Mozilla Firefox 3 Beta 4

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03-13-2008, 02:19 AM
dsr

Mozilla Firefox 3 Beta 4

I normally wait for final releases, but I decided to download and install Firefox 3 Beta 4 yesterday. I guess I gave in because of the numerous performance tweaks in Beta 4 and the fact that I had heard Firefox 3 uses native Aqua widgets on Mac OS X. I am really glad I installed it. This beta is much faster than Firefox 2, feels faster than Safari 3, is certainly more stable than Safari 3 with Sogudi installed, and looks awesome out of the box. It won me over within minutes, and it is now my default browser. I can't wait until the main release.
03-13-2008, 02:27 AM
Replicon

So it crashes less frequently, starts up quickly, and feels less bloated than stupid FF 2 was? :D
03-13-2008, 02:36 AM
ninja9578

I heard that it uses native widgets, are they doing that for Windows and Ubuntu too? I use it on Ubuntu, if it outperforms Safari then I'll use it on my Mac too.
03-13-2008, 03:47 AM
dsr

Quote:

Originally Posted by Replicon

So it crashes less frequently, starts up quickly, and feels less bloated than stupid FF 2 was? :D

¡Sí señor! (and there ends my knowledge of español)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninja9578

I heard that it uses native widgets, are they doing that for Windows and Ubuntu too?

Not that I know of, but XUL has always looked fine on Windows and X environments.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninja9578

I use it on Ubuntu, if it outperforms Safari then I'll use it on my Mac too.

I don't have any concrete benchmarks, but it seems at least as fast if not faster than Safari. Assuming that's true, you might as well switch to Firefox since Safari doesn't really have anything else going for it: Gecko has better compatibility than WebKit, Firefox is much easier to extend, you can customize the appearance with themes if you're into that kind of thing, etc.
03-29-2008, 12:55 AM
L815

They also improved the look on vista. Looks great now :D

Too bad not many plugins work yet :/
03-29-2008, 04:29 AM
Man of Steel

I got it for Vista, and I really like it so far. Hoping for more theme support soon, though. I do like the default theme better than earlier versions of Firefox, though.
04-02-2008, 08:05 PM
Adam

Beta 5 has been released :)
04-02-2008, 09:04 PM
Goldney

Indeed it has. I am currently using it. I'd say it was slightly faster. I like the new design scheme.
04-02-2008, 09:09 PM
wasup

I have no idea how to install beta 5 on my linux :P
I unzip the folder, but there is nothing to "install." I think I need to compile it on my own... in which case I'll just wait until they finish it.
04-02-2008, 09:25 PM
Adam

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goldney

Indeed it has. I am currently using it. I'd say it was slightly faster. I like the new design scheme.

I seem to have some standard light blue theme, is this the one you have?
04-02-2008, 09:27 PM
Ynot

Quote:

Originally Posted by wasup

I have no idea how to install beta 5 on my linux :P
I unzip the folder, but there is nothing to "install." I think I need to compile it on my own... in which case I'll just wait until they finish it.

Beta 3 is in the Gutsy backports repository
but if you want beta 4 or 5, you'll have to roll your own for now
04-02-2008, 10:19 PM
Goldney

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam

I seem to have some standard light blue theme, is this the one you have?

Nope, multi-coloured.
04-02-2008, 10:43 PM
dsr

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam

Beta 5 has been released :)

Awesome, thanks. I just upgraded.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wasup

I have no idea how to install beta 5 on my linux :P
I unzip the folder, but there is nothing to "install." I think I need to compile it on my own... in which case I'll just wait until they finish it.

You can download the source tarball here. The build instructions are relatively straightforward, assuming you are comfortable with the command-line. If you aren't, I seriously suggest that you learn to use it. The command-line won't take very long to pick up, and it will be well worth the effort.
04-03-2008, 01:09 AM
Taosaur

Just picked it up--that's fast! :cactus:
04-03-2008, 12:25 PM
Identity X

Having recently installed the (brilliant) Ubuntu 8.04 Beta 2, to be honest the first thing I did was uninstall Firefox 3 and reinstall Firefox 2. The only reason you'd ever want to use Firefox over other browsers is for extensions, yet very few of these support Firefox 3, so what's the point?
04-03-2008, 09:09 PM
dsr

What do you prefer about Opera? As far as I can tell, it's proprietary software and offers nothing important that Firefox doesn't.
04-03-2008, 10:21 PM
Identity X

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsr

What do you prefer about Opera? As far as I can tell, it's proprietary software and offers nothing important that Firefox doesn't.

