Mozilla FireFox
 

http://mozilla.org/products/firefox/h-ff-dl.png

Well, the next version of the Mozilla Foundation's stand-alone browser is out, and with it, a name change (again)!

Mozilla Firebird is now known as Mozilla FireFox. Long live respect for fellow OSS projects. From the Mozilla Foundation's webpage:

AND

So, it looks like they've settled on a name that is good AND doesn't conflict with anything. Pretty awesome news, and I love the new logo too.

Anyways, I'm going to install FireFox 0.8 now and check it out. I'll be back with initial reactions.


Oh yeah, for those interested:

Mozilla Firefox - Brand Name FAQ:
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/fire...-name-faq.html

Press Release:
http://www.mozilla.org/press/mozilla-2004-02-09.html

And as a side note, Thunderbird 0.5 was released today too.

Just today I saw a thing at OSNews talking about Firebird Database software. I thought "jeez.. mozilla already changed the name once.. either they or the DB software will have to do it".. and then I came home and read this haha.

I'm looking forward to installing it, but will wait till it hits Portage.. which will probably be tomorrow :)

Links!

FireFox homepage:
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

Thunderbird homepage:
http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/

Enjoy!

Time to go tell everyone that I've converted that the name is different... again... (*sigh*). At least it is a great browser!

woohoo!!
go mozilla go
kick m$ butt

seems to be pretty good.... the name might take a lil while to grow on me... the symbol is super cool tho.....

the firebird seems quick and responsive :D always a good thing.... i liked unzipping it better then the installer... dont have to delete the 2 icons it makes... ohwell...

the thunderbird seems to be taking up a little less memory... and i can see right off that they fixed the msg counting bug

I just downloaded this and I love it. Great work from the developers.

FireFox is a great step forwards in browsers.

Screw Micro$oft and get Firefox.

Me likes! I've been using since 0.5 and I don't think I'll ever go back!

I have been using Mozilla for about a month and I can't imagine going back to IE.

Now if only I could delete IE *damn you microsoft*

I've made the switch from firebird to firefox.. and I cant tell too much of a difference. Webpages do seem to load quicker than with firebird and I like the new icon, it looks much better than the old one.

I usually check on mozilla's page a few nights a week since i was expecting this release anytime. I went there last night and everything was the same, i refreshed a little later (just for kicks ;) ) and firefox was up. It was a great surprise :D

Well, since you asked...

Not ThunderFox? What's the difference in the update to 1.5?

But does it render pages faster?

I must say that logo is enticing me to try this out... I'm so easily manipulated ::sigh::

the new logo is teh sexy, indeed.

still waiting for it to do a couple things to replace my Opera though.

Which couple? I know a bunch of workarounds.

(Or, just keep using Opera, some people like it better. As long as people keep moving away from IE...)

yeah, I tried it last week or so, and I tried to like it...

but..

1. the theme I wanted to use wouldn't work
2. finding the rite plugin/configuring the few mouse gestures i use was a pain in the ass
3. and one of the most important ones - with a plain text url (not! a link) with opera you can highlight it and in the contest menu it recognises that it's a url and you can choose to go to url. (and i think, but cannot find one to test at the moment, that you can also just double click it)..

and i can't remember what else but something with opening links in a new tab not a whole new broswer window (which seems so simple maybe i jsut overlooked that..)

dun remember what elses..

I *wanna* be a convert...but I need to be able to browse the way i want.

That whole new tab thing about Opera makes it an awsome browser and it saves up RAM for more useful things:D

http://66.90.75.92/torrents/1130/Fir...exe(5).torrent

There's a torrent link for those who have BitTorrent. The servers have been hit pretty hard, so if you do have BitTorrent I recommend using it.

SiN, can't speak for your first two, but the second two things you mentioned I know for a fact are very easily arranged. I know, because I use them ;) Not positive that the extensions have been updated for 0.8 quite yet but I know they will be any time now.

Sin, middle clicking a link will open it up in a tab, not a new window, or you right click and choose to open it that way.

I have my laptops touchpad set up so i just tap the bottom right corner and my links will open in a new tab. Pretty handy :D

Just downloaded it, Im not that big into development and do not see a huge difference other than just having the latest thing but hey, its worth without a doubt!

It's very fast but where the heck did my scrollbars go? I have to use my mouse to scroll.

