Firefox 4 is officially released; Latest: Firefox 5 Beta available (reply #34)

[1992casey]

It's now available for download on mozilla.com. This isn't available via automatic updates right now. You'd need to download and install the whole thing.

 

I've been playing around with a portable version, and for the most part, I like what I see. I'll wait to update my "main" installation until my key extensions are updated.

 

The interface has a significant facelift, especially in Windows Vista/7. Tabs are on top by default, and in Vista/7, the title bar is eliminated. Tabs share that space with the close, minimize, and maximize buttons, like Chrome. This feature was planned for OS X, but it couldn't be completed in time for this version.

 

Once I get going, I think I'll find App Tabs and Tab Groups (Panorama) to be useful. App tabs lets you permanently pin a tab while reducing its size to that of an icon. That's good for webmail and other frequently accessed sites. Panorama lets you organize your tabs into groups. It enables one to open more tabs in the same window than what might have been feasible otherwise.

 

Here's a review: It's the best Firefox yet. Is it better than its rivals, too?

 

For what it's worth, IE 9 was released last week.

[jjkoestler]

Casey - Should I wait on this in case of potential problems, or is it good to good now?

[1992casey]

I don't see a problem as long as your critical extensions will work. If you don't have any extensions, I think you'll be good to go.

 

If you want to be doubly safe, you can back up your Firefox profile first. If you do have to revert, having the old profile around might be handy. If you're not attached to your history, cookies, etc., backing up your bookmarks would be plenty.

 

I really don't see any issues, though. This isn't like an IE update where websites might have issues due to poorly coded workarounds intended to address bugs in previous IEs.

 

By the way, 3,777,489 people have downloaded Firefox 4 as of the time of this post.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I used it on a work laptop for about 3 days before I went back to 3.6 for now. SLOW isn't descriptive enough. I know firefox is not the 'fastest' browser out there, but my goodness, 4 is just a dog.

[Invader3K]

I don't see any reason to give up Chrome at this point, which has just gotten better and better.

[rwa12]

Chrome stole me away from Firefox as well, no looking back!

[1992casey]

I'm a browser junkie; I could have several running at any given moment.

 

I've been running a Firefox 4 portable installation for about three weeks, and I haven't had a slowness issue. That doesn't mean that others won't experience it, though. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif I do know that slowness caused Firefox 4 to add two extra betas before it was released.

 

I think that WebKit is definitely the best (and fastest) rendering engine and that Chrome is the best of the WebKit browsers. (The two dominant WebKit browsers are Chrome and Safari.) With extensions, Firefox offers the features that I want in the browser I use the most often, though.

 

One thing I really like about WebKit browsers is the ability to re-size text boxes by pulling on a little "grippie" down in the lower right-hand corner. I also like WebKit's Web Inspector; Chrome's version edges out Safari's. If I make any significant adjustments to our board's skin, it'll be in Chrome.

 

In Chrome, I find the lack of text-only zooming to be a major flaw. Safari and Firefox both offer it as an option. Firefox remembers zoom settings on a per-site basis, which I think is incredibly convenient.

 

RoCo, maybe you want to give Chrome a whirl to see if it suits your needs.

[mothershipconnection]

I installed Firefox 4 yesterday on both of our computers. On my new-ish Vaio I've noticed no difference at all, but it's noticeably faster on my old junker which my wife now uses.

[DuWayne Steurer]

RoCo, maybe you want to give Chrome a whirl to see if it suits your needs.

I've played around with chrome. To me, it's a useability/functionality/familiarity. I try to stay pretty current with most of the browsers that are out there, as they'll all come up in my job on a weekly basis. Heck, I even have Opera on one of my home desktops.

 

Speed's not normally a BIG issue for me, but for the few days I did use Firefox4, it was an absolute dog. Overall, I really like what Firefox brings to the table for several reasons, first and foremost the crazy level of customization. Like you said, the ability to remember zoom settings per site is AWESOME. When I'm at work, I have up to 6 monitors, and the last one can be a ways away, and I need to use the zoom for certain websites, just to make them visible from a distance, and not having to consistently readjust it is nice, obviously.

 

I'm going to stick with Firefox, but not switch to 4 just yet.

[1992casey]

Yikes and Gadzooks! Firefox 4 disables pinch zooming in OS X. I thought

something was broken. You have to go into about:config to put it back.

Enable Pinch/Zoom on Firefox 4

---

1. Open a new tab.
2. Type in about:config and press Enter.
3. In the search pane, type pinch and press Enter.
4. Enter these values for the pinch.in and pinch.out prefs:
   [li]

   browser.gesture.pinch.in cmd_fullZoomReduce[/pre]

5. browser.gesture.pinch.in.shift cmd_fullZoomReset[/pre]

6. browser.gesture.pinch.out cmd_fullZoomEnlarge[/pre]

7. browser.gesture.pinch.out.shift cmd_fullZoomReset[/pre][/li]

If you've never used about:config, you'll see a tongue in cheek "warning" about voiding your warranty. Ignore it. Uncheck the box so you won't see that so-called warning again. To change the values, two-finger-click or control-click anywhere on the preference and choose "Modify" from the context menu.