First of all, that it is proprietary software does not bother me. I can understand why it bothers others, but I don't care. So that's not a disadvantage to me - I'll never look at Firefox's source let alone modify it - I don't need that freedom.

I prefer Opera's GUI. The side panel where you can stick mini versions of websites and the like. The integrated IRC client (Chatzilla isn't integrated; it's a seperate window), e-mail client, refined tab system (true MDI (you can cascade windows, view two side-by-side very useful), the fact that you can maximise and restore tabs from seperate window back to tabs, the graphical preview when you hover over tabs, the bin where you can retrieve closed tabs for later (yes, you can do that in Firefox but it's well hidden)). The fact that you can search from within the address bar, without need for keywords (my address bar functions as one big YubNub command line), the integrated notepad, the excellent integrated download manager (not some crappy minimalist window (FF2)) with transparent BitTorrent support. The fact that this is "out of the box" without need to go trawling for extensions. The responsiveness. Speed dial. Mouse gestures out of the box. Session management (that predates and exceeds much functionality of FF3's offering).

Is that enough? Sure, you may be able to argue that some of those are doable in Firefox. But not all of them, at least without having a bucketful of extensions. I used Firefox for a long time, and thought it was good. I still use it - but only for smut. But Opera is so much better. Have you ever used Opera in any serious capacity, at all?
04-03-2008, 10:27 PM
wasup

how's ubuntu 8.04?
04-03-2008, 10:32 PM
Identity X

Quote:

Originally Posted by wasup

how's ubuntu 8.04?

Last version I used was 7.04, so 8.04 is really good, if not a radical departure. But I can't point out any huge changes or any particular reasons why its better. You need to download the Compiz Fusion graphical configuration tool to make it your own though - its in Synaptic and for some reason isn't default.

Tbh, only reason I downloaded it was that 7.04 did not support my wireless key and had a crappy network manager, and 7.10 was not supported by Wubi.
04-04-2008, 12:13 AM
dsr

Quote:

Originally Posted by Identity X

But Opera is so much better. Have you ever used Opera in any serious capacity, at all?

I haven't tried Opera seriously, and I have no specific criticisms of it (other than the aforementioned fact that it's proprietary software). I know you've advocated it over Firefox in the past, and I was interested to learn why.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Identity X

First of all, that it is proprietary software does not bother me. I can understand why it bothers others, but I don't care. So that's not a disadvantage to me - I'll never look at Firefox's source let alone modify it - I don't need that freedom.

Fair enough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Identity X

I prefer Opera's GUI. The side panel where you can stick mini versions of websites and the like. The integrated IRC client (Chatzilla isn't integrated; it's a seperate window), e-mail client, refined tab system (true MDI (you can cascade windows, view two side-by-side very useful), the fact that you can maximise and restore tabs from seperate window back to tabs, the graphical preview when you hover over tabs, the bin where you can retrieve closed tabs for later (yes, you can do that in Firefox but it's well hidden)). The fact that you can search from within the address bar, without need for keywords (my address bar functions as one big YubNub command line), the integrated notepad, the excellent integrated download manager (not some crappy minimalist window (FF2)) with transparent BitTorrent support. The fact that this is "out of the box" without need to go trawling for extensions. The responsiveness. Speed dial. Mouse gestures out of the box. Session management (that predates and exceeds much functionality of FF3's offering).

You can do most of that with Firefox, but like you said, a lot requires extensions. Firefox's implementation of keyword searching is sufficient for me (and I doubt I could live without it), but using YubNub as a replacement looks awesome. Its extra capability definitely seems to outweigh its lack of customizability. However, the differences in default tab behavior between the two browsers doesn't matter to me because the only thing I do with tabs is create them and close them. I control my browser almost entirely from the keyboard, and any time spent using a mouse or trackpad is a loss in productivity. By the way, the download manager was greatly improved for Firefox 3. I guess I'll continue to use Firefox for its simpler GUI, and you'll continue to use Opera for its richness in out-of-the-box features.