CoN Browser of Choice Firefox Reaches Version 0.9
A news post from Tiddles can only mean one thing: there’s a new Firefox milestone release this morning.
This new version features a new system for extensions and themes; if you installed any previously, you’ll need new, 0.9-compatible versions for this release. Built into the new system is an update manager that connects to the new Mozilla Update site, which should hopefully reduce such problems in the future.
Also included is the Help system intended for release with 0.8 (which, unless it’s been updated in the last few hours, still contains screenshots from 0.8 and a couple of procedures that have changed for 0.9, but is otherwise quite good). Since installation can now also import most data (such as history, favourites/bookmarks, saved passwords) from an installation of Internet Explorer or other popular browsers, now is probably the best time yet to make the switch.
I must also point out a couple of negatives with this version, however. The excellent Qute theme for Windows and Linux is no longer shipped with Firefox; instead, a new theme known as Winstripe is packaged. While far from terrible, the author freely admits that this theme is “a 0.1 release at best”, and the truth is that its early inclusion (and its existence at all) comes down to ugly licensing issues with the previous theme. Not to worry, though: the old theme, Qute, is now available as a standalone theme, and looks a great deal nicer than its 0.8 counterpart (which you can also find as Qute Retro, though I don't have a link for that at present; I also have some tips and tricks to make the new Qute take on some of the better features from its older release, which I'll put up in this topic if anyone wants them). It's also worth noting that some users have experienced instability with builds running up to this release, particularly in the most updated areas of the program, i.e. themes, extensions and profiles.
Overall, however, I'd recommend that all previous Firefox users and anyone thinking of switching give Firefox 0.9 a shot — just make sure to keep your old installation and profile handy in case of problems (but if you want to install 0.9 into the same directory as 0.8 was in, make sure you disable all of your old extensions and uninstall Firefox 0.8 first). Long-time CoN readers will be aware that we've been pushing everyone to move to non-Internet Explorer browsers for some time: Internet Explorer is an aging product for which Microsoft have stated there will be no future standalone versions, only security updates a new version to ship with the next release of Windows, still thought to be some two years off, in which it has apparently been stated that its many problems with Website rendering will still not be fixed. It is, at least, a good job that Microsoft do still release security updates, considering the number of security issues surrounding its browser. You've heard it all before, but my advice is to jump away from Internet Explorer as soon as possible.
Not interested in Firefox? Opera 7.51 was released recently and is also excellent. Version 1.7 of the aging Mozilla "1.x" Suite ought to be available soon (as should version 0.7 of Firefox's companion e-mail client, Thunderbird).
Enjoy!
- Mozilla Firefox Product Page
- Firefox 0.9 Downloads
(Windows installer now only 4.7MB!) - BitTorrent tracker for Firefox 0.9 releases
- Arvid Axelsson's Qute theme
- New IE Holes Defy Latest Patches (PCWorld.com)
- Opera Software
- Mozilla Suite
- Mozilla Thunderbird
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| Written by |
Tiddles |
| Site Developer | |
| Member Since: 2001-01-01 | |
| News articles posted: 23 | |
| More articles by Tiddles |
Comments
| Rangers51 | Comment 1: 2004-06-15 12:16 |
| I know that CoN has won a great many converts to this browser already, probably more than any other non-PC related site out there.* We're serious about using Firefox. It will make your experience here, and really, in the Web at large, much better. So much better, in fact, that we'd only allow Firefox to view the site if we had the opportunity to do so without alienating traffic. If you're not sure yet about all the benefits that Firefox will give you, please search this forum, and you'll be able to read all Tiddles' prior posts on the matter. *no research to this effect. | |
| KingofFigaro | Comment 2: 2004-06-15 12:42 |
| I wouldn't mind trying it out, but as I know very little about computers my wife would kill me if I screwed something up, I'm a little hesitant. Will Firefox completely replace IE on my computer? It might sound like a stupid question, but as a wise man once said, 'the only stupid question is the unasked one'. | |
| Tiddles | Comment 3: 2004-06-15 13:12 |
