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Main Area and Open Discussion => General Software Discussion => Topic started by: icekin on June 17, 2008, 09:13 AM

Title: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: icekin on June 17, 2008, 09:13 AM
The Mozilla page does still links to the RC, but I can get it off Filehippo (http://filehippo.com/download_firefox/).
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: jgpaiva on June 17, 2008, 09:21 AM
I got the link from SpreadFirefox.com, to download directly from mozilla:
http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-3.0&os=win&lang=en-US
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Darwin on June 17, 2008, 09:29 AM
I just installed the FileHippo version and it's RC3... will try jgpaiva's link!
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Lashiec on June 17, 2008, 09:32 AM
Officially, it gets released in less than 2 hours and a half... although I suspect I won't be able to get it until tomorrow (massive load in the servers :D)
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: jgpaiva on June 17, 2008, 09:32 AM
The one i posted says "firefox 3.0" on the about box.. Don't know if it's RC or not  :huh: It looks exactly like the RC, though :)
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: icekin on June 17, 2008, 09:33 AM
I never used Firefox 3 before, never took part in the beta or even the RC. So, based on first impression, memory usage has actually been improved and its even below Opera 9.5 on my machine. However, Opera's speed completely beats this. I've tried clearing the cache and everything and tried loading a few different websites at a time. Opera wins by a clear margin. But, I recall that firefox becomes a little quicker with fasterfox and a few about:config tweaks. I'll try the comparisons again tomorrow with the tweaks.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Darwin on June 17, 2008, 09:34 AM
Thanks, João - that worked  :Thmbsup: I compared the installers first and they *appear* to be identical (same size, version number, etc.) but the full release was installed...
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: icekin on June 17, 2008, 09:35 AM
That's odd. I used the filehippo link and got version 3. Anyhow, from what I've read, there's no changes between RC3 and the final release for Windows machines. The only changes were for Mac OS.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: justice on June 17, 2008, 09:48 AM
I heard on another forum that on windows firefox 3RC3  is the final release. Don't have a source though. Ahh icekin :D
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: nosh on June 17, 2008, 09:58 AM
Guys, a heads-up. I've read about an infected RC3 floating around on the Internets, parading as the real thing. Just be careful about leaked versions.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: jgpaiva on June 17, 2008, 10:03 AM
Guys, a heads-up. I've read about an infected RC3 floating around on the Internets, parading as the real thing. Just be careful about leaked versions.
-nosh (June 17, 2008, 09:58 AM)
Good thing i downloaded directly from mozilla :)
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: yotta on June 17, 2008, 10:23 AM
well its only a few hours (2 from now) till official release, may aswell help them with the record
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: sri on June 17, 2008, 10:35 AM
228 users in #firefox IRC channel! Join the party there in the mean time.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: fenixproductions on June 17, 2008, 12:05 PM
It has just started and servers not working properly :o
Looks like too much teasing from Mozilla.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Deozaan on June 17, 2008, 12:24 PM
Anyone check the filesum hashes to compare RC3 to 3.0 Final?
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Josh on June 17, 2008, 12:38 PM
As I said in the IRC channel, this is what firefox 1.0 should have been. This browser now has a plausible default theme, no need for another one in my opinion, it has the needed functionality to make it act like a browser should out of the box. The tagging functionality and history search via the address bar are genius and work beautifully especially for recently closed tabs. The memory usage is far less than its predecessors. I highly recommend this browser now. Yes, opera might have a small edge in speed compared to this, but its not enough to justify using it given opera's other weaknesses and limitations. Great job mozilla. I am now proud to say I am a firefox user.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: jgpaiva on June 17, 2008, 01:15 PM
I'm sorry for the slight thread-hijack, but how can i change (more specifically, add to) the keyboard configuration?
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Josh on June 17, 2008, 01:33 PM
What do you mean? Like the key bindings? I.E., changing address field focus from ALT+D to CTRL+ALT+X if you desired? If so, keyconfig has to be updated to fit firefox 3. It currently does not work even if forced
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: jgpaiva on June 17, 2008, 01:42 PM
Exactly, that's what i'm looking for. Ok, i'll wait, then :(
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Edvard on June 17, 2008, 01:59 PM
w00t!1
Downloading now... (finally)(https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/esmileys/gen3/1Small/banana.gif)

I've been using the firefox beta on Xubuntu 8.04 since it came out and have been very pleased with it. Now to shoehorn it into this box at work... 
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Edvard on June 17, 2008, 02:05 PM
Whoa...

13kb/s on a 1G cable connection... :stars:
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: jgpaiva on June 17, 2008, 02:08 PM
13kb/s on a 1G cable connection... :stars:
-Edvard (June 17, 2008, 02:05 PM)
jgpaiva thanks icekin for the tip about firefox being online 2 hours before the release date :)
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: tomos on June 17, 2008, 04:19 PM
that's funny I lost a post,
I had no trouble downloading it from mozilla website about 1/2 hr ago

Are people simply installing it ontop of 2 or seperately ?
Separately seems better... :-\
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: CWuestefeld on June 17, 2008, 04:23 PM
I'm thinking the best strategy is to wait a couple of weeks for the situation with Extensions to settle down. What do you think?
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: jgpaiva on June 17, 2008, 04:49 PM
From what i've noticed, there are quite a few major extensions that still haven't been updated :(
The browser is great, though (even though i hate how it acts when it gets to a page who's certificate has expired)
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Ehtyar on June 17, 2008, 04:54 PM
I'm thinking the best strategy is to wait a couple of weeks for the situation with Extensions to settle down. What do you think?
-CWuestefeld (June 17, 2008, 04:23 PM)
I can't say i disagree there. Most of the major ones will be done within a few days, as is usual for them. However, i daresay that a lot of those tiny ones you come to rely on may even never be ported.
For the ones that provide simple operations, you can quite easily upgrade it yourself with little risk to your browser (test it in the portable version (http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable) perhaps) by unzipping the xpi with an application like 7zip (http://www.7-zip.org/), opening the install.rdf in a text editor, and changing the <em:maxVersion> to 3.0.0.* then repacking it and dragging it into your browser window.

