilla Developer News Blog.

Mozilla appears to have let it’s guard down, with a Firefox add-on that included a Trojan that could allow remote access to a users PC.

Two add-ons were affected; Master Filer which was infected with a password-stealing Trojan called Win32.LdPinch.gen, and Sothink Web Video Downloader which was infected with a backdoor Trojan called Win32.Bifrose.32.Bifrose.

Mozilla has issued a statement:

“If a user installs one of these infected add-ons, the trojan would be executed when Firefox starts and the host computer would be infected by the trojan. Uninstalling these add-ons does not remove the trojan from a user’s system. Users with either of these add-ons should uninstall them immediately. Since uninstalling these extensions does not remove the trojan from a user’s system, an antivirus program should be used to scan and remove any infections.”

Mozilla believe only 4,600 people are infected after downloading these add-ons.

How these add-ons made it online is unknown, as Mozilla scans all add-ons for viruses before they are approved. Mozilla now plans on using two different malware detection tools to try and stop this issue from reoccurring in the future.

As announced yesterday, Mozilla have released Firefox 3.6 right as expected at 9:30 PST.

Firefox includes many new features, including:

• Support for a new type of theme called Personas
• Checks for out-of-date plugins
• Full screen support for HTML5 <video> tags
• More HTML5 element support
• Improved JavaScript speed and stability
• Plus more

A full list of changes in Firefox 3.6 can be found in the release notes.

Mozilla have also released a 2 minute video showing some of these new features.

Firefox 3.6 can be downloaded from the Firefox website, or current Firefox users can go to the Help menu and select Check for Updates.

Mozilla has pushed out a second release candidate for Firefox 3.6.

The update is said to close a security flaw, of which very little details are available.

Current Firefox 3.6 testers will receive the update automatically, or it can be downloaded from the Firefox Beta website.

Firefox 3.6 final was expected today, but is now expected on January 26th.

Mozilla has pushed out Firefox 3.6 Release Candidate 1 (RC1). This means the browser now contains the final set of changes and new features, and will now only concentrate on bugs that would stop the browser from being released.

Firefox 3.6 RC1 fixes almost 100 bugs since Beta 5, but there are no other new features in this release.

A list of new features in Firefox 3.6 can be found in the release notes, while the release candidate can be downloaded from the Firefox Beta website.

Firefox 3.6 is now just 1-2 weeks away from final release.

Mozilla have pushed out two updates for Firefox 3.5 and Firefox 3.

The updates are merely bug fixes, resolving issues that could crash the browser. A full list of changes can be found in the Firefox 3.5.7 and Firefox 3.0.17 release notes.

The updates will be pushed out to existing Firefox users, or can be downloaded manually from the Firefox website.

Firefox Mobile RC 1 (formerly known as Fennec) is now available for Nokia’s Maemo mobile platform.

This includes devices such as the Nokia N900 and N810.

Firefox Mobile is essentially Firefox 3.5 under the hod, with a new graphical user interface for the mobile device. This means that you get the same rendering engine (supporting some HTML5 elements), the awesome bar, spell check, and a download manager.

Currently available in over 15 languages, an updated Windows Mobile version is expected in a few weeks.

A full list of changes can be found in the release notes, while the browser can be downloaded from the Firefox Mobile website.

Developer versions are also available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Mozilla contributor Stephen Horlander is still hard at work, sharing his ideas for a revamped Windows 7 theme for Firefox 4.0.

According to Horlander, the expected Firefox facelift is now solely expected in Firefox 4, and not gradually through Firefox 3.7 and Firefox 4.0.

In this revision, the Application button (marked #1 on the mockup above) has been reworked to incorporate the new Windows 7 single button menus, already present in Paint and Wordpad on Windows 7.

Work has also been done on the toolbar and location bar.

More mockups and information can be found on Horlanders blog post.

Current Firefox users can download the Strata40 Firefox Theme, which gives the browser a similar appearance.

And just when we were hoping to see Firefox 3.6 before Christmas, Mozilla has pushed out another beta release for the browser.

This update fixes over 100 bugs from the last beta, and is an automatic update for current Firefox 3.6 Beta users.

Firefox 3.6 final is now not expected before early 2010.

A full list of changes can be found in the release notes, while the Firefox 3.6 Beta can be found below:

– Download Firefox 3.6 Beta 5 for Windows
– Download Firefox 3.6 Beta 5 for Mac
– Download Firefox 3.6 Beta 5 for Linux

Mozilla have pushed out updates to users of Firefox 3 and 3.5. The updates include several security and stability fixes.

Firefox 3.5.6 fixes 3 critical, 1 high, 2 moderate, and 1 low level security vulnerabilities.

Firefox 3.0.16 fixes 1 critical, 1 high, 2 moderate, and 1 low level security vulnerabilities.

A full list of changes can be found in the Firefox 3.5.6 and Firefox 3.0.16 release notes.

The update will be pushed out to existing users, or can be downloaded from the Firefox website.