They should be there. Don't see any reason they wouldn't be :confused:

And, yes, you can middle click or right click, but there is an easy extension (that everyone should have anyways) that can make it the default

I like it. It does seem a bit faster...

now that I have ran it for an hour or so it does seem faster. I would love the extension to make the tabbed browsing the default but last time I checked the extension page was down.

yeah give it a few days due to server load and the extension needing to be made for 0.8

It should be out fairly soon though.

did you use Firebird previously? I saw this on another site:

Also, a thread on the subject over at Mozillazine: http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewto...0b98fba2164612

installed it but hated having to set up a profile...why can't i just use the default profile? :s

sticking in firebird for a while longer :)

???? Odd...I didn't have to set up a profile. What are you running it on? And did you remove Firebird first?

1. Yeah, they keep tweaking the base code, which f's up the themes. Fortunately for me, I like the default theme well enough, so I just stick with it. Once
2. I don't use mouse gestures, so I can't advise you. However, by the time Firefox 0.9 is released (target March/April), it will have "extension packages", and this is expected to be part of it.
3 and 4. There's an extension, TBE (Tabbrowser Extensions), that makes absolutely everything available. The dev's don't like it, since it often breaks things. I can't live without it, personally. If you don't want to risk TBE...
3. the Text Links extension.
4. Tabbrowser Preferences (which is different from TBE) does this simply.

By 1.0, there should be some better-integrated TBE-type preferences built in, so they become less hacky.

So, SiN, you may want to wait until the next point release, or continue to enjoy Opera.

Yeah, dnd, I dont know if this has anything to do with it but they did suggest to disable all plug ins and stuff before switching, or easier yet, just uninstall Firebird first if you were using it.

thx for the excellent reply, redlemon. :)

I've downloaded it, and will try it as soon as I have time to config it.

I want to like it, it's the sexy browser, so i'm not gonna give up on it..just trying to be patient ;)

Using to see this right now. EXCELLENT browser, definetly like it better then firebird. Still have yet to convert to thunderbird though, still usiing outlook.

hehe been using it for a few months and I love this browser it is excellent :)

and I had trouble with my back / forward arrows disappearing and no scroll bar as well.. I had to uninstall my old theme I was using and use the default them and everything worked (and is working) ok.

You may or may not want to hold off on Thunderbird (wonder what they'll change the name too?).....it's v0.5 so it's technically not as polished yet, but I will say I've been using it for the past few days (I was using the Mozilla Suite before) and it's worked great for me thus far.

firefox is great.
firebird was too.
earlier versions of mozilla, i didn't like too much....

but how come they can't put "print" or "print picture" in the right-click context menu???? is this passe'? am i missing something?

Like SiN, this is starting to tempt me away from Opera but I think I'm too lazy and too addicted to mouse gestures built-in. I'll wait till they wrap them all up in a new release. :D

Heh, I'll agree with you there.

I had been using the mozilla suite, but I thought I'd give FireFox a try. Downloaded it yesterday, and I love it. It feels a little faster and and a little cleaner too. No complaints here.

how about mozilla fire$ANIMAL

ok well that was pretty lame, but the browser still rocks....is there anything better than tabbed browsing?

i submit there is not

Thanks for the info! I've been using Mozilla Firebird for a while now and I like it a lot more than IE despite some annoying bits, now I can't live without tabs heh.

By the way, I found it funny that it says Tilted Forum Project - Mozilla FireFox - Mozilla Firebird at the top of my browser.

hmm....did you compile it yourself? I've heard it does stuff like that in the compiled versions.

The Mozilla FireFox you see is the thread title (as the correct spelling, although I don't like it, is Firefox), but Mozilla Firebird is what it reports as the browser title. I know the Windows installations don't do that, but the self-built ones do and maybe all Linux versions but I don't know.

*goes back to staring at logo*

I'm downloading it right now. Mozilla's fuckin awesome.

TabBrowser Extensions now work again :D

Sin, this solves the 3rd and 4th thing you mentioned :)

Bah, the mouse is overrated. ;)

You should use the keyboard like 95% of the time! Keyboard bindings are my savior! :D

I just downloaded FireFox 0.8 and its rendering is FREAKING FAST. The complaint that Mozilla * is slower than IE is no longer valid.

For anyone who cares....

A Firefox is another name for a Chinese red panda.....that's this cute little creature right here :)....

http://pantransit.reptiles.org/image...7/redpanda.jpg

OR IT COULD JUST BE A FOX THEY SET ON FIRE.

http://irev.net/spleen/firefox.jpg

all images stolen by me. edited with a non-photoshop program by me. any attempt to save fox from burning will be set on fire at once. any attempt to save person who attempted to save fox but was instead set on fire will be set on fire as well. Any other attempts to save the saver of the saver, will just be drowned.