| Internet Explorer will still be available after installing Firefox (or any other browser), should you need to use it, even if you make Firefox your default browser (which would mean that clicking links from other programs would open Firefox). If anyone does decide to look up my older Firefox-related posts, note that the instructions for Java probably no longer work exactly as described, since the XPI install "for Mozilla 1.2" might not work with this new Firefox release. If anyone who manages to install Java into Firefox 0.9 (who didn't just keep it working by migrating from 0.8) could post how they did it, I'm sure a lot of people here who've had trouble would be grateful. (Installing Flash, on the other hand, is easy: just head over to www.macromedia.com and download their latest Flash Player, following the installation instructions on their download page.) | |
| FraudulentTommah | Comment 4: 2004-06-15 16:56 |
 Firefox | |
| Iain Peregrine | Comment 5: 2004-06-15 21:09 |
| Allow me to follow Tommah in showing my love of Firefox. An Ode to Firefox, Ye who did enhance mine internet experience And who bethought it kind to lift me from Microsoft's incompetence. May thy users increase, Like the sun shine'th upon the earth And bring'th life to those therein, To the internet you bring rebirth.  | |
| Figaro | Comment 6: 2004-06-15 21:39 |
| LOL Iain. I love FireFox. I got FF 0.9 not 2 minutes ago and already I love it. | |
| Shinrin | Comment 7: 2004-06-15 22:35 |
| i have to say it's pretty good. even tho it doesn't like geocities ads. i give it a thumbs up. | |
| Narratorway | Comment 8: 2004-06-15 22:42 |
| Well let me be the first to say I found Firefox to be extremely lacking in areas I find very important for the internet. In fact, it's been pure laziness that keeps me from switching back to IE as the default browser. In terms of speed, they're about the same for loading, although FF loads up the text a lot fast than IE ever has (which explains why all the folks here are so happy with it) however, and this was the big sticking point way back, it does not allow me to click and drag pictures directly off the web onto picture programs such as photoshop. This is a big deal for me since I use photoshop to color pictures I've loaded up from other computers. That was my only really beef with the program way back when I first started using it, but that 'tab' thing was such a cool and useful lil gift, that I figured I'd come out even, however lately FF has had a real problem connecting to sites and more often than not, I'm left having to open up IE in order to reach them. It's not like their small brad sites either. Usually it's places like ign and the CoN. As it is, the best responce I've gotten to these problems is 'isn't doesn't happen to me' and you can imagine how helpful that is. However, I'm willing to give FF a second chance on the basis of the tab alone, but if this new version keeps up with this sh!t, I'm going back to IE post haste. | |
| Malevolence | Comment 9: 2004-06-15 22:45 |
| i'm about to dl this one in a minute. maybe with this one i'll actually be able to get into chat. whatdaya think Tiddles? lol. | |
| Tiddles | Comment 10: 2004-06-15 22:58 |
| Quote (Narratorway) Well let me be the first to say I found Firefox to be extremely lacking in areas I find very important for the internet. In fact, it's been pure laziness that keeps me from switching back to IE as the default browser. In terms of speed, they're about the same for loading, although FF loads up the text a lot fast than IE ever has (which explains why all the folks here are so happy with it) however, and this was the big sticking point way back, it does not allow me to click and drag pictures directly off the web onto picture programs such as photoshop. This is a big deal for me since I use photoshop to color pictures I've loaded up from other computers. New in 0.9: right click, copy image. Paste in Photoshop. Problem solved. Except for transparent PNGs, apparently, but IE doesn't even display their transparency. But if you want a workaround for the drag and drop method, I find dragging the images out into a folder and then dragging them into whatever application is more reliable than going straight for the app window. Quote (Narratorway) however lately FF has had a real problem connecting to sites and more often than not, I'm left having to open up IE in order to reach them. It's not like their small brad sites either. Usually it's places like ign and the CoN. Lately meaning that it didn't happen when you first installed it? Being able to connect to Websites isn't something that's likely to differ between Web browsers, especially due to degradation over time. If there is no difference in the network and proxy settings