bit-tech.net | Firefox 2.0 out a day early

BioSniper 23rd October 2006, 17:02

I cant see any reference to it on the official mozilla site so I may personally just wait till tomorrow.

atanum141 23rd October 2006, 17:06

Can i just install over my current version?

TomH 23rd October 2006, 17:06

Using it now and it's going fine. FTP was very, very slow so I used the en-GB link Rich provided, which was super-quick :D

Can't see any spell-checking as I'm typing this though

Quote:

Originally Posted by atanum141
Can i just install over my current version?

I did!

M4RTIN 23rd October 2006, 17:07

just updated right now.. only difference i can see is they've moved the little x to kill a tab onto the tab itself

quack 23rd October 2006, 17:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by BioSniper
I cant see any reference to it on the official mozilla site so I may personally just wait till tomorrow.

Or you could just get it now, since this IS the official release. Mozilla have always put it on their servers early so that it can be propagated before it's properly announced.

If you're already running RC3, you don't need to do anything. RC3 = Final.

If the mirrors on the main site become slow, try these links instead...
For en-GB: http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-2.0&os=win&lang=en-GB
For en-US: http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-2.0&os=win&lang=en-US

They'll give you a nice fast mirror instead of everyone hammering the same one.

BioSniper 23rd October 2006, 17:09

Im not sure I see much point in upgrading myself. I dislike tabs anyway and all the improvements seem to be tabs/visual anyway.

r4tch3t 23rd October 2006, 17:14

On its way now...

TomH 23rd October 2006, 17:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by M4RTIN
just updated right now.. only difference i can see is they've moved the little x to kill a tab onto the tab itself

There are improvements under the surface, I'm sure the changelog would explain more.

You can actually set the tab behaviour back to the 1.5.x way:

Enter 'about:config' into the URI bar,
Scroll down to 'browser.tab.closebuttons', and change the value to 3.

Hey presto, no annoying red crosses on each tab :D

(I just use my middle mouse button anyhow)

quack 23rd October 2006, 17:16

Tabs are awesome!

Not all improvements have to be visual, there's been SO much done behind the scenes.

JavaScript 1.7, hundreds of bug fixes, in-built spell checker, anti-phishing protection, and sooooo much more.

DarkReaper 23rd October 2006, 17:19

What's the extensions compatibility like?

M4RTIN 23rd October 2006, 17:19

its already starting to use a lot of ram.. i see the memory leaks havent been 100% fixed

RTT 23rd October 2006, 17:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by M4RTIN
its already starting to use a lot of ram.. i see the memory leaks havent been 100% fixed

It's apparently the image rendering engine of all things. v3 should fix that

quack 23rd October 2006, 17:45

So far it's using less memory on my PC that 1.5.0.x was. This might be a case of YMMV.

Meanmotion 23rd October 2006, 18:12

There seems to be a surprising amount of cynicism here. I'm surprised. Quite a few extensions aren't working yet but otherwise there's no reason not to upgrade. I think it's a nice improvement.

With regards to the memory 'leaks' I've had no problems with runaway memory usage, so far, just the inherent increase in memory usage you get from using many tabs.

sadffffff 23rd October 2006, 18:21

meh, i'll upgrade my browser whenever microsoft puts it on automatic updates. i assume that update will be ie7

antiHero 23rd October 2006, 18:36

Some off the updates are not working yet for me but the spell check is a charm. As for the memory "leak", for me it uses slightly more ram then usual. Lets see what happens.

Sim0n 23rd October 2006, 19:03

Erm, the compile date for this is 20061010, that makes it 13 days old now, and actually the RC2 from memory... ?

oasked 23rd October 2006, 19:04

I prefer the old skin over this new skin, but otherwise v2.0 is pretty nice. :)

EDIT: Grrr. ALT-S now seems to open up the History menu. Anyway to set it back to the standard function of submitting posts? :)

Sparrowhawk 23rd October 2006, 19:21

Honestly, I like it. Most of what has changed is behind the scenes, but it seems to work a lot better.

DougEdey 23rd October 2006, 19:23

Mine is still build 2006101023 and hasn't prompted me to upgrade

c.u.later 23rd October 2006, 19:24

its looking good though, "seems" to run smoother than 1.5 did on this machine, good work mozilla!

c.u.later

speedfreek 23rd October 2006, 20:13

Im debating installing it on the school computer im on right now.

Nedsbeds 23rd October 2006, 20:30

well, half an hour in, it has crashed. Maybe it was just trying to show me the "restore session" feature. That crashed it again though.
And then, just as I was about to write that, it froze again!
It's odd. Both crashes happened when I navigated to a page on the bit forums. Maybe it doesn't like something in Vbulletin....

Apart from that, I really like the idea of the inline spell checking, but the dictionary is woefully bad. Keep having to pop up to the google bar to get the correct spelling. I think it is learning without me telling it to though. Thumbs up on that one.
Think I will try IE7 in a bit.

