Users expect their Web browsers to work rather than crash or break functionality -- especially after they update to a newer, supposedly better, version.

Yet that's what happened with Mozilla's Firefox 2.0.0.8 update, released two weeks ago. In addition to providing fixes for old security issues, it introduced new problems, which Mozilla has addressed in Firefox 2.0.0.9.

But none of the fixes in Firefox 2.0.0.9 is related to security, which is a first for the open source company. Instead, the update addresses a smattering of serious issues, among the most critical of which triggers a crash on startup for some Windows XP and Vista users.

Another bug addressed in the update upholds Firefox's promise to install add-ons or extensions. According to the Bugzilla report, add-ons or extensions do not update or install upon a Firefox restart, despite promises to do so. This results in the add-on or extension no longer working.

The 2.0.0.9 release also restores Java functionality to Windows Vista users who had been left with "Java Not Found" or "Java Not Working" messages after updating to 2.0.0.8.

The Firefox 2.0.0.9 release is the eighth point release issued by the open source Mozilla Foundation in 2007, and it is unclear whether it will be the last.

While Mozilla continues to service its millions of 2.x browser users with security and stability updates, work also continues on its next-generation Firefox 3 browser, which is expected in 2008.