[tor-qa] Tor Browser 4.5a5 is ready for testing

[Katya Titov]

Mike Perry:
> Tor Browser 4.5a5 is available at:
> https://people.torproject.org/~mikeperry/builds/4.5a5-build6/
> 
> This release will be the last alpha in the 4.5 series. We hope to
> release 4.5-stable in mid-April.

This is my first look at the 4.5 series ...

> Primarily, this release features improvements to the security slider
> to provide descriptions of the security levels and to make use of our
> new prefs to disable SVG and MathML.

I like the slider, but what's the rationale behind blocking JAR files?
If it is to stop execution by the browser (but Java is already blocked,
right?) then I would make this a default setting.

I like the "new circuit for site" and "network settings" options from
the onion icon.

> The release also features a new launcher for Linux that allows users
> to launch TBB from the desktop/file manager as well as from the shell
> (#13375), and it creates shortcuts to the desktop and start menu on
> Windows (#14688).
> 
> It also contains code to cause all window resizes to become rounded to
> 200x100 multiples (#14429), and has fixes for the circuit display UI.

I find this somewhat annoying as I have a small screen. Is it possible
to report a different size? (I think I remember a discussion that it's
not simple, but though it is worth asking.)

> Finally, it has code to try to avoid suddenly changing the circuit
> while a site is actively in use (#15482). That code in particular is
> in need of testing.

This is a nice feature!

>      * Bug 14324: Show HS circuit in Tor circuit display
>      * Bug 15086: Handle RTL text in Tor circuit display
>      * Bug 14937: Show meek and flashproxy bridges in tor circuit
>                   display
>      * Bugs 13891+15207: Fix exceptions/errors in circuit display
>                          with bridges

This circuit display is excellent! I still use Vidalia from time to
time, but this may be a good replacement.

>    * Bug 12468: Only print/write log messages if launched with --debug
>  * Windows

--debug works well!

Other regular tests all seem OK and it works with Torsocks. Nice job!

-- 
kat