Firefox 6 is here

How fast can you increment versions?

[johnnie]

[technobolt.com...]

It seems like FF 6 is upon is. Weren't we at version 4 two months ago? What's going on here? Did they change their versioning system? Are they trying to beat IE to version 10?

[jecasc]

Are they trying to beat IE to version 10?

Could be. Seems they are releasing any update with a new version now to catch up with other Browsers.

Reminds me of a computer magazine subscription I had a few years back. Magazine A would suddenly release the February edition a few days earlier in the last week of January. Then magazine B released its next edition a few days earlier and so on. The December editions then were already released at the end of October.

[tristanperry]

Yep, they've adopted the 'new' (i.e. rubbish and highly misleading) way of versioning software now.

It's pretty much 1-2 half-decent changes and a new version number.

[engine]

Here's the download page, for anyone that wants to try the beta.

[mozilla.com...]

[JAB Creations]

I file a few (er, many) bugs and honestly Mozilla is on some serious drugs.

They have actually threatened to cancel my Bugzilla account to prevent the Go button from being fixed and reimplemented. My goal of course was to make it easier for people to use Firefox which has become the enemy of all goals of Mozilla employees now work hard against.

Mozilla is doing two things...

1.) They are copying Google Chrome.

2.) They are making the browser more difficult to use.

The expedited release schedule is to emulate Chrome.

Also the retarded button placement (you know how all the fine porcelain Graphic User Interface items have been moved around with the grace of a tornado) is because Mozilla was trying to emulate the total complete and undeniable GUI failure known as Internet Explorer 9 which is less customizable than Safari, an Apple product. I've had numerous people complain that they refused to update Firefox because the default GUI has become absolutely horrid and naturally people don't want to figure out how to fix something, they want it to be good by default and do what they need to do.

There are so many tech articles covering how Mozilla employees are absolutely clueless as to what to do with the browser it's sad.

I've actually seriously considered putting together a fixed up version of Firefox so you don't have to waste hours trying to have a normal browsing experience.

The only way to save Firefox is to get rid of Mozilla or the anti-design minimalists in Mozilla who are working hard to destroy our browser.

- John

[danwhitehouse]

I have to apologise but it drives me crazy the way they update so often. I really think that it's a good idea to create a major release every 6 months to a year. I've actually moved away from FF because all my plugins become redundant after a few weeks and then update again.

Either way, will give it a go but Chrome is the way forward now.

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

I like my current firefox browser and it works just fine, thanks.

[J_RaD]

Yep, they've adopted the 'new' (i.e. rubbish and highly misleading) way of versioning software now.

it seems after version 4 they lost their minds.

Either way, will give it a go but Chrome is the way forward now.

if you like a browser that spy's on you.

[engine]

It seems they are rolling this out as a final stable release.

[thedonald123]

I'm not moving from Firefox 4. I rely on the drop-down Google Bookmarks which is part of the Google toolbar and since Google has abandoned the Firefox version of their toolbar, I'm stuck. Can't update without having to relearn where all the buttons are. Frankly I'm too busy to try keep up with all this new gui cr*p.

[J_RaD]

reinventing the wheel

[Hester]

Yes the new versioning system is a joke. As for the GUI, I know I had to restore a button or two when going from 4 to 5, but it was fairly easy.

[keyplyr]

Cleaned-up archaic Java Console pluggin but otherwise a smooth upgrade.

[Hester]

Now there's Thunderbird 6!

[graeme_p]

SRWare Iron has all the Google stuff removed, and Chromium does not have most of it.

Then there are lots of light webkit based browsers around now. I am thinking of trying Midori or Epiphany seriously again. The problem is trying to replace the functionality of the 14 Firefox extensions I use.

[johnnie]

Ladies and gentlemen. Believe it or not...

Introducing the development version of firefox version 8 (EIGHT). Check out the nightly builds at [nightly.mozilla.org...]

Who knows, they might fix the memory leaks this time around...

[linkbuildr]

No way...that memory leak is here to stay! :)

[frontpage]

It is amazing that a thread dedicated to a new release of Firefox brings out comments about Chrome -- or as I like to call it Google Spyware™.

Have iS3 anti-spyware (STOPzilla)?

We've identified an incompatibility with Google Chrome and outdated versions of iS3 anti-spyware (STOPzilla). You may try disabling or updating to the latest version to see if it resolves your issue.

Have Hide My IP?