Ehtyar.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: jgpaiva on June 17, 2008, 05:01 PM
Nice tip about the version, Ehtyar!
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: CGA on June 17, 2008, 05:05 PM
About:config->extensions.checkCompatibility=false
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Ehtyar on June 17, 2008, 05:09 PM
Nice tip about the version, Ehtyar!
-jgpaiva (June 17, 2008, 05:01 PM)
You're most welcome. I just had a poke around on the net, and it seems this info isn't really out there. I should do some quick testing before i start posting as though it's gospel. I'll reply back shortly.

Ehtyar.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Darwin on June 17, 2008, 05:11 PM
Tom - I just installed it and it overwrote Firefox 2... no big deal as I would have uninstalled 2 anyway. FWIW, it gives you the option to change installation path - default (under XP) is c:\program files\mozilla firefox...
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Ehtyar on June 17, 2008, 05:12 PM
About:config->extensions.checkCompatibility=false
-CGA (June 17, 2008, 05:05 PM)
Too dangerous for me, would be easy to accidentally forget about it and end up downloading an old extension that really messed with your browser, then as soon as you turn it off all the old addons stop working. But nice note though, I'll confess i didn't know about it :P

Ehtyar.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Ehtyar on June 17, 2008, 05:18 PM
For the ones that provide simple operations, you can quite easily upgrade it yourself with little risk to your browser (test it in the portable version (http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable) perhaps) by unzipping the xpi with an application like 7zip (http://www.7-zip.org/), opening the install.rdf in a text editor, and changing the <em:maxVersion> to 3.0.0.* then repacking it and dragging it into your browser window.
-Ehtyar (June 17, 2008, 04:54 PM)
Tested and successful in Portable Firefox 3.0 with Go to Selection (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2348). Also, in order to run Portable Firefox concurrently with 2.0, copy the FirefoxPortable.ini from the Other\Source directory into the root directory, and change AllowMultipleInstances to true (also change DisableSplashScreen to true :P).

Ehtyar.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: f0dder on June 17, 2008, 06:17 PM
More or less just installed, it seems a bit snappier - though the real stress test will be 8 hours with facebook, that used to cause ff2 to slug down to a crawl. FireBug and MouseLessBrowsing aren't FF3 compatible yet it seems, my other extensions didn't complain.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Ehtyar on June 17, 2008, 06:26 PM
I'm missing TabMixPlus (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1122) something cruel, but other than that I'm OK.

Ehtyar.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Lashiec on June 17, 2008, 07:18 PM
Whoa...

13kb/s on a 1G cable connection... :stars:
-Edvard (June 17, 2008, 02:05 PM)

Hah, I can better that. 2 KB/s, just like in the 33.6 K days (the good days, that is)

Now let's see if all extensions have been updated, and if I can find a decent theme, the default is fugly. I hope someone ports Winstripe, but for now Vista and Mac OS X users sure have things easier.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: PhilB66 on June 17, 2008, 08:31 PM
Track FF record setting atempt @ http://www.spreadfirefox.com/en-US/worldrecord/ or @ http://downloadcounter.sj.mozilla.com/

[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Ehtyar on June 17, 2008, 09:36 PM
Seems to have died down at least a little, on Australian fiber I'm getting around 300k. We generally don't get much more than that, except from Microsoft Australia.

Ehtyar.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: nosh on June 18, 2008, 12:08 AM
I'm thinking the best strategy is to wait a couple of weeks for the situation with Extensions to settle down. What do you think?
-CWuestefeld (June 17, 2008, 04:23 PM)

More like a few months in my case... there's several important extensions that haven't caught up yet and forcing compatibility just screws things up.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Deozaan on June 18, 2008, 01:04 AM
I miss my All-in-One Mouse Gestures. The only one updated for 3.0 are FireGestures which is missing one I used to use all the time!

This one only allows one command per gesture but All-in-One was smart so that if I did an upward movement it would open a new tab, but if I did the same upward movement when clicking on a link it would open the link in a new tab. FireGestures seems unable to do that. :(
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: mouser on June 18, 2008, 01:49 AM
I'm thinking the best strategy is to wait a couple of weeks for the situation with Extensions to settle down. What do you think?

that's my plan as well.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: sri on June 18, 2008, 02:44 AM
FF3 is almost as fast as Opera. Give it a try guys  :up:

Its speed and awesome bar are good enough for me to keep it running in spite of some add-ons not functioning.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: lanux128 on June 18, 2008, 02:56 AM
yes, it's quite good with the streamlined UI and all. if one is not too dependent on add-ons (which is unlikely), then it's the time to try out version 3. :Thmbsup:
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: cmpm on June 18, 2008, 04:08 AM
No Squint sure changed.
Not sure if it's a good change yet.
You can set it to change the size of fonts and pictures individually.