 

The silver lining for me was that typing in pinch and pressing enter also displayed browser.gesture.pinch.threshold, which sets how far you

have to pinch for the zoom to register. I didn't know that setting existed. The default value is 150. I'm

trying it at 75.

 

RoCo, maybe it's time for you to set up a new Firefox profile. A tired old profile is frequently the cause of Firefox slowness. Before doing this, be sure to have critical information backed up, especially bookmarks. Extensions will need to be reinstalled.

 

I created a new profile in conjunction with installing Firefox 4. Before doing that, I set up a Firefox Sync account in 3.6 using the Firefox Sync extension. This allows you to save your bookmarks, passwords, preferences, history, and tabs in the "cloud" for syncing across computers. You won't need to install the extension in Firefox 4 because Sync is built in. Before removing your old profile, be sure to save your Sync Key. You'll need it (in addition to your username and password) to set up Sync in a new profile.

 

I only synced my history and preferences. My bookmarks are synced with Xmarks, and I don't have any saved passwords.

[1992casey]

The Pinchy extension puts a "face" on the hidden zoom preferences. Installing it is probably easier than going into about:config.

[endaround]

You're having speed problems with FF4? Are all your plugins up to date? Because 4 is so much faster than 3.6 for me, its at the level of Chrome.

[1992casey]

Text boxes (such as Quick Reply at the bottom of this page) have little grippies allowing users to re-size them. WebKit (Safari, Chrome, etc.) has had this for a while. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

[Viva La Grinch]

Something that is really bothering me with the new firefox....is there anyway to move the bookmark spot from the drop down icon? I know its picky, but I am not liking having to hit icon and then move the cursor over to the right to highlight bookmarks and wait for the 2nd drop down menu to show for my saved sites.

[endaround]

the keyboard short cut ctrl+b still works to open the side panel

[Viva La Grinch]

I never knew of that shortcut, but the problem with that is I would need to keep the window open during browsing. Opening it for every search might be even more work then the standard way. I know I sound lazy but its going to continue to eat at me.....

[giffted1]

I never knew of that shortcut, but the problem with that is I would need to keep the window open during browsing. Opening it for every search might be even more work then the standard way. I know I sound lazy but its going to continue to eat at me.....

If you right click in some empty space at the top of the window you should get a menu with a customize option. Clicking customize will give a list of icons you can drag and drop on the window. I think this includes a bookmarks button that you can drag and drop where you want it.

[endaround]

I never knew of that shortcut, but the problem with that is I would need to keep the window open during browsing. Opening it for every search might be even more work then the standard way. I know I sound lazy but its going to continue to eat at me.....

The panel should stay open the entire time

[Mr QL]

Downloaded it the other day. Working really well. I'm usually not one for change but been pretty seamless transition. Noticeably faster for me.

[1992casey]

If you right click in some empty space at the top of the window you should get a menu with a customize option. Clicking customize will give a list of icons you can drag and drop on the window. I think this includes a bookmarks button that you can drag and drop where you want it.

Adding to giffted1's information, there are two different bookmark buttons, each with a star icon. The one with only the star toggles the bookmarks sidebar open and closed. The second one allows you to access your bookmarks via a dropdown menu and contains a "down" arrow indicating that.

 

http://images.yuku.com/image/png/4c6251a5db40a5634aa07d85d4f4b2d3e3b5f8a.png

[NeedMoreFans]

I also downloaded it the other day, and am pleased. I like how they kept most things around that they had before. Programs that have frequent updates (iTunes) often change the whole interface, and FF did not do that. It is noticeably faster than the old version.

 

I do have one question, and it's not specific to FF 4.0, but FF in general. There are times I close FF, and reopen it a couple hours later. I get a message saying it is already running and I need to close it before restarting it. I open Task Manager, and sure enough, the process is running. Why does FF do this?

[homer]

I have noticed a significant increase in speed with Firefox 4.0

 

After reading this thread, I realize I am not utilizing 1% of its capabilities. I didn't know you could do so much with a browser.

[DHonks]

I'm noticing that it doesn't work on some websites (the pulldowns on bank of america's menus don't work). It also seems to load things slowly when trying to book a flight.

[1992casey]

Mozilla is looking at June 21 for the release of Firefox 5. Firefox 6 would come two months later.

 

Mozilla shoots for June 21 release of Firefox 5

[danzig6767]

I'm pretty much a complete novice when it comes to computers. I can turn mine on and surf the net, that's about it.

 

Well, i've been using Firefox for ages and currently am using the 3.6 version. My mom's husband is running the new 4.0 and for now at least, i'd prefer tokeep the version i have. For whatever reason though, over a week ago, i haven't been able to open new tabs. Regardless if i try clicking on the + thing or go under file and ask to open a new tab, neither works. Anyone have a clue what could be causing this? I tried seeing if i could do something under tools in the option area which tabs is in, but that accomplished nothing.