Mozilla Releases Firefox 3.5

[ThunderLounge]

I've been a website designer since 1997.

The current versions of Safari, Internet Explorer, Opera, Camino, OmniWeb and FireFox 2.0 all render graphics in tables correctly, and in the same way.

FireFox 3.0 does not! It adds extra padding to the tables so the graphics split apart!

Graphics in tables? Tables? Tables are for tabular data.

If one just had to crutch it for a lack of semantically correct skills and use a table for a layout (barf), then if it's coded correctly there is no extra padding.

I have to give FF props on this one. If I put a div somewhere, FF puts it where I tell it to. IE 6, rarely; IE7, sometimes, but more than 6; IE8, shockingly it's been less hassle than expected, but still needs it's own special love at times. Safari is usually good with it, although on occasion it has its moments too.

The Mozilla development team takes the attitude that the way they do things is correct and, if all the rest of the world does things differently, they are wrong!

Unfortunately, there isn't much weight behind that statement. All browsers have their quirks, but I'll take FF and their approach over anything, any day.

For browsing, I like both FF and Safari, although I use as many as I can get my hands on at times.

It sounds like 3.5 is an improvement, which is good, but also as with any other improvement there is still work to be done.

 

[eXan]

All those complaining that Firefox is ugly... you do know that you can skin it don't you? You're not stuck with one look like Safari.

I liked Safari but its tabs support is shocking. Things keep opening in new windows when I don't want them to. I'll have a look at this glims thing maybe it will help. Does anyone know of a download accelerator for Safari that is free? If a site insists on allowing me only 30kbs for a 30MB download I would like to be able to speed that up with more connections. Very handy sometimes in FF. Is there an addon for Safari that will show the URL of a link in the tooltip? Not having the status bar showing by default in Safari is just asking for phishing scams. Of course I can turn on the status bar, but I don't really have a very big screen.

All those saying FF is slow, use Appcleaner to remove all the settings before installing 3.5. This helped me on my iBook.

There is a terminal command that forces Safari to open in new tabs instead of windows:

defaults write com.apple.Safari TargetedClicksCreateTabs -bool true

Not sure about download accelerators, I use torrents when possible.

About showing links in tooltips, just click and drag the link and it will show the address

You don't have a big screen so having status bar in safari is no-go for you, yet firefox's interface takes more vertical space and has status bar on by default and its ok? Hmm

And yes, FF is ugly as hell. BTW, whats up with the blinking (animated) cursor when page is loading in FF? I hate that.

 

[BillyBobBongo]

Gotta say I'm impressed with the speed of this new version of Firefox, I does seem much faster than Safari.

I'd stepped over to using Safari 4 for a while....but I'm 100% sure that I'm going back to Firefox.

 

[Packersfan27]

This Firefox is pretty good, but I just love me some Internet Explorer 8!

Naw, I am just joshing. Great update we have here!

 

[Amdahl]

Safari can not smoothly scroll the display of this site
http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/full_loop.php

while FoxFire can correctly display and smoothly scroll the display. Safari 2.x could correctly scroll this display while Safari versions 3.x and 4.x can not.

Hmm, that's quite interesting. Safari must use a 'full page render' window that let's the OS or graphics driver/hardware do the scrolling. Works great in the ideal case, but when you've got a huge graphic area that is constantly updating, not so well.

Firefox must be doing the whole thing in software, and knows not to spend time updating areas off-screen. Works great, except when you've got Flash in the page. Wish they could get their speed more consistent. This would also explain why it seems like FF scrolling works the CPU harder.

 

[windywoo]

There is a terminal command that forces Safari to open in new tabs instead of windows:

defaults write com.apple.Safari TargetedClicksCreateTabs -bool true

Not sure about download accelerators, I use torrents when possible.

About showing links in tooltips, just click and drag the link and it will show the address

You don't have a big screen so having status bar in safari is no-go for you, yet firefox's interface takes more vertical space and has status bar on by default and its ok? Hmm

And yes, FF is ugly as hell. BTW, whats up with the blinking (animated) cursor when page is loading in FF? I hate that.

I've tried that terminal command its still not as effective. Firefox actually take up less vertical space than Safari when you have more than one tab open. Remember I mentioned skins?

 

[smileyborg]

Multi-Touch Gestures

Here are my recommended settings/changes to Firefox 3.5 in order to have the best browsing experience (in other words, make it how it should have been "out of the box").

First, enter about:config in the address bar, accept the warning, and type gesture in the filter box at the top.