Minimize to Tray isn't ready but Minimize to Tray Enhancer is.
Kind of funny, but it's two different authors.

Overall I like it.
I'm not finished trying all my add-ons yet.
3 haven't been upgraded so far.

Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Eóin on June 18, 2008, 05:45 AM
I saw this neat addon posted over at Neowin. It has some really neat features such as splitting the URL into breadcrumbs when you hold ctrl (the feature is off by default). It called Locationbar² (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4014).

[ You are not allowed to view attachments ] (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4014)
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: mhb on June 18, 2008, 06:00 AM
Hi Ehtyar,

I'm missing TabMixPlus (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1122) something cruel, but other than that I'm OK.
-Ehtyar (June 17, 2008, 06:26 PM)

You can find a version for FF3 here (its a Dev-Build, but works flawless for me): http://tmp.garyr.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7031

Marc
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Ehtyar on June 18, 2008, 06:07 AM
Hi Ehtyar,

I'm missing TabMixPlus (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1122) something cruel, but other than that I'm OK.
-Ehtyar (June 17, 2008, 06:26 PM)

You can find a version for FF3 here (its a Dev-Build, but works flawless for me): http://tmp.garyr.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7031

Marc
-mhb (June 18, 2008, 06:00 AM)
ooooh, thank you!! :-*

Ehtyar.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Fred Nerd on June 18, 2008, 06:18 AM
Yippee, I am running the latest and greatest.....

So far.... (10 minutes later)....
Firstly, I had to restart my computer before it would open. This may have had something to do with having FF2 open when I installed them. BTW I tried to install them together (2 & 3) by setting the installation folder to something else, but it doesn't seem to work and I only have 3.

It seems slower, but probably just because it has an empty cache as yet, should pick up.

All my addons work, flashblock, adblock, forecastfox.

The theme is as ugly as sin, and the 'awesome bar' may have to be skinned away if possible, so far I hate it. Simply, I can remember the address of my bookmarks (I have a good memory for that) so why waste space and tell me all there is to know about a site. Who cares?

More updates as I find problems.

Oh wait, I haven't got web accellerator in yet, not that I thin it helps, just looks good having a speedo on my browser.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: f0dder on June 18, 2008, 06:44 AM
I like the awesome bar so far, fits pretty well with my laziness.

Default skin ugly? Icons might not be all that pretty, but I like how simple & clean it is, how little "real estate" is wasted on useless graphics.

As for speed, seems like FF3 install by default turns off HTTP pipelining even if it was enabled in FF2 - turning it back on helps increase page load speed.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: markan on June 18, 2008, 06:55 AM
I'm missing TabMixPlus (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1122) something cruel
-Ehtyar (June 17, 2008, 06:26 PM)

The latest Dev Build appears to be FF3 compatible.

http://tmp.garyr.net/dev-builds/
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: mouser on June 18, 2008, 09:28 AM
maybe we should post firefox 3 reviews we find:
http://cybernetnews.com/2008/06/18/cybernotes-firefox-3-review/ - they like it a lot
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Lashiec on June 18, 2008, 09:33 AM
Default skin ugly? Icons might not be all that pretty, but I like how simple & clean it is, how little "real estate" is wasted on useless graphics.
-f0dder (June 18, 2008, 06:44 AM)

You can make a nice skin, with pretty icons, while keeping it simple and clean. And wasting less space in the process, that big-assed back button is getting on my nerves. "Our usability tests show that 50% of the people miss the back button, so we made it BIGGER". So, Mozilla, can you explain why the Linux skin keeps the default size, and no keyhole design, hmm?

I think they made a bad choice with the integration path, because I feel the skins are not integrated at all, and wasted tons of time with them (and money, with the IconFactory contract), while a simple tour of the addons page shows themes that fit much better with Vista and Mac OS X. The Linux skin, while I think it's the better by a long shot (when it comes to integration and default looks), it's clearly Gnome-based, and of no much use for KDE-based distros. Anyway, all distros customize Firefox looks, so... And for XP, I think I found a quite decent theme, so let's move on :-)

As for speed, seems like FF3 install by default turns off HTTP pipelining even if it was enabled in FF2 - turning it back on helps increase page load speed.

Aha, thanks for the tip.

maybe we should post firefox 3 reviews we find:
http://cybernetnews.com/2008/06/18/cybernotes-firefox-3-review/ - they like it a lot
-mouser (June 18, 2008, 09:28 AM)

Some of the commenters, though, prefer trolling >:(

Does anybody know the technical details behind the automatic check for malware and phishing sites? In Firefox 2, you could opt for an automatically downloaded database, or Google assistance, but I ignore how it works now. Also, I have some connection problems with Windows Live Mail that make the page revert to the basic view (I bet it's a Microsoft problem), and the function to show the cookies of the site you're in has a few display issues.

Apart from that, seems like a solid improvement, Yahoo! Mail works significantly faster (except when scrolling the list of mails, but I don't think it's a problem with Firefox), GMail significantly slower at first (w-e-i-r-d), and the rest seems OK (except for a minor issue in Firefox own addons page). I specially like the new scrolling tab bar, which makes much easier to move between lots of tabs (while in Firefox 2 it was nearly impossible), and the new bookmark system, nicely implemented (someone has to clone this :-P). And like João, I don't like the new way to manage outdated certificates.

