This isn't exactly about security - not yet anyway - but at some point in the future it might be when vulnerabilities are discovered. Read on...
Ever visited a site in Firefox only to discover you can't view the content because it requires Windows Media Player? It's frustrating, particularly since Web developers aren't taking into consideration diverse platforms. For example, Netflix has a fantastic service. You probably know that you can order movies on DVD at their site and get them sent to you pronto. But did you know that you can also watch movies online? You can, and it's a great feature. I've used it several times and really like it. But, you can't use Firefox because Netflix online movie viewing depends on Windows Media Player. So you have to use Internet Explorer. The same hold true for major news sites, and even some independent sites that sometimes provide security-related videocasts.
Well, the days not being able to use Firefox for viewing content in Windows Media Player are about to be gone - as soon as you load the new plugin from Microsoft. That's right, Microsoft developed a Windows Media Player Plugin for Firefox. You can load it on 32-bit ad 64-bit versions Vista and XP with SP2. Head over to Microsoft's Port 25 site where the company's "open source lab" has made the plugin available for download.
So now that the plugin is available that's one more thing to keep in mind when managing security for Firefox on your network. Sooner or later someone is going to try to exploit it.
