Beta testing Firefox 4 :)

garth · 18. Dec 2010, 07:06 PM

So, i'm beta testing Firefox 4 and will give my impressions

Firstly, i've not beta tested anything before, but i have used Firefox for quite a long time now so am very familiar with it, as are most of us here i expect. In fact, Firefox is the only browser i use (apart from the horror that is IE, and only then if there is no choice) so i can't give any comparisons to other browsers.

First up.
Downloaded and installed with no issues with a file size of just over 11mb.

What i wasn't expecting was instant compatibility with all my addons bar one....KeyScrambler, but no doubt this will be rectified once this comes of of beta testing, and all will be well.

The addons it did install are as follows: AdblockPlus, BetterPrivacy, NoScript and WOT. It also happily imported my gloss black theme and i gotta say, it looks really very nice. Stunning in fact. I'll come back to that.

Without further ado, i'll get to the bit i know you want to hear.....how long to start up? This thing is smoking fast, i kid you not. I didn't time it because i didn't need to.

Like i said, this browser looks seriously good, and so clean. It's actually displaying my theme better, and i mean way better than it was before. I'll attach a screen shot later. It's definitely instantly among the best looking freeware i've seen, but i expect that counts for nothing if it doesn't work properly and falls down a lot. I am going to give it some serious hammer over the next couple of days and update this as i go but so far it seems to render pages faster than before and i haven't been anywhere near about:config yet. Possibly it may have imported my settings but i will find out later. If about:config has reverted to the default then there is a lot more to come from this browser yet.

to be continued.

jim · 18. Dec 2010, 09:00 PM

I ran it for some time (days or a week or two, can't remember). Didn't like the menus at the top, prefer the current ones. The killer for me (for now anyway) is that I couldn't use Roboform, so had to keep going back to IE and wasn't sure if I could run Ff 3.6 as well as 4, so gave up and went back to 3.6. I may try it again when final version released. I didn't find any difference in speed.

garth · 18. Dec 2010, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim

I ran it for some time (days or a week or two, can't remember). Didn't like the menus at the top, prefer the current ones. The killer for me (for now anyway) is that I couldn't use Roboform, so had to keep going back to IE and wasn't sure if I could run Ff 3.6 as well as 4, so gave up and went back to 3.6. I may try it again when final version released. I didn't find any difference in speed.

It's weird sometimes how two people can have completely different experiences with the same software. My initial observation of the startup speed is now now tempered by the fact that it started up not sandboxed, but even sandboxed it is opening faster, but not as fast as first appeared. Apart from that i'm liking it a lot. I have a definite increase in page rendering speed, and i like the way the menus are. What i don't like is that the bookmarks thing is on the other side, and the little box that pops up when you go to bookmark a site is nearly in the middle. For quite some time now i've been wishing that the box that pops up would open somewhere near the add bookmark thing. That's just annoying

Anupam · 20. Dec 2010, 09:16 AM

Here are other threads on Firefox beta posted earlier :

http://www.techsupportalert.com/free...lla-4-0b1.html

http://www.techsupportalert.com/free...-beta-5-a.html

I am quite excited about Firefox 4, and I was quite tempted to try out the beta version after reading the threads here, but I have decided to wait for the final release. I hope its good when it comes out. One thing I like about Mozilla people is that they do not rush with things, and take ample time so that the final release is not buggy.

garth · 20. Dec 2010, 01:26 PM

I'm finding this browser to be very good as far as page rendering speeds go: a definite improvement over FF3.
FF4.jpg

For some reason when i was watching youtube clips yesterday every single one of them had a vertical red line running right through the middle but that isn't there today. Everything seems stable enough but the most tabs i've had open at once so far is five or six so that remains to be seen. So far so good anyway.

kendall.a · 20. Dec 2010, 03:02 PM

I would love to hear if you have tried out the new features of Tab Candy within Firefox 4, Beta 4? (If you are not familiar with Tab Candy, then check it out on Youtube or do a Google search for it.)

tushR · 20. Dec 2010, 11:26 PM

I am using the beta from quiet sometime...no doubt its better and faster but doesn't come near Chrome in speed...

, though in FF last 2-3 beta revisions there were no crashes..the last revision changed the update option to Chrome style.
Tab Candy is amazing but only useful for people who use lots of tab, for others it's just an eye candy...IMO the only thing that's holding general users back is No Script and ABP...(I heard that ABP developer is porting it to Chrome

).

garth · 21. Dec 2010, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tushR

Tab Candy is amazing but only useful for people who use lots of tab, for others it's just an eye candy...IMO the only thing that's holding general users back is No Script and ABP...(I heard that ABP developer is porting it to Chrome

).