Also, CAKE (http://arstechnica.com/journals/linux.ars/2008/06/17/the-cake-is-a-lie-ie-team-bakes-a-treat-for-mozilla), everybody likes cake. From the comments:

Mozilla should send the world's biggest cake to the IE team when they finally release IE8 (they've got a year to prepare, so should be plenty of time).

They could even give the cake some varying levels of opacity, although the IE team might not be able to see it properly then.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Josh on June 18, 2008, 11:08 AM
Exactly, that's what i'm looking for. Ok, i'll wait, then :(
-jgpaiva (June 17, 2008, 01:42 PM)

http://mozilla.dorando.at/

This link contains a working keyconfig for FF3. You can change everything with this
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Edvard on June 18, 2008, 11:40 AM
I like it.  :Thmbsup:
Flashblock and DownThemAll are all I need for extensions.

Don't forget, if you downloaded it during Download Day, to pick up your certificate (http://www.spreadfirefox.com/en-US/worldrecord/certificate_form)!

[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
 (http://www.spreadfirefox.com/en-US/worldrecord/certificate_form)
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Edvard on June 18, 2008, 12:10 PM
The Linux skin, while I think it's the better by a long shot (when it comes to integration and default looks), it's clearly Gnome-based, and of no much use for KDE-based distros.

Yes, VERY gnome-based. I agree, they should have done a KDE skin, or at least made a default theme that's as neutral as possible across all platforms.
I'd actually like to have the "keyhole" buttons in my Linux FF3, but I can't find a skin for it.
Any suggestions?
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: cmpm on June 18, 2008, 03:14 PM
You can change the buttons without having to use a new theme.

http://codefisher.org/toolbar_button/
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: ssoundman on June 18, 2008, 03:29 PM
How can HTTP pipelining be turned on? I missed seeing those instructions.

I'm having no trouble with the version of TabMixPlus mentioned above. Thanks for pointing it out, Marc.  :Thmbsup:
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: cmpm on June 18, 2008, 03:33 PM
a theme page that may not be known to some
works with FF3

http://edhumester.googlepages.com/home
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: f0dder on June 18, 2008, 03:33 PM
type "about:config" in the location bar, then enter "network.http" in the search bar, and find pipelining - dunno if a restart is necessary.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Ehtyar on June 18, 2008, 04:02 PM
maybe we should post firefox 3 reviews we find:
http://cybernetnews.com/2008/06/18/cybernotes-firefox-3-review/ - they like it a lot
-mouser (June 18, 2008, 09:28 AM)
And all the FF 3-only addons. I've found LocationBar^2 (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4014) and Sage-Too (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7263).

Ehtyar.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: CGA on June 18, 2008, 04:06 PM
About:config->extensions.checkCompatibility=false
-CGA (June 17, 2008, 05:05 PM)
Too dangerous for me, would be easy to accidentally forget about it and end up downloading an old extension that really messed with your browser, then as soon as you turn it off all the old addons stop working. But nice note though, I'll confess i didn't know about it :P
Ehtyar.
-Ehtyar (June 17, 2008, 05:12 PM)

You get a nice warning about the disabled check every time you install extensions, and there is always the uninstall button. ;) Anyways, to each his own.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: MrCrispy on June 18, 2008, 04:17 PM
I am very happy with this release. I love the AwesomeBar and there are little touches everywhere which I like.
I also installed the Nasa Night Launch theme (http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=547498) which is just fabulous. All my extensions also work. I've uninstalled FF2 at work and home and this is the true test of whether FF3 is good enough to use.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: ssoundman on June 18, 2008, 04:26 PM
type "about:config" in the location bar, then enter "network.http" in the search bar, and find pipelining - dunno if a restart is necessary.
-f0dder (June 18, 2008, 03:33 PM)

Thanks, it worked! I restarted Firefox though, so I can't say if it worked without doing that. :Thmbsup:
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Fedorov on June 18, 2008, 05:02 PM
The Nightly Tester Tools http://www.oxymoronical.com/web/firefox/nightly
Allow you to force compatibility of any add-ons that are not working. I've been using ALL of my FF2 add-ons for the last 6 months on FF3 alpha/beta versions

I think there are only 2 out of my 13 add-ons that has not had a new FF3 version released.
If anyone needs help in bumping up the version number inside an older add-on then just shout.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Lashiec on June 18, 2008, 06:25 PM
And all the FF 3-only addons. I've found LocationBar^2 (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4014) and Sage-Too (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7263).
-Ehtyar (June 18, 2008, 04:02 PM)

Locationbar² (also mentioned by Eóin in the second page) is a curious case, as at first it was discussed to merge it in the main Firefox build, when version 3 was in the planning stages. As you may see, they decided against it, which is understandable as for most users it would be a bit confusing.

Now the history repeats itself with Ctrl-Tab (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5244), which is proposed for inclusion in Firefox 3.1. It's also for Firefox 3.x only :)
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: cmpm on June 18, 2008, 09:39 PM
I fixed Minimize To Tray with help.
Changed the 2 to a 4 in the install.rdf.
And it works fine. Here it is with .zip that you need to change to .xpi after downloading it.
Cause I can't upload an xpi file.
Download it to your desktop and drag and drop it in FF3.
After you change the extension to .xpi.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released - anyone got Powermarks to work with it ?
Post by: patteo on June 18, 2008, 10:00 PM
Downloaded it yesterday and modified the Powermarks.xpi (so that the maxversion is 3.0) so that the Powermarks icons will show up in Firefox 3.