@ SMeth..

So.Fucking.Cute! :D

...

and regarding this browser...I want to do it today, but, one other 'complication' I've just remembered...

Importing Opera bookmarks?

/me gives a kiss to whomever can tell me how ;)

Why the FUCK Can't I download w/ Save AS, download *Complete* webpage.

I dl a webpage w/ save as (only option is Web Page, HTML only), then it saves to disk.
When I delete the .html file (i just want the jpgs), they are then destroyed too.

W/ Mozilla I could just dl the complete page, toss the html file, and the rest was history.

Any advice.
I love the new speed. It is blazing fast.

/hates running Mozilla and Firefox at same time because they freeze up together.

rename the directory with the images, then you can delete the HTML. IE does the same thing. The HTML and the directory are somehow linked.

You should have an option in the save page as to save the complete webpage by the way. I have text files, HTML only, and web page COMPLETE.

SiN, here you go for Opera bookmarks...

http://kb.mozillazine.org/index.phtm...pera_Bookmarks

How weird... mine only give me the option to Save Page As... Web Page, HTML only.

On mozilla I have Web Page Complete option.

Need to reinstall?

Thanks! :D

Worked great :)

/me is working her way over to FireFox...

I'm giving Firefox a try. The last time I tried it was last year when it was still called Firebird... Didn't like it then, hated the tabs, but will see how it's going now.

I assume I can ask questions about the browser here? I'm very accustomed to doing things in a certain way, and would like to see if I can customize Firefox to fit my needs.

1) Is there a way to get Firefox to download plug-ins automatically? The first site I went to, it detected a Flash component and took me to Macromedia's site...can't it download them automatically? I could've sworn IE downloaded Flash support on its own.

2) Is there a way to get rid of the image placeholders? I hate them, always have...it was the #1 reason I never used Netscape/Mozilla. Well, that, and their slowness.

Other than that it seems to be pretty fast, once it has loaded.

Sorry about the double post, but I've just got to ask about this...

Why is it that Firefox, which otherwise has pleasantly surprised me with its speed, has to display the web pages in such a fucked up fashion? Just like Mozilla, I tell you...

http://www.jella.net/bin/ungood.jpg
Check out this screen cap from TFP...that arrow thing is not aligned with the profile, pm etc buttons, but hanging low. And look at that quickreply box! It's way too "thin". The buttons on the top of the page, chat journals webcams etc are also not aligned. Is this something I can fix by adjusting some settings? :(

Regarding #1, automatically downloading plugins would take away the users right and ability to choose what they install on their computer. I do know they're working with Macromedia to have a bundled version once Firefox reaches "release" level. (Remember, it's technically only a technology preview at the moment)

As for #2, if I'm not mistaken, Firefox and Mozilla don't have any placeholders (I'm assuming you mean like the red X's in IE?) It's actually a bug where they're supposed to show up, but don't if an image doesn't have a specified size, etc. Nonetheless, if you're getting them, there is a tweak to turn them off - although I don't know it offhand and am posting this from a computer other than my own so I can't find out right now.


Lastly, regarding page rendering, that's the result of non-compliance to standards, a.k.a. bad web coding (not on Halx's part, but on vbullitens). Unfortunately nothing you can do about it really. One of the reasons IE has been able to stay popular despite almost every single other browser on the market being superior in features and security is that MS has utilized its position over the years to propogate web authoring methods which only IE renders 100% roperly. As much as web developers are working to fight this and adopt more standards-based coding, there is still also the challenge that comes from the fact that not only does IE render improper coding "correctly" but it also renders a lot of proper coding incorrectly.

Anyways, the short answer to your last question is no. Really, they're extremely minor things and shouldn't make much of a difference anyway.


BTW, I don't know what it was you didn't like about the tabs in Firebird....they're no different in Firefox. And, in both versions, as with every version of any Mozilla browser, you can just turn tabbed browsing off :confused:

Yeah, the thing I didn't like about tabs was that they take up space from the toolbar. I like mine as small as possible, like in IE I've only the row with the icons and then the row with the url and go button...

I spent more time configuring Firefox, than I did on Firebird or Mozilla, and I like it quite a bit. Having a bit of trouble getting used to its quirks, but for browsing it does seem significantly faster than IE, which is what counts in the end when you're on 56k, like me.

