Firefox 2.0 Beta released
You can get it here. Nothing too exciting - new features include close buttons on all tabs, a search plug-in manager, browser restore to recover your session if if the application crashes or freezes, integrated inline spell-checker, anti-phishing tool and the ability to undo closing a tab.
Most of those have been available in Opera for years so nothing to exciting (search customization is new in 9.0). The built in spell checker is the only one that's unique to Firefox. There aren't really any obvious differences from 1.5 from the front end.
BTW, when you install this it will install over your current version by default. Choose the custom install (I forget what options were there actually) to install in a different directory.
Jack Michaelson posted this at 15:02 — 12th July 2006.
He has: 1,733 posts
Joined: Dec 1999
Thanx for the info
Seems that I can get rid of quite some extensions when the 2.0 final will be released!
waffles posted this at 20:45 — 12th July 2006.
They have: 54 posts
Joined: Jun 2006
Please tell me it's just an option for a close tab button on all tabs. I've tried that, it's annoying and I hate it.
Renegade posted this at 20:49 — 12th July 2006.
He has: 3,022 posts
Joined: Oct 2002
Not really looking forward to this release. As of recently, I've actually been quite disappointed with Firefox. Yeah sure, it's a good browser, however, it's just become too slow and crappy for me.
Thinking of switching to Opera actually but I don't like the default theme or any of the skins.
A1SiteNames.com posted this at 15:42 — 13th July 2006.
They have: 18 posts
Joined: Jul 2006
It's become slow? So it was faster before? I haven't heard of newer versions being slower than older versions, usually the opposite. Sounds like a config problem, or bad install - or badly written extensions can definitely cause this. Even if extensions have been uninstalled, there could be remnants. I don't understand why else Firefox would be getting slower for you.
Two things that can greatly improve the speed of Firefox surfing are :
FireTune - free download at http://www.totalidea.com/content/firetune/firetune-index.html
FasterFox - free extension at http://fasterfox.mozdev.org/ (although I don't recommend the prefetching options, since it's taking bandwidth unnecessarily)
Busy posted this at 22:29 — 13th July 2006.
He has: 6,151 posts
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You don't remember Netscape 6 ?
Megan posted this at 16:26 — 13th July 2006.
She has: 11,421 posts
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I've heard a lot of rumblings on various sites about Firefox being slow. So it's not just an isolated occurance.
A1SiteNames.com posted this at 16:34 — 13th July 2006.
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Yes I know some people say it's slow, but he said it's getting slower. That's what I thought was unusual!
Renegade posted this at 20:06 — 13th July 2006.
He has: 3,022 posts
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Well, it is becoming slower, you compare it [the speed] to version 0.9 (or 1.0) and 1.5.
A1SiteNames.com posted this at 20:28 — 13th July 2006.
They have: 18 posts
Joined: Jul 2006
What is becoming slower? The display of the page on the screen, or the initial load time of the actual browser? If you look at the changelogs they're definitely working on making both of things faster, and fortunately everything has gotten faster for me personally, but that could also be due to all the tweaks I've done. I have to admit, Opera is super-speedy for me and much faster than Firefox. But there's no way I can live without all my extensions
JeevesBond posted this at 22:40 — 13th July 2006.
He has: 3,956 posts
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Wha? Have you tried Tango CL (my personal favourite at the moment), or the - camp but cute - Marina? What about Freestyle or Cocoa?
Stick to the "Popular Skins" and "Top Rated" sections
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Firegirl posted this at 23:10 — 13th July 2006.
She has: 54 posts
Joined: Jun 2006
Cocoa? Please elaborate....
Roo posted this at 02:09 — 14th July 2006.
She has: 840 posts
Joined: Apr 1999
I'm still running FF 1.05. I had installed a newer version quite some time ago, and felt the newer version was slower, so I went back to and have stayed with this version.
I did just do that 'broadband speed boost' thing and am impressed by what it did for Firefox.
The 'new' Netscape 8 has been out for a bit, it's based on FF, but you can also toggle it to render like IE (God knows why anyone would want to though..), anyway to me it's the fastest browser of all of them. The thing is that there are no extentions for it and I love my web developer extention.