Ramble 23rd October 2006, 21:44

Some crazy fanboy has to do this so:

Go download a better browser

dom_ 23rd October 2006, 21:52

^^^^^^^^^^

Tyinsar 23rd October 2006, 21:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Hill
...You can actually set the tab behaviour back to the 1.5.x way:

Enter 'about:config' into the URI bar,
Scroll down to 'browser.tab.closebuttons', and change the value to 3.

Hey presto, no annoying red crosses on each tab :D

(I just use my middle mouse button anyhow)

;) (though I set mine to "2")

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkReaper
What's the extensions compatibility like?

Sadly that's the Achilles heal of FF. I lost 4/8 (AspellFox, Fasterfox, Tab Mix Plus, & Tabbrowser Preferences) but some of those functions are now integrated. I also lost the theme I was using. Spell check works nice though ;)

quack 23rd October 2006, 22:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sim0n
Erm, the compile date for this is 20061010, that makes it 13 days old now, and actually the RC2 from memory... ?

RC3.

You can force extension compatibility with Nightly Tester Tools in most cases (until the extension is properly updated).

Fasterfox works great after forcing, and there's an updated TabMix Plus on the official site.

Ben 23rd October 2006, 22:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyinsar
;) (though I set mine to "2")

Sadly that's the Achilles heal of FF. I lost 4/8 (AspellFox, Fasterfox, Tab Mix Plus, & Tabbrowser Preferences) but some of those functions are now integrated. I also lost the theme I was using. Spell check works nice though ;)

Install the "nightly tester tools" extension, it can disable the extension version check and dose some other things. A lot of extentions still work fine.

edit: bah quack.

Lazarus Dark 23rd October 2006, 22:19

ahh!!! it killed my blackjapan theme! too much gray! hopefully it'll get updated soon its a popular theme. killed a couple extensions, but they're integrated now like tab-x. speelcheckar is sweet!

should this really be 2.0? the changes seem minor to me. seems like it should be 1.6 or something. but then again how much more can browsers be improved? maybe a 3d browser! I call patent!

to the above crapintosh fans ^^^ I got opera a month ago and meh. its okay i guess. its nothing special. Firefox larger user base means more people to work on improving it and adding themes, extensions, so unless opera surpasses ff in popularity I'll stick with ff. I will Never trust ms with my internet again, they have run out of chances with me so not interested in ie7 or even ie10

Lazlow 23rd October 2006, 22:22

The bookmarks synching extension that I previously used doesn't work with V2 - anyone found one that does work in V2?

r4tch3t 23rd October 2006, 22:52

Everything seems fine with it, however has anyone noticed a slightly longer load time?

allforcarrie 23rd October 2006, 22:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Hill
There are improvements under the surface, I'm sure the changelog would explain more.

You can actually set the tab behaviour back to the 1.5.x way:

Enter 'about:config' into the URI bar,
Scroll down to 'browser.tab.closebuttons', and change the value to 3.

Hey presto, no annoying red crosses on each tab :D

(I just use my middle mouse button anyhow)

Now all i need is a theme to look like 1.5.
FOUND IT!!

Spaced_invader 23rd October 2006, 23:17

found a bug in it already lol after using it for all of 30 seconds.. if you close the last tab with the close tab cross the program doesn't exit, it just leaves you a blank tab... doesn't really seam like a feature to me lol...

Cthippo 24th October 2006, 00:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramble
Some crazy fanboy has to do this so:

Go download a better browser

Agreed, however as long as people use anything except IE, I'm happy ;)

Emon 24th October 2006, 02:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramble
Some crazy fanboy has to do this so:

Go download a better browser

I like Opera a lot, it's a fantastic piece of software. But Firefox offers so much more customizability it's not even funny. Most people would be content with what you can do with Opera, but people like me use specialized extensions that aren't really available elsewhere.

I encourage people to at least upgrade to IE7. I like IE7, it's pretty good. What I dislike most is the horrible UI responsiveness when working with tabs. Sometimes it's snappy, and other times it gets stuck on a tooltip or something, which half shows up, then chugs for a few seconds before a tab opens or closes.

As for the "memory leak" in Firefox, yes, it is a page caching feature. I think it would be very wise to make it more blatantly optional, however. Even a simple "speed vs memory" question during install would be fine. Additionally, while I like things like built in spell checking and anti-phising, a better design approach would be to make them extensions which come with the installer. They would install by default, but still give users the option of removing or disabling them. This way you can easily cater to people who love such features and others who would curse it as bloat.

Drexial 24th October 2006, 06:27

well IE7 has left me no choice to go with FF (not that i wasnt going with firefox anyway) bit i figured i would give IE7 a try.... the adress bar doesnt work with any adress i have typed in it. if i type a phrase it sends me to google and the google search bar works.... but no adress does anything. i can still click on links on teh default MSN page and search.

gideon 24th October 2006, 06:54

It was leaked out a few days ago, but i like the new skin and haven't had any problems the last day ;)

Firehed 24th October 2006, 07:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sim0n
Erm, the compile date for this is 20061010, that makes it 13 days old now, and actually the RC2 from memory... ?