Next, do the following modifications:

browser.gesture.pinch.latched set to false [makes the pinch gesture zoom continuously instead of one zoom level per pinch]

browser.gesture.twist.left set to BrowserrevTab [enables the twist gesture to switch between tabs]

browser.gesture.twist.right set to Browser:NextTab [enables the twist gesture to switch between tabs]

browser.gesture.twist.threshold set to 20 [makes the required amount of the twist gesture to trigger the tab switch a bit lower]

browser.gesture.twist.latched set to true [makes the twist gesture only change one tab per gesture]

These changes really make browsing in Firefox a great experience on one of the newer Aluminum MacBooks...try these modifications and enjoy seamless tab switching!

 

[eXan]

I've tried that terminal command its still not as effective.

Since that command Safari never ever opened anything in a new window. What are you talking about?

Firefox actually take up less vertical space than Safari when you have more than one tab open.

Really?

 

[benlangdon]

aight for those who said it looks bad, just found a theme that is exactly like safari.

Firefox actually take up less vertical space than Safari when you have more than one tab open. Remember I mentioned skins?

Really?

yup

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/12612
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/12611
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/12610
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6703
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6704


my only question now is, how do i get rid of the bar on the bottom?
not the find bar, but the one under it.

EDIT: View - Show Status bar
thanks xUKHCx

 

[xUKHCx]

my only question now is, how do i get rid of the bar on the bottom?
not the find bar, but the one under it.

In Firefox

View - Show Status bar

?

 

[benlangdon]

In Firefox
View - Show Status bar
?

ahhhhh i new i've turned that on or off before.
thanks

 

[matrix01]

Firefox - any chance we'll get properly editable bookmarks?

When Firefox went to the database setup for bookmarks (Firefox 3.x), we lost the ability to edit bookmarks from one set location to another precisely set location.

It used to be - I still keep a Firefox 2.x running for the purpose - you could see all your bookmarks in one window, all visible, and you could select and move any bookmark into any exact position where you wanted - i.e. move it to the 3rd position down in the 5th folder.

With the 3.x, you can't see them in all their folder positions at once, so you don't get the overview. And when you drag a bookmark to another folder, it doesn't go where you want in the folder - it's drag and drop into the mystery void, and it goes to whatever position in the folder that the Firefox database is amused to put it. I.E. useless.

I know - it's groovy modern design to have everything database-based, and the user experience be damned. The concept is, you random collect a huge Hefty garbage-bag of bookmarks in semi-random disarray, and then you search them when you want one back. Super-cool for teenagers. Not so cool for maintaining an organized set of bookmarks as your research tools - i.e. grown-up stuff.

Sadly, there are a few seasoned pros that actually have a lean, useful set of bookmarks and like to have them at our fingertips.

Right now, the workaround is to use Multifirefox, and switch your bookmarks over to Firefox 2.x every time you want to clean them up. Not too handy.

It sure is nice adding zillions of whizz-bang features every revision. But Firefox, any chance you'll give us "bookmarks for grownups" again?

 

[kemo]

i don't want or need this "+" (open a new tab).
its really bugging me.

Same here buddy!

 

[Jayomat]

Yeah, I agree now that I just tried smooth scroll on G5. However, it still hitches when there are Flash (or something?) in the visible area. It works well enough page-at-a-time, but still not quite right when you use the mouse wheel.

i dunno, i have flash blocked by default. only on sites i want flash to be displayed (youtube, bbc...) i turn it on... maybe you should give it a try too

Originally Posted by Johnny Apple
The Mozilla development team takes the attitude that the way they do things is correct and, if all the rest of the world does things differently, they are wrong!

hhahh, ever heared of a company called "apple" ?

 

[aleksandra.]

I know - it's groovy modern design to have everything database-based, and the user experience be damned. The concept is, you random collect a huge Hefty garbage-bag of bookmarks in semi-random disarray, and then you search them when you want one back. Super-cool for teenagers. Not so cool for maintaining an organized set of bookmarks as your research tools - i.e. grown-up stuff.

Sadly, there are a few seasoned pros that actually have a lean, useful set of bookmarks and like to have them at our fingertips.

Once these teenagers grow up, their way will be "grown-up" and yours just plain "old".

What's wrong with View -> Sidebar -> Bookmarks anyway? You can display the bookmarks from as many folders as you want there. Also if your folder is in bookmarks bar it opens when you drag a file to it, so you can place it wherever you want.

 

[MorphingDragon]

Until Mozilla Org fixes Firefox's terrible C++ memory leakage, Safari for me. I don't care if it made me coffee and gave me winning lotto numbers. Those features are useless if they crash. Its just a shame I have no real choice on what i can use on Linux. Theyre all Mozilla based. So much for choice.