I have installed the most recent Opera but haven't had a chance to check it out well yet, what with moving, living out of boxes and babysitting my almost two year old nephew 10 hours a day.
Roo
Megan posted this at 13:23 — 14th July 2006.
She has: 11,421 posts
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Roo - there's a web developer extension for Opera now too
There's a thread about it here in Webmaster Corner. I was excited 
It's quite different from the other two though.
Firegirl - Cocoa is the name of a skin for Opera. Do check out the skin installation interface in Opera. If you have it installed, you can go to tools > appearance. Click the "find more skins" button. When you click on a skin it installs instantly so you can get a preview of it before you decide to keep it or not.
Megan
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Firegirl posted this at 14:52 — 14th July 2006.
She has: 54 posts
Joined: Jun 2006
Thanks! Will check it out. I'm just now moving past IE to experience more browsers, so sometimes I have no idea what you guys are talking about!
Go2DirectAds posted this at 17:03 — 14th July 2006.
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Joined: Jul 2006
Im a firefox fan so this is good
JeevesBond posted this at 21:21 — 14th July 2006.
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Glad to hear you're moving away from the dredgery of IE!
Other browsers have far more to offer, not only better features but better web standards support.
If the whole world moved over to Opera or Firefox Web Designers would have a much easier job.
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Renegade posted this at 06:48 — 15th July 2006.
He has: 3,022 posts
Joined: Oct 2002
Sorry, I was talking about program load time and page rendering time. Either way, I have noticed a pretty big dip in speed when compared to versions mentioned before.
If this keeps up, I may have to move over to Opera...
A1SiteNames.com posted this at 23:45 — 15th July 2006.
They have: 18 posts
Joined: Jul 2006
I think you can definitely improve both load time and page rendering, it's just a matter of tweaking. For a start, try the program and the extension that I mentioned before. Using both of them, you should notice an immediate improvement.
Also here's instructions that may help to speed up load time (although probably won't work until after a reboot) :
[INDENT]Right-click on the Firefox icon you use to start the browser, and add the text /Prefetch:1 to the end of the line in the target field.
The whole line should look something like the following:
“C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe” /Prefetch:1[/INDENT]
Opera work fast and has a lot of features 'out of the box', and Firefox may require more work to get it to the same level, but ultimately I think it's worth the extra effort because Firefox will only get stronger over time, and since it's open source there are continually more and better extensions available, including many that offer niche features that will never be in Opera, and are great for suiting your individual working needs.
Renegade posted this at 23:50 — 15th July 2006.
He has: 3,022 posts
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If FF needs that much tweaking to get it to work properly then it isn't good enough IMHO. It should already be running that fast out of the box.
A1SiteNames.com posted this at 23:46 — 16th July 2006.
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Joined: Jul 2006
I hate resorting to analogies, but... If you could choose between a car that goes really really fast and has some nice features, or a car that goes mid-speed but comes with options of CD player, air-con, airbags, GPS navigation, power steering, power brakes, sunroof, cruise control, etc, etc. - and with only 10 minutes work, it goes almost as fast as the fast car!
Firefox is built around the idea of complete customization, so 10 minutes of speed tweaking is not a big deal for most users. I think the 3rd party extensions are the main reason that most people use Firefox, customization and tweaking is all part of the experience. Of course it should as fast as possible out of the box, but the developers are working very hard, and if it's not fast enough then you could become a contributor to get things better faster
I've been using Opera for almost 10 years, and it's great software - but Firefox's extendability has completely changed and bettered my browsing experience. If you spend a lot of time browsing, it's surely worth the time and effort to fine-tune your browser, no matter how long it takes - even if it took 10 hours, it would be worth it in the long run, IMHO. This is from the perspective of webmasters of course, for end-users I'm not at all sure that Firefox out of the box is the best choice. But for people whose career or income depend on browsing, I think Firefox's extendability means there is no competition.
Renegade posted this at 08:31 — 17th July 2006.
He has: 3,022 posts
Joined: Oct 2002
Ok, spend a few minutes "tweaking" my new FF installation. However, it still doesn't explain why FF became slower...
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