Firefox 3.5.3 leads 10 million people to download Flash

In addition to fixing 43 bugs (nine critical), Firefox 3.5.3 warns users if they are using outdated versions of Adobe's Flash Player. Mozilla simply tossed a notice up on Firefox's update page to inform people who might be using old versions of Flash unknowingly. That decision reportedly lead about 10 million users to download up-to-date software from Adobe's website.

Mozilla chairperson Mitchell Baker called the surge a "very high response rate," in a blog post Wednesday. Baker said that the percentage of people viewing the notification, and then following the link to update Flash is about 30%. She added that a typical response is about 5% -- so naturally six times that number is quite the reaction.

Mozilla may notify users about other expired plug-ins in future versions of Firefox, and the fact that people have been receptive so far is "encouraging" according to Baker.