However, on clicking the icon, Powermarks does not run.

Does anyone have a workaround ?

Powermarks is a very competent Bookmarks manager and has been mentioned several times in this forum such as

Multi-browser Bookmark Synchronization Tool and Other Multi-Browser Ideas? - DonationCoder.com
"Powermarks is the best! (http://www.kaylon.com/power.html) it not only synchronises your bookmarks, crossbrowser, also lets you instant searches them, extract tags from them so they're grouped, backup/store them online so you can use them between multiple pcs."
https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=7926.0
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: MrCrispy on June 18, 2008, 10:16 PM
So why does every Firefox release cycle have to go through this mess with incompatible extensions? IE and Opera addons don't suffer this fate. There are 2 things going on as far as I can tell -

1. the internal Mozilla api's are updated quite often, and are not backwards compatible. So extension author's have to update.
2. FF will check the version number.

That's why you can sometimes trick Ff by updating the version, or disabling the check, but if #1 is in effect that doesn't work.

Both of these are bad design practices. Extensions should never have to keep updating, especially between minor revs, like on each beta and rc. This is where the open source mentality hurts FF - there's little effort on the part of Mozilla to make sure extensions work, since anyone can go fix them if they want to. At least that's what I feel.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Fred Nerd on June 19, 2008, 03:04 AM
Thanks Lashiec for the cake link....
Very funny

   
    If you look at the T in "the", it's written the same way. It's a cursive T, not a 7, unless it's supposed to read "Love, 7he IE 7eam"


Great, they can't even write a standards-compliant cake.

It will be interesting to to see the new IE

As for themes, I'm learning to live with this.....
I would hate to have to skin, it means things look different when you have to fix friend's computers.

But it really has impressed me, I can open heaps of tabs, and they all open quickly (not load, just open) and don't bog down the system.

And remember about:mozilla
The book of mozilla now says:

Mammon slept. And the beast reborn spread over the earth and its numbers
grew legion. And they proclaimed the times and sacrificed crops unto the
fire, with the cunning of foxes. And they built a new world in their own
image as promised by the
sacred words, and spoke
 of the beast with their children. Mammon awoke, and lo! it was
naught but a follower.



from The Book of Mozilla, 11:9
(10th Edition)

Fits in with the cake
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: justice on June 19, 2008, 04:28 AM
Extensions should never have to keep updating, especially between minor revs, like on each beta and rc.
-MrCrispy (June 18, 2008, 10:16 PM)
If this is the case then maybe they should look at javascript and test for functionality / api calls instead of version numbers?
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: f0dder on June 19, 2008, 08:15 AM
Both of these are bad design practices. Extensions should never have to keep updating, especially between minor revs, like on each beta and rc. This is where the open source mentality hurts FF - there's little effort on the part of Mozilla to make sure extensions work, since anyone can go fix them if they want to. At least that's what I feel.
-MrCrispy (June 18, 2008, 10:16 PM)
I think it's fine to make breaking API changes in major revisions. Otherwise, you either need to keep old cruddy compatibility code around indefinitely, or lock yourself to a possibly ill-designed API.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Edvard on June 19, 2008, 11:33 AM
OK, I found how to get the keyhole nav buttons in Linux...

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=5219481#post5219481

I'll be testing it tonight and report back how it works.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: icekin on June 19, 2008, 11:59 AM
After an entire day of performance tweaking, I can finally report my results on FF3.

On the bright side, the Mozilla team has certainly made progress with FF3. Memory usage is not exactly lower, but rather more efficient. In other words, unused memory is quickly returned back to the OS, while FF2 would still 'hold it' for longer, causing the leak. However, the actual usage of memory per page opened is still high, but not prohibitively so. To be fair, with the exception of probably Dillo and Lynx, all decent graphical web browsers do utilize a considerable amount of physical memory. The other main advantage of FF is obviously the plethora of plugins, themes and add-ons available, something any other browser, including IE lacks.

On the "need to be improved" section, I will comment with comparison to Opera, which I consider to be closest competitior to FF. With speed tweaks, the loading time is nearly the same on both browsers. However, Opera wins because its more responsive as a software program. For this test, I tried opening a variety of sites, including Java script heavy ones and those that have poorly written HTML. FF can still be made to 'hang' when trying to render a page. By 'hang', I mean that it stops responding to mouse clicks and I can't even CTRL + TAB to switch to another tab. This is a problem that Opera, and even K-Meleon do not suffer from. Even when unable to render a page, the software program should ideally remain responsive to external commands. This one problem results in FF having an overall sluggish feel on windows. Surprisingly, I do not suffer this problem with FF on Linux, but I did not have any extensions installed on that machine, so perhaps its not the best comparison.

Hence, at the end, my conclusion for now remains the same as it was with FF2 and Opera 9.2 : FF is a slow moving ocean liner packed with hundreds of features and an onboard swimming pool while Opera is a speedy boat with minimum features that can possibly satisfy mainstream users, but not more. Now, if Opera went open source or made it easier to write third party plugins, they can steal more of FF's thunder. But, that seems unlikely at present since Opera is a profit oriented company while Mozilla is a non-profit entity.

And IE is probably the Titanic...
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: cmpm on June 19, 2008, 02:34 PM
FasterFox for FF3.
Same deal.
Change the last 3 letters of the file from zip to xpi.