Oh, and they need to go back to GUIs 101.

 

[xUKHCx]

Its just a shame I have no real choice on what i can use on Linux. Theyre all Mozilla based. So much for choice.

Opera has a linux version

 

[MorphingDragon]

Opera has a linux version

Shhh, Opera is a heavily guarded secret. Remember?
Beep Boop - Non Open Source Software on Linux. It must be eradicated.

 

[parapup]

Until Mozilla Org fixes Firefox's terrible C++ memory leakage, Safari for me. I don't care if it made me coffee and gave me winning lotto numbers. Those features are useless if they crash. Its just a shame I have no real choice on what i can use on Linux. Theyre all Mozilla based. So much for choice.

Oh, and they need to go back to GUIs 101.

What? None of that made any sense to me. To me Safari gobbles more memory than FF - all times. If you have some particular sites which cause FF to leak - have you filed a bug report yet? I am fairly certain they will fix it soon if you report it in the right place. Crash - never had one since *long* time.


Linux having no browsers other than FF - you must be kidding. There are Konqueror, Arora, Epiphany/WebKit, Chrome Alpha, Opera, ReKonq that I remember off the top of my head.

 

[Pommy]

Is there a "Top Sites" type add-on that I could get for FF? I switched over to S4 and got hooked on that feature but I'm not an overall fan of Safari.

Speed Dial (inspired by the Opera feature -- it's manually managed)

Autodial is automatically managed / populated (like Chrome) but is a little messy looking

 

[MorphingDragon]

What? None of that made any sense to me. To me Safari gobbles more memory than FF - all times. If you have some particular sites which cause FF to leak - have you filed a bug report yet? I am fairly certain they will fix it soon if you report it in the right place. Crash - never had one since *long* time.


Linux having no browsers other than FF - you must be kidding. There are Konqueror, Arora, Epiphany/WebKit, Chrome Alpha, Opera, ReKonq that I remember off the top of my head.

It dont keep a track of my sites as I do a lot of research. I just notice logs report an average of About 500MB.. and it crashed often.

Most of those browsers use the Mozilla engine or do not even have to ability to use the Flash plugin, making them unusable. Just because theres lots of slop doesn't make the slop any better.

 

[clevin]

It dont keep a track of my sites as I do a lot of research. I just notice logs report an average of About 500MB.. and it crashed often.

Most of those browsers use the Mozilla engine or do not even have to ability to use the Flash plugin, making them unusable. Just because theres lots of slop doesn't make the slop any better.

first, all the tests show firefox manages memory better than any other browsers. you can google for the tests

second, you are spreading serious false information here. Firefox and gecko based browser can't use flash? Did you try it for yourself? a hint, youtube is all flash videos.

You can use whichever browser you want, but the misinformation should be pointed out.

 

[MorphingDragon]

first, all the tests show firefox manages memory better than any other browsers. you can google for the tests

second, you are spreading serious false information here. Firefox and gecko based browser can't use flash? Did you try it for yourself? a hint, youtube is all flash videos.

You can use whichever browser you want, but the misinformation should be pointed out.

Have you tried getting flash to work with the Minor browsers such as Konquerer or Flock to use flash in Linux? The rendering engine doesnt help the browsers poor configuration modules.

Spread all the pointing finger crap you like but lack of experience just makes you a clueless dolt.

Mozilla-Plugin-Config should be all you need to do to configure NSPluginwrapper to use flash. Apparently this doesn't apply in La La land.

I'm not going to comment on the benchmarking as the only ones I can find either cross reference or use Pre Release software. (Snickers at Chrome though, 1GB are you kidding Google?)

 

[windywoo]

Hey morphing I have tried to get flash working in konqueror and it was easy.

 

[clevin]

Have you tried getting flash to work with the Minor browsers such as Konquerer or Flock to use flash in Linux? The rendering engine doesnt help the browsers poor configuration modules.

Spread all the pointing finger crap you like but lack of experience just makes you a clueless dolt.

Mozilla-Plugin-Config should be all you need to do to configure NSPluginwrapper to use flash. Apparently this doesn't apply in La La land.

first, if you want to talk about linux, pointed it out clearly.

second, Konqueror is mother of safari, it has zero thing to do with firefox or gecko.

third. I do NOT know flock on linux, although firefox works just fine on linux with youtube.

I see nothing wrong in pointing out your intentional or unintentional omission of the facts from your statements. Im finger pointing at your statement right there. You know what you were saying, doesn't mean others won't be confused and think you were describing a problem with gecko browsers on mac.