How so exactly? I'm running both NoScript an ABP right now with no issues?
I like the tab candy feature but i see it more as something i will use at work than at home.
I've still not done anything to tweak this browser and the page rendering speed is good, but i haven't run it along side Chrome for comparison. Today at some point i'll have a look at about:config. I did manage to crash FF4 once yesterday but that's the only time so far. Still not liking the bookmarks thing.

tushR · 21. Dec 2010, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by garth

How so exactly? I'm running both NoScript an ABP right now with no issues?.

I meant people (Like me) are not migrating to Chrome for one reason, there is no substitute for ABP (there are few but not good enough) and NoScript...

Anupam · 21. Dec 2010, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tushR

I meant people (Like me) are not migrating to Chrome for one reason, there is no substitute for ABP (there are few but not good enough) and NoScript...

AdBlockPlus is coming to Chrome. A beta of the extension has already been released.

18. Dec 2010, 07:06 PM	#1 (permalink)
garth Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Here. Posts: 1,451	Beta testing Firefox 4 :) So, i'm beta testing Firefox 4 and will give my impressions Firstly, i've not beta tested anything before, but i have used Firefox for quite a long time now so am very familiar with it, as are most of us here i expect. In fact, Firefox is the only browser i use (apart from the horror that is IE, and only then if there is no choice) so i can't give any comparisons to other browsers. First up. Downloaded and installed with no issues with a file size of just over 11mb. What i wasn't expecting was instant compatibility with all my addons bar one....KeyScrambler, but no doubt this will be rectified once this comes of of beta testing, and all will be well. The addons it did install are as follows: AdblockPlus, BetterPrivacy, NoScript and WOT. It also happily imported my gloss black theme and i gotta say, it looks really very nice. Stunning in fact. I'll come back to that. Without further ado, i'll get to the bit i know you want to hear.....how long to start up? This thing is smoking fast, i kid you not. I didn't time it because i didn't need to. Like i said, this browser looks seriously good, and so clean. It's actually displaying my theme better, and i mean way better than it was before. I'll attach a screen shot later. It's definitely instantly among the best looking freeware i've seen, but i expect that counts for nothing if it doesn't work properly and falls down a lot. I am going to give it some serious hammer over the next couple of days and update this as i go but so far it seems to render pages faster than before and i haven't been anywhere near about:config yet. Possibly it may have imported my settings but i will find out later. If about:config has reverted to the default then there is a lot more to come from this browser yet. to be continued. Last edited by garth; 18. Dec 2010 at 07:15 PM.

20. Dec 2010, 09:16 AM	#4 (permalink)
Anupam Moderator Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: India Posts: 9,484	Here are other threads on Firefox beta posted earlier : http://www.techsupportalert.com/free...lla-4-0b1.html http://www.techsupportalert.com/free...-beta-5-a.html I am quite excited about Firefox 4, and I was quite tempted to try out the beta version after reading the threads here, but I have decided to wait for the final release. I hope its good when it comes out. One thing I like about Mozilla people is that they do not rush with things, and take ample time so that the final release is not buggy. __________________ Anupam

20. Dec 2010, 03:02 PM	#6 (permalink)
kendall.a Foundation Editor/Forum Manager Intern Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 1,814	I would love to hear if you have tried out the new features of Tab Candy within Firefox 4, Beta 4? (If you are not familiar with Tab Candy, then check it out on Youtube or do a Google search for it.) __________________ <-------Is looking for his brain....

20. Dec 2010, 11:26 PM	#7 (permalink)
tushR Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Bangalore Posts: 187	I am using the beta from quiet sometime...no doubt its better and faster but doesn't come near Chrome in speed..., though in FF last 2-3 beta revisions there were no crashes..the last revision changed the update option to Chrome style. Tab Candy is amazing but only useful for people who use lots of tab, for others it's just an eye candy...IMO the only thing that's holding general users back is No Script and ABP...(I heard that ABP developer is porting it to Chrome ). __________________ Relativity applies to physics, not ethics...

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18. Dec 2010, 09:00 PM	#2 (permalink)
jim Moderator Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: near Ashford Kent England Posts: 304	I ran it for some time (days or a week or two, can't remember). Didn't like the menus at the top, prefer the current ones. The killer for me (for now anyway) is that I couldn't use Roboform, so had to keep going back to IE and wasn't sure if I could run Ff 3.6 as well as 4, so gave up and went back to 3.6. I may try it again when final version released. I didn't find any difference in speed.

20. Dec 2010, 01:26 PM	#5 (permalink)
garth Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Here. Posts: 1,451	I'm finding this browser to be very good as far as page rendering speeds go: a definite improvement over FF3. FF4.jpg For some reason when i was watching youtube clips yesterday every single one of them had a vertical red line running right through the middle but that isn't there today. Everything seems stable enough but the most tabs i've had open at once so far is five or six so that remains to be seen. So far so good anyway.