It is Faster with it.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Ehtyar on June 19, 2008, 04:45 PM
For this test, I tried opening a variety of sites, including Java script heavy ones and those that have poorly written HTML. FF can still be made to 'hang' when trying to render a page. By 'hang', I mean that it stops responding to mouse clicks and I can't even CTRL + TAB to switch to another tab. This is a problem that Opera, and even K-Meleon do not suffer from.
-icekin (June 19, 2008, 11:59 AM)
While i appreciate any independent testing on this website, it seems more and more people are posting their "results" with absolutely no details/supporting evidence whatsoever. For example, what sites were the browsers tested on? was the cache empty? were the browsers using pipelining? what addons/widgets were installed? was any 3rd party software present that may have interfered? etc etc.

Ehtyar.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: f0dder on June 19, 2008, 06:01 PM
FF3/win32, running on XP64 Pro, with the following addons:
- Adblock Plus 0.7.5.4
- Dansk ordbog 1.6.13
- Download Statusbar 0.9.6.3
- Extension List Dumper 1.14.1
- Firebug 1.05 (Disabled, Incompatible)
- FlashGot 1.0.3
- It's All Text! 0.8.5
- Mouseless Browsing 0.4.3 (Disabled, Incompatible)
- NoScript 1.6.9.3
- ScrapBook 1.3.3.6
- Screen grab! 0.95
- Tab Control 0.4.1
- Tamper Data 10.0.4
- Text Link 2.0.2008052801
Seems to start slightly faster, leaks a LOT less memory, opening "a zillion tabs" (ie., 10+ forum notify emails when I get home from work) doesn't cause new-tab-open-slowdown anymore, and even facebook doesn't lag like a slug when it's been open for 6+ hours. The AwesomeBar is nice, although I'd wish it had ALT+n shortcuts like FARR.

Sites load as fast as ever, no change there really - after re-enabling pipelining, anyway.

So far, I'm pretty satisfied with FF3, it seems to have fixed the problems that annoyed me most with FF2 (even though startup time could be reduced even a bit more ;)).
Title: Test Evidence
Post by: icekin on June 19, 2008, 06:21 PM
While i appreciate any independent testing on this website, it seems more and more people are posting their "results" with absolutely no details/supporting evidence whatsoever. For example, what sites were the browsers tested on? was the cache empty? were the browsers using pipelining? what addons/widgets were installed? was any 3rd party software present that may have interfered? etc etc.

Ehtyar.
-Ehtyar (June 19, 2008, 04:45 PM)

Apologies for the lack of detailed information on that post. I did what I'd consider to be a fair test. Both FF and Opera were installed, non-portable versions. FF had the following extensions :

Adblock Plus, Better Gmail 2, BugMenot, Customize Google, Firebug, Gmail S/MIME, IE Tab, MR Tech Toolkit, SeoQuake, Stumbleupon, Stylish, Sxipper, Tab Mix Plus (the version posted earlier in this thread), TinyMenu, Web Developer, YSlow

Plugins : IETab, Java, Mozilla Default, Quicktime, Shockwave, Shockwave for Director, Silverlight, Windows Presentation Presentation

Third Party Software that monitors my connection: Admuncher, Spyware Blaster, IE Spy Ads, Comodo Firewall Pro

Opera had about 35 javascript files in the user.js directory, but of course, many of them (about 20) are site specific, so they only come into play when I visit that site. Many of those 20 sites were not part of my test. Although, I am not sure if Opera loads all the js at once, or only when I visit the site.

Sites I tried out (mostly with poor html):

http://football365.com
http://myspace.com (plus a few random user pages)
And a few other from Vincent Flander's site (http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com)

Test Machine (Windows) :

Acer Travelmate 4070
Intel Centrino 1733 Mhz
2GB 667 Mhz DDR2
60GB 5400 RPM Parallel ATA
Windows XP SP3 (Nlited, many services turned off)

Test Machine (Linux):

1.8Ghz AMD Athlon
512 MB RAM
Xubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron)
7200 RPM 250GB Parallel ATA

I realize that I am not presenting as much details as some would like, but frankly I can't recall all the details of my test. But I would like to say (again with no evidence to back this statement) that I am only making my comments based on my own user experience. I do not declare allegiance to either the Mozilla or Opera camp and in fact, I've used both extensively, along with K-Meleon. Hence, when I state that as a user, I've experienced a problem or enjoyed a feature, its because I actually have and I hope that the developers can fix it or implement it elsewhere. I am not trying to make any product appear better than another through my comments.

Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Ehtyar on June 19, 2008, 07:05 PM
Thank you for the details, though i wouldn't consider that a fair test at all. A fresh windows installation, and clean copies of opera/firefox would be needed for a 'fair' test i should think.

Ehtyar.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: icekin on June 19, 2008, 08:52 PM
Thank you for the details, though i wouldn't consider that a fair test at all. A fresh windows installation, and clean copies of opera/firefox would be needed for a 'fair' test i should think.

Ehtyar.
-Ehtyar (June 19, 2008, 07:05 PM)

I should point out that your average end user is not going to be installing opera or FF on top of a fresh install of XP either. Even worse, it could be one of those default Windows XP installs that comes with the machine, pre-filled with auto-starting programs and other crapware. The ideal goal for developers should be to make a piece of software that can run efficiently on the minimum system requirements advertised, under the practical system environment that an end user is going to have. For an example, look at uTorrent or xplorer2. Both programs have always started and responded, even when my system has 30 other applications open.