It should be a release candidate that gets released, believe it or not ;)

hughwi 24th October 2006, 08:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Hill
Can't see any spell-checking as I'm typing this though

you need to install the English dictionary as an add-on apparently ive just tried it and it work perfectly :D its got Microsoft word-like red underscores :D

BioSniper 24th October 2006, 08:05

Where can we obtain this english dictionary from to add to it?
Also can I just install over 1.5 or do I have to remove 1.5 first?

DougEdey 24th October 2006, 08:34

Right click on a typing area -> Add dictionaries

Then just follow the links, UK English is on the second page.

BioSniper 24th October 2006, 10:11

It's a shame that the spell checker doesn't choose to auto correct the incorrect spellings. Also I too am getting run away memory usage. Started it up and came to bit and its eating 43MB of ram :/

quack 24th October 2006, 10:32

I just have to add...

Firefox 2.0 was NOT released a day early. It was put on the Mozilla FTP server so that the mirrors could start updating and be ready for the actual release. This happens with every version, patch and update Mozilla release. Nothing sinister or weird.

Linking directly to FTP servers hurts them, and considering people on Slashdot and Digg linked directly to ftp.mozilla.org they managed to kill it, thereby slowing the entire mirroring process down. If people are going to link to Firefox releases, they should use releases.mozilla.org as it doesn't harm a single mirror.

Unfortunately by linking directly to the main FTP server, everyone who's clicked on it has probably pushed the official release back. Oops.

Cthippo 24th October 2006, 10:52

Given all that, maybe they should just email it to the mirrors

rupbert 24th October 2006, 16:33

I love the new 'List all Tabs' function, really handy.

Glider 24th October 2006, 16:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cthippo
Given all that, maybe they should just email it to the mirrors

Mirrors are often repositories that are synced at regular intervals. If a mirror admin had to manually put all the files on the mirror, he would need a monkey or 2 to complete his tasks on time...

EQC 24th October 2006, 18:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by quack
...
Unfortunately by linking directly to the main FTP server, everyone who's clicked on it has probably pushed the official release back. Oops.

Seems like you're on to something...today, as I'm writing, is the release day, and the Mozilla.com site is still offering 1.5.0.7. It's 10:20AM pacific...so the day's half over in most of the world.

Seems silly to still be offering the old version...if I was on dial up and didn't know 2.0 was coming, I'd be pretty mad about spending an hour downloading the old version only to realize the new one came out tomorrow. They should close down the site like apple does when it gets close to time for a new release...

cpemma 24th October 2006, 19:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glider
Mirrors are often repositories that are synced at regular intervals. If a mirror admin had to manually put all the files on the mirror, he would need a monkey or 2 to complete his tasks on time...

I got mine from the Belgium mirror, no delays, fast, most language versions. All directories (and files) dated 23rd.

customh 24th October 2006, 22:24

Exactly what I was going to say EQC, I clicked on the mirror and gave that link to my two other friends, so I am in the clear. But I AM wondering why the release hasn't happened.

Gravemind123 24th October 2006, 22:38

Well, I'm using it right now, I can't wait to see some of the new features it has!

Glider 24th October 2006, 23:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by cpemma
I got mine from the Belgium mirror, no delays, fast, most language versions. All directories (and files) dated 23rd.

But cpemma, you just have to admit Belgium rocks... [/sarcasm] :D

cpemma 25th October 2006, 00:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by customh
But I AM wondering why the release hasn't happened.

They may be good at coding, but the Firefox team couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery. MS had to supply the celebration cake, FFS.

Glider, I'll admit Belgium is efficient, that's twice I've got a Firefox release from that mirror when the USA Moz site had blocked tubes. (And our wee Belgian member Relix made some cheeky comment last time :p).

customh 25th October 2006, 01:25

FFS?

DarkReaper 25th October 2006, 07:59

For flip's sake...

customh 26th October 2006, 04:13

I see, shall i be the first to say It's Officially Out now.
EDIT: Noticed your av Dark, beautiful poetry in a picture.

DarkReaper 26th October 2006, 08:06

Why thank you customh :)

Having put the tab closure button back where it was in 1.5 I'm now quite happy with 2.0. The spell check is a highly useful feature for those who don't take quite enough care when typing (like myself...)

RTT 1st November 2006, 01:15

If anyone hates that silly "list all tabs" button, here's the css to add into your userchrome file:

@namespace url("http://www.mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeeper/there.is.only.xul"); /* set default namespace to XUL */

.tabs-alltabs-button {
display: none !important;
}

/* Disable Container box for "List all Tabs" Button */
.tabs-alltabs-box {
display: none !important;
}

you should only have one instance of the @namespace line if you've already edited userchrome.css

customh 1st November 2006, 01:19

What is the list all tabs button?

DarkReaper 1st November 2006, 01:23

The drop-down menu at the very right of the tabs bar. if you have gotten rid of the individual close tabs 'X'es then it's just to the left of the X on the right hand side.

It's for those people (like me) who open tab after tab after tab until in the old firefox you couldn't read a single tab title

customh 1st November 2006, 02:11

tab mix plus must nix that... it has an alt-tab like feature though, I dont use it yet.

quack 1st November 2006, 09:42

I can't stand using Firefox without TMP. Probably the most important one I have installed.

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Firefox 2.0 out a day early

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