Firefox 7

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Albert Wiersch
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Re: Firefox 7

Post by Albert Wiersch »

Martin wrote:As far as I can tell we're still on FF8. Where did your 9 come from?
I'm not using 9 yet, but I read an article that the download was released.

My Firefox 8's are still saying they are up-to-date, but I suspect that will soon be changing.

This page lists some links where you can get Firefox 9 now (personally, I will just wait for the "auto-update" to start working)
http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/20 ... r-download

Here's the link to download Firefox 9 for Windows:
http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/products/d ... lang=en-US

What I'd like to see is a 64-bit version of Firefox... but I'm not aware of that being available yet.
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Lou
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Re: Firefox 9

Post by Lou »

One disadvantage of the new quick turnaround is ~ yesterday I downloaded 9.0 This morning I was notified of 9.0.1

I guess this confirms the old saw "When is the software ready? When is the deadline?" I hope FireFox doesn't adopt the old habits of microsoft, which seemed to be 'Ship it now, we can fix it later.'
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Re: Firefox 7

Post by Albert Wiersch »

Yes, I was a little surprised (but not too surprised) too see 9.0.1 out already too. I wonder what version they will be on by the end of next year. 9.0.2 is probably due out today, and I just updated to 9.0.1. :)

It just occurred to me.. another program that seems 'crazy' on updates is iTunes. It seems it's always telling me a new version is available, but I quit trying to constantly update to the latest versions because it seemed like more of a waste of time than anything else, but of course I do update iTunes occasionally.
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Re: Firefox 7

Post by MikeGale »

I also find that 8.0.1 is not yet trying to force an update.

8.0.1 was apparently a fix for problems (especially Mac) on the 0.0 version.

The same pattern seems have happened with 9.0.0 going to ...1 within about a day.

This makes me wonder how thoroughly they are testing before release. A very quick release cycle will increase the risk of shortcuts!

I see that Chrome is about level with FF among some audiences...
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Re: Firefox 7

Post by MikeGale »

Here's an interesting development.

A second version with an annual release cycle

http://j.mp/w6JWZN
http://j.mp/zZsWqS

I wouldn't want to be developing that browser. Could be a coding nightmare!
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Re: Firefox 7

Post by Martin »

Another piece of 'software' that is doing this is WordPress. They realesed version 3 and in no time they had an update. Hope this is just a one time affair and they are not going to follow FF and Itunes.
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Re: Firefox 7

Post by Albert Wiersch »

MikeGale wrote:Here's an interesting development.

A second version with an annual release cycle

http://j.mp/w6JWZN
http://j.mp/zZsWqS

I wouldn't want to be developing that browser. Could be a coding nightmare!
Interesting. This quote stood out to me:
The first ESR will be released in April, along with Firefox 10, while the next will be made available in the spring of 2013 when Firefox 17 is planned.
Wow... Firefox 17 already planned for release a little over a year from today. :shock:

I guess it might not be so bad if it didn't wreak havoc with add-ons, but it seems that it does.

One of my tech friends switched to Chrome, and so far he's pretty happy with it, and switching those who he helps with computers to Chrome too. Even though Chrome has frequent updates, they seem to manage to do it in a much less disruptive manner.

I'm still using Firefox as I'm use to it and using some features that I don't think Chrome has, but I still run into issues where Firefox slowly eats (or leaks) memory and has to be restarted. I suspect this is more related to some memory leaks in the scripts in some of the web pages I keep open than actual leaks/bugs in Firefox.
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Re: Firefox 7

Post by Brent1 »

Albert Wiersch wrote: Wow... Firefox 17 already planned for release a little over a year from today. :shock:

I guess it might not be so bad if it didn't wreak havoc with add-ons, but it seems that it does....

I'm still using Firefox as I'm use to it and using some features that I don't think Chrome has, but I still run into issues where Firefox slowly eats (or leaks) memory and has to be restarted. I suspect this is more related to some memory leaks in the scripts in some of the web pages I keep open than actual leaks/bugs in Firefox.
Glad I found this thread. I've been wondering what's been going on with Firefox and all the updated versions.

I stopped updating versions sometime in 2010 when it started having issues with eating memory. Even though I have 2 Gigs of mem, it was eating memory all the way down to zero! :shock: That's when I reverted back to an earlier version and didn't update for about a year for fear that the updated versions would keep eating up more and more memory.

By chance, I allowed my laptop to update to the 3.6.24 just to test it out to see if it was still eating memory, and when it didn't seem to be too bad, I allowed my desktop (main computer) to be updated to that also. So far so good, but I still notice memory leaks (like Albert mentioned above) when I have a lot of tabs open.

Good to know about the Google toolbar and FF5. I'll stay away from that version. I, too, use only a few add-ons, but they are useful add-ons for me which I don't think that other browsers would be compatible with.

If you ask me, all these updates in one year looks a bit suspicious. This is one thread that I'll make a note of to keep revisiting from time to time to keep up with whatever develops. Thanks guys.
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Re: Firefox 7

Post by MikeGale »

I was looking at the Firefox roadmap for 2012. http://j.mp/xH2GFy

Looks as though add-ons may start working again by mid year. (Without the additional steps we've talked about here!)

The sooner the better. I hope release 11 does it!
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Re: Firefox 7

Post by Albert Wiersch »

The roadmap looks good. I am still using Firefox because it works well enough and I don't have any significant problems with it for my own use, but one of my tech friends has decided he likes Chrome better than Firefox. He tried it out a while back and is still using it (which means it must be pretty good!), and now recommending Chrome to those who ask.

Addressing the add-on problem (with Firefox and upgrades) would definitely be a major step forward. The only "important" add-on I use is Adblock Plus, and I don't recall having issues with that when I've upgraded Firefox.
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Re: Firefox 7

Post by MikeGale »

I recently saw an analysis of "market share". It placed Chrome and Firefox about level.

Such things are often not good fits for your own traffic but it does indicate a general trend.

I just did a quick analysis of a few days on a site, to check some "own traffic". (Doesn't include other user agents.)

I got:
Firefox 10.6%
Chrome 9.7%
IE 49.9%
Safari 29.8%
Opera 0%

(This is not a huge sample but it gives some idea!)

Confirms that Firefox and Chrome are similar.
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Re: Firefox 7

Post by MikeGale »

Just seen how Firefox 11 installs.

It threw up a whole string of pages / tabs, seemingly one for each add-on.

There's a tick box on each to enable it. (I missed that at first.)

Not a big usability win. Especially as there seems to be no detail describing each add-on. For example what is a Java Quick Starter. Is it needed to run Java at all? Does it just pre-load Java? No detail so a bit user hostile.

Hope this isn't a broken 0.0 version!
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Re: Firefox 7

Post by Albert Wiersch »

MikeGale wrote:Just seen how Firefox 11 installs.

It threw up a whole string of pages / tabs, seemingly one for each add-on.
Interesting. I didn't have any issues with the Firefox 11 update, though that could be because I am running different and/or fewer add-ons.
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Re: Firefox 7

Post by MikeGale »

I also have the "Ignore expired add-ons" add-on installed. It's officially called the "Add-on compatibility reporter"! It might have had an impact on what happens. If others aren't getting the mini flood of new tabs, that might explain the difference.
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Re: Firefox 7

Post by atomicforex »

I'm surprised anyone still uses Firefox when there is Google Chrome for instance.
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