My own test and its results are not meant to be used as benchmarks (and neither will they be), but they are certainly fair since all three browsers (Opera, FF and K-Meleon) were run on the same machine and started with clear caches. All 3 browsers were given the same set of resouces to work with. Yet, if some of them can perform in some areas and others can't, I think its an issue with the program, not my testing method.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: nosh on June 19, 2008, 09:10 PM
I couldn't bear the wait (not while the whole fxing world was talking about nothing else!) so I decided this would be a nice opportunity to start a fresh FF install. I've managed to find most of my extensions or even better replacements.

Got rid of the titlebar & menus using 'Autohide' (you have to run in fullscreen mode & ask it to always show whichever elements you need to see at all times, the rest can be easily toggled on when needed by getting out of FS mode)

MenuEditor is available (yaay!) - though I haven't had the time to put it to use yet.

Toolbars are not as quirky to customize as before but do take a bit of doing.

The Library is awesome, I botched up some stuff while putting it to the test and instinctively hit Ctrl+Z (I'd never have noticed it in the menu) & could undo every step (don't know if this was a feature in FF2 but it's awesome to not lose bookmarks just coz you're in sleep deprived zombie mode! )

The performance: well, Firefox doesn't feel like Firefox anymore. Can't wait to see how much better it'll get after I give it the full Tweakguides workout. 8)

Thank you, Mozilla!
 


Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Ehtyar on June 19, 2008, 10:09 PM
I should point out that your average end user is not going to be installing opera or FF on top of a fresh install of XP either.
...
Yet, if some of them can perform in some areas and others can't, I think its an issue with the program, not my testing method.
-icekin (June 19, 2008, 08:52 PM)
I cannot see how you expect to administer a 'fair' test when you've modified each piece of software from its original configuration in different ways across the board, though i will concede that most users won't be using the software without modification on a clean OS install.

Ehtyar.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Grorgy on June 19, 2008, 11:09 PM
Its exactly the sort of test an end user will make, if it isnt faster/slower/better/worse on his/her system then what it does on an unused PC is irrelevant to them, and I for one appreciate hearing users feelings about a program rather than what it should be capable of in an ideal environment.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Curt on June 24, 2008, 09:52 AM
maybe we should post firefox 3 reviews we find:
-mouser (June 18, 2008, 09:28 AM)

http://firefox.s3.sitepoint.com/ff3-revealed.zip
-sitepoint (copyrighted PDF)

- thorough, oh yes, but maybe a little too enthusiastic?  :-\
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: tomos on July 04, 2008, 05:04 PM
still havnt installed this

Anyone know ...
I'm wondering if I have versions 2 & 3 installed separately could one run both simultaneously ?
I suspect not, normally FF only allows one instance (unfortunately)
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Lashiec on July 04, 2008, 05:17 PM
Sandbox it, or use a VM :)
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: nosh on July 04, 2008, 06:06 PM
The single instance thing applies across versions. I had both installed before I got rid of FF2.
42 extensions ported now to FF3, it has crashed a couple of times (possibly an extension incompatibility) but when you consider the night & day difference in performance, upgrading is a complete no-brainer. You can create an exclusive profile for FF3 to avoid complications.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Curt on July 04, 2008, 07:29 PM
- yes, that would be necessary, because if installed the normal way, 3 will update 2

I just tried this and ran FF3 for less than half an hour, before I removed it again. I was annoyed that too many addons were deactivated, more than half of them, but I tried it long enough to realize that I am looking very much forward to install it again, when it is ready for me.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: cmpm on July 04, 2008, 07:52 PM
The add on's are better in quality for FF3.
Perhaps the name of the add on is not upgraded.
But there will be one similar and better in most cases.
This has been my experience so far.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: patteo on July 04, 2008, 09:57 PM
still havnt installed this

Anyone know ...
I'm wondering if I have versions 2 & 3 installed separately could one run both simultaneously ?
I suspect not, normally FF only allows one instance (unfortunately)
-tomos (July 04, 2008, 05:04 PM)

You could run both simultaneously:
You of course need to install FF3 to another directory and also create a separate profile.

I recommend that keep FF2 as your default as otherwise, when another programs calls for a browser, FF3 would load instead and check for compatability of add-ons  that you have been using for FF2 which can be a pain in the neck.
http://blog.codefront.net/2007/08/20/how-to-have-firefox-3-and-firefox-2-running-at-the-same-time/

And of course backup your default profiles etc before you begin.

If you are still not sure, better use one of the tools like Sandbox instead.

The only tricky part I have not figured out yet is when I'm ready dump FF2, how do I do it properly- possibly reinstall FF3 again, but this time with the default settings.

A word of caution when using tools like Nightly Tester to force compatibility for add-ons.
I had an instance when an incompatible add-on caused instability for FF3.

Also, go easy when walking the table spread of Add-ons - like doing it progressively, one at a time, use it for a while and see if everything is fine before you add the next one.

It's so tempting as you go through the gigantic list of those available and add 5 or 6 at one go.

My FF3 had a case of indigestion and another round of instability even for those which are already compatible and it becomes hard to identify which one is the culprit when you add more than one at once.

So I have learnt my lesson - slow and steady.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Ehtyar on July 04, 2008, 09:59 PM
As mentioned earlier in this thread, the portable version can be run whilst a fully installed version is in use.