We've identified an incompatibility with Google Chrome and Hide My IP and are currently investigating. You may try temporarily disabling this software to see if it resolves your issue.

The google marketing of Chrome has been effective to the point that their is a near Apple cult mentality developing over it.

At least Firefox gives users the semblance of independence from the G juggernaut.

[rj87uk]

I don't like how the latest versions of Firefox are not compatible with Google Toolbar. I have put off updating my firefox browser at home and I am considering switching to Chrome which I don't fancy at the moment.

[Fotiman]

Personally, I like the more rapid release schedule, which they seem to have adopted from Chrome. It means that updates will be released quicker, and in smaller incremental chunks. Because each release will contain less, there will be less chance of something breaking, and incrementally better browsers will be available more quickly.

Chrome is my browser of choice because of it's speed, but also because I don't need to kill the entire browser when one tab stops working. People who call it spyware are typically just repeating rumors and incorrect stories without merit and are therefore just exacerbating the rumors. Most of which I think stems from the auto-suggest search feature, which you also have in Firefox's search box (it's just that Google integrates the search and address bar into one). Honestly, I wouldn't care if Google knows where I visit. Do you ever stop to think that your ISP knows where you visit? Do you care?

In any case, Firefox is still my #2 browser, and still #1 for development/debugging. Nothing beats Firebug (though the Developer Tools in Chrome come close). Firefox has been dethroned as the #2 browser (by Chrome) and I hope the aggressive release schedules continue to push browser innovations.

[frontpage]

Google Chrome by its very definition is Spyware.

Reasons?

1) Google tracks your search and IP which which you logged that request from Chrome.

2) Google Never destroys search and IP data.

3) Google uses a 30 year cookie to track users.

[Fotiman]

frontpage, you should read Matt Cutt's blog post from 2008 [mattcutts.com] rather than making accusatory statements without providing any actual data to back up what you're saying. From what you're saying, www.google.com is also Spyware (regardless of browser).

[Alanhbush]

Agrees with the comments about Firefox...I never update because it's 9 times out of 10 worse that the previous one. I'm still using FF3.8 or something. Mostly because last time I updated, some of my more commonly used toolbars and extensions didn't work. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Also I don't get why emulating a browser that is consistently buggy and not as intuitive like Chrome is the way to go. Granted, Chrome runs much faster and takes up less room, but I wouldn't sacrifice the functionality for these variables.

[whatson]

Is it possible to download the google TB for FF 6?

[tangor]

FF has been good to me... then again, I rarely have more than two tabs open at any time (I'm a simple kind of guy). I have no problems with their versioning numbers, as long as the updates are quality and maintain usage.

[graeme_p]

@Fotiman, FF has run plugins out of process for more than a year, and that solves the major cause of tabs crashing.

It does tend to slow to a halt if left running for a long time - a day with heavy usage, more with light usage. My heavy usage is very heavy (20-30 tabs at a time, all day with 14 extension installed).

You do use more memory with process per tab, and I believe this is more of a problem with Windows than *nix OSes.

[sem4u]

My FF5 automatically updated to FF6 when I started it up this morning. This did not happen with previous versions.

[graeme_p]

I got the reminder. I find it annoying that the Linux version of Firefox asks you to update it, when it is not clear whether that is the right thing to do on Linux - updates on Linux should generally take place through the usual update system, not a special one for FF. Of course FF may just the triggering an update the right way, but how do I know BEFORE running it?

I ran and update and it updated the right way anyway.

[Hester]

Anyone using an old version - welcome to the hackers. And kiss goodbye to enjoying all the benefits of later versions, such as HTML 5 (inbuilt video and so on). Do people really think each release is a downgrade? Why not stick with version 1 then!

Chrome is interesting because it AUTOMATICALLY UPDATES ITSELF. So there's none of this "I refuse to upgrade" nonsense. People are always using the latest version, which has to be a good thing. (I remember in the past people still clinging to Netscape 4!)

I keep a lot of tabs open in FF (too many sometimes) and occasionally it'll get slow, but only after a lot of usage. One tip I've found is to clear the cache now and then. That speeds it up.

[graeme_p]

Chrome is interesting because it AUTOMATICALLY UPDATES ITSELF.

Does that mean it runs as admin? That sounds like a massive security hole in itself.

The right way to keep software up do date is to use a centralised update mechanism that updates everything, like Linux does (incidentally, Linux users with older browsers will usually have the security fixes from the new releases back ported and applied though the normal updates).