Firefox 3.5 Available for Download

[encyclo]

It looks like Firefox 3.5 is released - the download is available on the mozilla.com site, although at the time of writing the release notes link goes to a 404.

I am posting this from 3.5, but the welcome screen for 3.5 was 404 too, I assume they are still rolling out the release pages and this will be fixed very soon :)

Download: [mozilla.com...]
Press release: [mozilla.com...]

[swa66]

That's good news: it'll add far more pre-CSS3 and (x)html 5 support in the mix for sure.

[developer.mozilla.org...]

[encyclo]

It's available via "Help > Check for Updates" too, let's hope that will help achieve a rapid replacement of the older version.

My first impressions are positive, HTTPS sites are handled much better in the address bar, and the privacy tools are useful. My biggest issues so far are that the tab bar is set as open by default (I quickly changed this), and that the all-in-one gestures extension is not compatible, which will probably drive me insane if it is not updated quickly (or unless I can find a replacement).

[Solution1]

Have just downloaded 3.5.

The new @font-face CSS drew my attention. It allows for referencing fonts not installed on users' machines, without a need to resort to sIFR or similar techniques. This is going to be interesting.

[weeks]

Good layman's overview of the new Firefox 3.5 to share with your clients with some useful links here:
[slate.com...]

[dreamcatcher]

Been using 3.5 for a few weeks now in various beta`s. Its much faster than v3.0 and so far hasn`t crashed once. A vast improvement.

dc

[sun818]

Has the "Awesome Bar" been a feature for some time now? I notice typing in keywords in the address bar will display history & bookmark entries. If you don't select one, FF3.5 will do a Google search and automatically go to the first organic SERP ("I'm Feeling Lucky"). This means even if SERP 2 is more relevant, it won't matter since the SERP 1 will be automatically visited. I wonder if this will make being SERP 1 that much more desirable.

[swa66]

automatically go to the first organic SERP

Firefox 3.0.x did this too.

[johnnie]

Now the pain of having to wait for the extension updates...

[dreamcatcher]

Now the pain of having to wait for the extension updates

Most of the extensions I had worked straight away with the Beta versions. Most extensions will probably work, but fail because of the version check.

dc

[brotherhood of LAN]

Updated just now.

Bing hasn't made it into the list of search engines available by default...

[badbadmonkey]

Color management, which worked fine in 3, has been totally ruined - I can't believe the idiots have released 3.5 with this bug unfixed!

[bugzilla.mozilla.org...]

Wait til 3.5.1 is the message. Great.

[mattur]

You can turn off Firefox's extension compatibility check:

1. Go into about:config
2. Right click New -> Boolean
3. Enter preference name: "extensions.checkCompatibility" (without quotes)
4. Value: False
5. Restart Firefox

Standard disclaimers apply, obviously this won't make an incompatible extension compatible... :) It just enables all extensions by default.

Encyclo: Current version of All-In-One Gestures appears to work OK in 3.5 when the compatibility check is turned off.

[weeks]

Bing hasn't made it into the list of search engines available by default...

Hmm. Interesting, but I guess not a surprise. Google has been the primary support for Firefox the last several years. Now, with Google launching it's Chrome browser, FF isn't likely push any demands on that relationship very hard.

[weeks]

Cnet is out with its review:
[download.cnet.com...]

I don't get this:

Using Google's tech, Firefox can pinpoint where you are so that in search queries, for example, you'll get the most locally relevant results first. Turning this off isn't difficult, either. Under about:config, search for "geo.enabled" and change True to False by double-clicking on it.

How? Where? Huh?

[civgroup]

just type about:config in the address bar and then search for that variable.

[vccubed]

Does the default installation include the "discovery links" zoom tool that is highlighting words on pages and allowing the pop up with the links?

[Gomvents]

When trying to log into AdWords I get this fun message:

"Support for Firefox 3.5 is coming soon. Until then, please use an earlier version of Firefox when viewing the new interface."

[moTi]

rarely seen something so half-baked as firefox 3.5.
heavy display bugs (scrolling, iframes, pngs). seems like a step back into long ago problems.
don't like it.

[vccubed]

All my new bookmarks are gone... I can't say how new is "new" but everything that I've organized and marked in probably the last 3 or 4 weeks is just gone from Mozilla now :/

[bill]

Wow. I thought I had enough problems with FF3.0.x.
I guess it would be prudent to wait on this upgrade.

[SwitchFX]

It's a bit buggy, I've got several extensions that are inoperable, this sucks.

Anyone know why my Firefox always locks up when my net connection decides to dump itself?

All my new bookmarks are gone... I can't say how new is "new" but everything that I've organized and marked in probably the last 3 or 4 weeks is just gone from Mozilla now :/

You'll want to download FoxMarks. Sorry bud.

[badbadmonkey]

Further to the issue about color management, here's the thread with Mozilla developers discussing this before releasing 3.5:
[forums.mozillazine.org ]

I'm still incredulous they've released something with a feature enabled by default which is BROKEN on many monitors. Unbelievable.

[born2run]

Very slow to launch. I dumped it and went back to 3.0

[encyclo]

Firefox 3.5 patch coming soon [theregister.co.uk]:

The open source browser maker also confirmed it would be bringing out version 3.5.1 soon to squash bugs its development team hadn’t managed to eradicate ahead of the launch.

Mozilla’s security patch is expected to rock up in the next few weeks. It will kill at least three bugs and “topcrashes” that remain present in the latest iteration of the popular Internet Explorer rival.

It appears they are holding back for marketing reasons, in that they want to claim "X million downloads" for 3.5 before switching to 3.5.1. :\

[badbadmonkey]

So the morons released a version they knew was full of bugs.

Sorry but I don't have much time for this sort of nonsense. What on earth were they thinking?

[bumpaw]

When trying to log into AdWords I get this fun message:

"Support for Firefox 3.5 is coming soon. Until then, please use an earlier version of Firefox when viewing the new interface."

AdWords opened fine for me today with FF 3.5

[encyclo]

So the morons released a version they knew was full of bugs.

This is hardly new in the world of software, of course - the marketing department fix a release date which is set in stone, the developers work hard to meet the deadline, and release their best effort on that day, no matter what. Then they quietly patch up the remaining bugs in updates over the following months. Early-adopters are always beta-testers ;)

AdWords opened fine for me today with FF 3.5

Google fixed this yesterday [adwords.blogspot.com].

[sun818]

Whatever they changed from 3.1 to 3.5 is good for me. I haven't experienced any random FF crashes like I did with 3.1. There all these claims about the browser being faster. Personally, I haven't noticed any improvements in speed. I can't complain though... I have my FF cache on a RAM disk, so it is already incredible fast!

[mattpone]

Ive been getting really annoyed with Firefox recently and so have all my colleagues - so thought the latest version would be a welcome solution, but no, my install of 3.5 doesnt even work! it comes up with an XML parse error? Fools!

Google Chrome it is then - just wish they would sort out the plug-ins and we can get cracking then!