Ehtyar.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: tomos on July 05, 2008, 07:48 AM
thanks all
esp patteo &
Ehtyar, - I had missed that earlier
:)
As mentioned earlier in this thread, the portable version can be run whilst a fully installed version is in use.
-Ehtyar (July 04, 2008, 09:59 PM)
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Ehtyar on July 05, 2008, 06:33 PM
I'm sorry I was probably a bit snippy there, I forget how much of a pain in the a** it is to read through such a long thread. I would recommend the portable version though, it's the least risky solution, and can come in very handy should you ever need a browser on your USB key.

Ehtyar.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: tomos on July 05, 2008, 07:41 PM
I'm sorry I was probably a bit snippy there, I forget how much of a pain in the a** it is to read through such a long thread
-Ehtyar (July 05, 2008, 06:33 PM)

no, no!
& I for my part really meant the "thanks" & didnt mean to sound defensive -
I skimmed the thread which practically guarantees I'm going to miss something ;D
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: lanux128 on July 05, 2008, 09:04 PM
i've made the transition to Firefox 3 with all my old customisations intact except for one addon - SessionSaver. by now, if any addons haven't been updated, i guess they never will be. ;)
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: cmpm on July 05, 2008, 09:14 PM
Here's one of a few for ff3 lanux.
If it's what you want....

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2324

Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: lanux128 on July 06, 2008, 12:00 AM
thanks cmpm, i've already tried Session Manager but as its "undo closed tabs" feature can't be turned off. i had settle for TMP's session-saving feature (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1122). for the record, previously i was using this (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/436) addon.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: tomos on July 09, 2008, 06:42 AM
dont know where to post this - re the forum here & how it shows in FF3 in particular

I open unread posts page
open links of interest in the background
when I click on those tabs that were opened in the background, there's a noticeable jump - the page (and text?) reduces in size like something slotting into place -
anyone else experiencing this ??

I've only seen it with dc on FF3 but saying that, I've only tried a couple other forums, otherwise not had any similar trouble with other sites
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: f0dder on July 09, 2008, 07:02 AM
tomos: don't think I've had that, but perhaps something related? Sometimes when I switch to another tab, it's as if another tab than the one I'm selecting is rendered for a very short time, and then I get to the correct tab. Haven't looked into what it takes to reproduce, as it doesn't happen very often.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: dmtrs on July 09, 2008, 02:11 PM
when I click on those tabs that were opened in the background, there's a noticeable jump - the page (and text?) reduces in size like something slotting into place -
-tomos (July 09, 2008, 06:42 AM)

This looks like the zoom memory, where, by default, the zoom setting is remembered per site (and across sections). It is a new feature in Firefox 3.

To check, you can reset the zoom for donationcoder.com (Ctrl+0, or View > Zoom > Reset).

Zoom memory can be disabled via about:config:

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.zoom.siteSpecific
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: tomos on July 09, 2008, 02:45 PM
This looks like the zoom memory, where, by default, the zoom setting is remembered per site (and across sections). It is a new feature in Firefox 3.

To check, you can reset the zoom for donationcoder.com (Ctrl+0, or View > Zoom > Reset)
-dmtrs (July 09, 2008, 02:11 PM)
that's it all right dmtrs, thanks :up:

strange that it decided to resize one site and not most others - or not in f0dder's Firefox for example !!
Just checking: so if I set zoom to 120% for dc, yes, it does remember ...

I would reckon it was previously at about 110% or less (-I work with scales so I'm a good guage ;)) and when I clicked on the tab it jumped back to 100% (or 10% less :D)
anyways, sorted now, thanks
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: f0dder on July 09, 2008, 02:53 PM
tomos: it's actually a feature of FF3, that it remembers zoom per domain, not browser-wide or per-tab... I quite like the feature, since some sites use ludicrously small fonts :). Guess it might explain my behavior as well... yep, just tested, indeed it does - if I change zoom for one open DC tab and switch to another, first it renders (or shows cached render?) with the original zoom, then quickly re-renders to the new zoom level.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: tomos on July 09, 2008, 03:17 PM
the portable version can be run whilst a fully installed version is in use.
-Ehtyar (July 04, 2008, 09:59 PM)

hmmm,
just tried:
---------------------------
Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition | PortableApps.com
---------------------------
Another instance of Firefox is already running. Please close other instances of Firefox before launching Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition.
---------------------------
OK   
---------------------------

does anyone know, is there maybe a different version of FFportable ? or does it have to be on an external drive or something (doesnt make any sense to me but cant think of any other reason..)
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: Ehtyar on July 09, 2008, 08:36 PM
Here you go tomo man: link (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=13723.msg117390#msg117390).

Ehtyar.
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: tomos on July 10, 2008, 02:32 AM
Here you go tomo man: link (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=13723.msg117390#msg117390).

Ehtyar.
-Ehtyar (July 09, 2008, 08:36 PM)

 :-[ thanks Ehtyar :Thmbsup:
Title: Re: Firefox 3 Released
Post by: tomos on July 30, 2008, 05:18 AM
Hi Ehtyar,

I'm missing TabMixPlus (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1122) something cruel, but other than that I'm OK.
-Ehtyar (June 17, 2008, 06:26 PM)

You can find a version for FF3 here (its a Dev-Build, but works flawless for me): http://tmp.garyr.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7031

Marc
-mhb (June 18, 2008, 06:00 AM)

after FF update to 3.0.1 today I had to go back & install this again - seems to be working fine -
I think I couldnt live with FF without it ...