Hi Tomflkeys. There are two different issues you are adressing:

1) How to use a Linux program you just downloaded

When you download a program / file, that doesn't mean it will be automatically installed, let alone be used. When you said you downloaded the latest version, I presume it was the following:

https://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-26.0&os=linux&lang=en-US

To use the downloaded file, open the folder where you saved it - by default, "Downloads" in your home folder. Right-click the file and then click on "Extract here". A new folder named "firefox" will be created. Open that folder, right-click on the file "firefox" and click "Open" (double-clicking might also do it).

Of course, this is pretty copious. I strongly recommend you install a new system, see (2).

2) Why your system doesn't have the latest firefox version

You seem to be using a very old operating system, Ubuntu 9.04 (from April 2009), which only offers Firefox 3.0.8 as the latest version. At least, that's what the automatic System Details of your question say:

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.0.8) Gecko/2009033100 Ubuntu/9.04 (jaunty) Firefox/3.0.8

This is not only cumbersome, it's a pretty bad security risk. I suggest you install a newer version of Ubuntu. The latest verion is 13.10, and the latest long-term support version is 12.04. Both of them will install the latest Firefox version (and lots of other programs), as well as the latest security patches.

To get more infos about them, you'll probably want to ask at askubuntu.com. You'll get a lot more useful information there.

You were right. I was using 9.10. I downloaded 12.04. I did the extract, but it looks like I am still using the 9.10 because if I go into the manager it says 9.10 How can I get rid of the 9.10 and start using the new 12.04? Thanks for your help in this.

Hi Tom,

it's hard to explain here and the savvy people won't be found (it's the firefox forum, after all), so I'll give you just an overview. The best place to ask woul be askubuntu.com.

You were trying to install the new syste, from within your running existing system. Ubuntu offers possibilities for that, but it's best done from "outside" the system:

a) it's not very popular to update the existing system to a big new version, because you'll always end up with remnants of old programs, old system components etc.
b) For your Ubuntu version, there are no more automatic updates, so it'll be quite difficult. I guess you're best off with long term support (LTS) versions because they get updates for 3 full years. There's a new LTS version every 2 years and the newest one is 12.04.

If you've already downloaded the iso file of your chosen version, burn it to a CD/DVD with a burning program (not just copy over the file). Put it in the drive and restart your computer, the installer will guide you through the rest. You'll want to save your data etc. somewhere else before reinstalling the system.

If you can't figure out where the data is, you'll probably need to copy over your home folder. It's hard to explain all that here, so as said, just ask at askubuntu.com how to migrate to a new version - you'll probably get a lot more tips about versions, distributions and the like. If you provide a link to your question there, we can have a loot at it.

The issue I have is similar. I run an old 9.04 ubuntu system. I cannot update it because (1) it is dangerous and I might end-up with an unusable computer, and (2) new systems change the GUI to the point that i can't use them.

Thus I want my old system. But i need a new firefox, since web-sites are fussy about old browers.

What I want, like others, are a list of the gotcha's and the directions on how to install a new firefox browser (and preferably keep my old browser about too for safety.)

Thanks, garyknott.

You can only install newer Firefox versions if you meet the System Requirements for that version.

It is not likely that you can install the latest Firefox release, so you will have to check what the latest version is for your Linux distribution.

• http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/26.0/system-requirements/
• http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/10.0.12/system-requirements/
• http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/3.6.28/system-requirements/
• http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/3.0.19/system-requirements/

All Firefox releases available here:

• https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/