as defined in IE compared to Firefox, it is difficult to imagine either browser being capable of causing connection problems. (Unless the error message is the old File Not Found problem, which isn't a connection issue but a cache problem, and should be mostly mitigated in this release.) It could be related to extensions, potentially, if you installed any, in which case Firefox 0.9 will give you a clean slate anyway since they need to be replaced. In any case, the MozillaZine forums are the best place to ask about that sort of thing, since there are naturally a better sample of Firefox users there -- if it is a problem that just happens to a few people, then it's more likely that one of the few will have been there before and mentioned it. Or just go ahead and file a bug. It's not perfect software, sure (pre-1.0 even), and it's not for everyone, but it's at least worth thinking about some of using the other alternatives linked in the topic post before heading back to IE. Sorry to hear you've suffered with it. | |
| MogMaster | Comment 11: 2004-06-16 08:31 |
| For a while i was to lazy to download firefox, even though i Knew it was superior. IE was alwas annoying, but on a 56k it was a large download. So i slept 16 hours one day and lo and behold when i woke up- My sister had downloaded it. I My Firefox. /me huggles Firefox. Gee tiddles If i didn't know any better i'd say you aren't to fond of IE- luckily i know better though [/kidding] | |
| Malevolence | Comment 12: 2004-06-16 18:51 |
| i loveth firefox. my IE is supposed to block pop-ups...nope. firefox does it just fine. it's faster than IE and downloads twice as fast. wow, that sounded like an infromercial testimonial, huh? | |
| Dark Paladin | Comment 13: 2004-06-16 22:20 |
| I'm kind of in the same/a similar boat as np. I don't really like FFox that much. It mostly has to do with it being little different that iE. The tabs option is cool, but I've never needed/used it. Copying images was one of the things that got on my nerves, but I never did it often enough. I've found it to be slightly slower than iE, but not by alot. Big things that make me like iE over FFox Managing Bookmarks/Favorites is a LOT more convenient in iE. I'm always altering my bookmarks, and I'd rather drag them around than have to open three menus to do it. Plus FFox Bookmarks don't overwrite, which is another thing that gets me. When you hit back, iE refreshes and puts the scroll bar where it was when you clicked the link to bring you to the page you just came from. FFox never refreshes, and brings you back to the top 83.7% of the time. The only thing that makes me like FFx over iE The icons that each web page has. Not that big though. The only reason I haven't put iE back as my default is I don't know how, and I'm too lazy to search for an Adware Bot. | |
| Tiddles | Comment 14: 2004-06-16 22:29 |
| Firefox not refreshing pages on going back tends to be thought of as a positive feature. It's a lot faster, for one thing, and you can always refresh afterwards if you desperately want a new copy. Pages can also force a refresh with various headers (the CoN front page does this, though I regret that it does, since it always annoys me when I go back over it nowadays). Not going back into the previous location in a page is a problem, and I'm pretty sure it did use to work better when I first used it, so maybe it's something that's got broken down the line and will be fixed again. I hope so, anyway, since it's been annoying me lately. And I agree that dragging bookmarks would be handy, though I'm not sure where "three menus" comes from. And hey, I didn't use to like tabbed browsing at all until I got the hang of middle clicking everything and preloading it in background tabs. Less useful now I'm back on dialup, mind. Like NP, I'd advise you to try alternatives like Opera before going back to IE, if only for the fact that your computer will be much less likely to be completely compromised by its terrible security (and because, if I'm honest, I'm waiting for the day when I can actually use CSS properly without using a heap of inelegant kludges to work around IE's thoroughly outdated "support"). | |
| Dark Paladin | Comment 15: 2004-06-16 23:00 |
Quote (Tiddles @ 16th June 2004 18:29) And I agree that dragging bookmarks would be handy, though I'm not sure where "three menus" comes from. Slight exaggeration on my part. When you add a book mark, you have to open the main menu, then hit that triangle every single time to open the second (sub)menu so you can choose where it goes. Plus in the bookmark Manager, dragging isn't as easy as it is with iE. It may not seem like a big deal, but like I said, I alter mine all the time. | |
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