Although Mozilla has released versions of both its Firefox browser and Thunderbird mail client, the IT Division is waiting until full production versions of the 1.5 releases are available. Division staff will then thoroughly test the browsers to identify any potential problems before they are recommended as the Lab’s standard browser.

However, for employees who would like to start using either browser now, evaluation copies of earlier versions with Lab-developed installer packages are available from the Lab’s software download page.

“We would only recommend using the evaluation copy if you are comfortable doing this kind of work yourself or if you have desktop support assigned to your group,” said Charlie Verboom, head of desktop computer support in the IT Division. “In the meantime, we are recommending a security upgrade to the current supported version of the Mozilla browser/email client.”

If you are running anything less current than Mozilla 1.7.12, you should consider updating to the most current version. To determine which version you are using, while in your browser, click the Help Menu and then "About Mozilla."

However, after reading through the steps below, if you do not have confidence that you can do this yourself, the IT Division recommends against updating your Mozilla browser at this time.

If you need to update, do the following:

1. Click here and under the Download Now header in the light green box, select the appropriate version for your computer.
2. Download the new version to your desktop
3. Run the executable, which installs the new version

An automatic setting in the updated version of Mozilla 1.7.12 disables access to the central email server (it does not keep the SSL connection enabled). The problem can be fixed by going through these steps:

If you have any questions or need help, contact contact the IT Help Desk at x4357 (H-E-L-P) or help@lbl.gov.