As the Mozilla browser nears its 1.0 release, recent builds have proved incompatible with Adobe's SVG plugin, according to a bug recently filed on Mozilla.

Users have reported that recent "nightly" versions of the browser, expected to become part of AOL's software suite, crash when using Adobe's SVG plugin to display embedded SVG. The problem does not occur if displaying a standalone SVG file.

According to statements from Mozilla developers in the bug report, Adobe had used a "non-frozen" API for the plugin, which has now changed inside Mozilla. The fault, say the developers, is with Adobe. Interestingly, the bug does not affect the Acrobat plugin, as it uses the stable API from the Netscape 4.x series of browsers.

The bug has now been transferred to the "evangelism" category within the Mozilla team, in order to encourage Adobe to rectify the problem. The bug has been confirmed on Windows and Linux, and is likely to affect all platforms.

The Adobe SVG plugin has done a power of good for SVG adoption. It is to be hoped that they will quickly fix this problem for the Mozilla browser, especially as it is the browser of choice for many engaged in the promotion and development of open standards such as SVG.