I figured the reason the pages were displaying "incorrectly" (or correctly, if you will) was because of mostly IE-specific code. Thanks for confirming that, and all the other tips as well.

And at least I get image placeholders... (not the little red x's, but placeholders that "hold the place" of an image until it is loaded, like in this screen cap.

My new Firefox is loaded with plugins...it's like a Rolls Royce of browsers. I got

Refspoof
Linky
Spiderzilla (Httrack integrated in Firefox)
Dictionary Search 0.2
Magpie 3.0 (AKA Tab Downloader)

I can highlight a word on a page and rightclick and find out in a new tab what it means on dictionary.com. I can launch a google search
on any higlighted term also. I can spoof my referrer in Spoof Toolbar, open a whole page of porn pics in Linky and save them all at once in Magpie.
I can be lazy and use Spiderzilla to Httrack it as well.


add engines to the search bar at http://mycroft.mozdev.org . Use their search feature to find your favorite search sites...I can search everything I want in just the searchbar. Just leave the file or term in the searchbar and make a new tab and switch the search engine. Best browser ever.

Remember, in Firefox you can change everything about the toolbar layouts. Have fun condensing and removing and reordering.

And, if you think Firefox is a dumb name, try the extension Firesomething for a new name everytime you start. Dumb, but fun.

Please, everyone ask questions. There are plenty of answers over at the Mozillazine forums, but it can be overwhelming, and I promise not to tell anyone to RTFM.

I like to spread the word about Phoenix/Firebird/Firefox (whatever) and I always remind folks many plugins/themes etc. are only a couple of weeks behind the new release. That's not a high price to pay for such a high quality/low price product!

I notice javascript windows don't always open. I click and nothing happens. It worked fine with the last release. I'm using TBE as I did last time too. Perhaps anyone knows the fix?
EDIT: Also, the middle-click to open new tab stops working after a while, restarting the browser fixes it, but it never did this with the last version.

Jeff, I literally ran across this exact same thing in my own using and in the Mozillazine forums. With the help of another person we found the cause. It's a bug in TBA (*NOT* in Firefox - that's important to understand). Something about how TBE works makes it so that javascript popups - which are initiated by the user- do not work unless in "use multiple browsers normally" window mode and/or "open tabs instead of windows for new windows opened by javascript" is unchecked.

The author of TBA has been notified about this problem: http://white.sakura.ne.jp/~piro/xul/forum/?763

You must tell me how you did this.
I just downloaded the fox tonight, like, an hour ago.

I'm already addicted to tabs! While we're at it, this sucker is F A S T.

So, I've already got SmoothWheel and mouse gestures. I'd love to be able to do the highlighting you mentioned.

I know Linky lets you highlight something and search google. Dunno how the dictionary one works though.

Linky rocks btw. :)

Just search on Mozdev for Dictionary Search 0.2 for the highlight dictionary search and


http://dictionarysearch.mozdev.org/

I can't seem to find the google right click search...it might be part of Dictionary search . I found all of them on Mozdev and I didn't look too hard when I found them last time.


Good extension site:

http://extensionroom.mozdev.org/

I think it is. I installed it and am LOVING it. :D

Smeth, you seem to be on the ball for queries.. I've got one for you hehe.

Firefox has switched the order of my buttons on dialog boxes, etc. (Cancel is now on the left side, OK is on the right side).. is this a bug, or is this trying to align w/ some standards?

Thanks

I'll take this one, SM.

"Because Firebird uses GTK on the Linux platform, and because the latest versions of the GNOME UI specs switched the OK and Cancel buttons, the Firefox devs switched the buttons in all versions of Firefox to match the UI spec, IIRC. "

I'll be the first to admit that I have no idea what they are talking about.

I can now do dictionary and google searches by highlighting text.

Firefox does render this message window very "compact." Also, when editing posts I've found the text box is tiny.

I can live with that.

Well, Latch, I'm assuming that you're talking about Firefox on Linux. To quote the response I got from someone in #mozillazine on irc.mozilla.org -

and

So, in short, it's not a bug, but the Human Interface Guidelines say it should be that way on some platforms, so on those platforms it is.

EDIT: damn, looks like someone beat me to it while I was looking up the answer :p

I'm pretty positive the buttons shouldn't be switched in Windows. I've been using Windows for the past while and haven't noticed any switch.

They might have meant "all versions" of Linux. I never click blindly at OK and Cancel, since I switch between Mac and Windows, so I don't know if there was a change or not.

You know how in IE's options you can have it open links in a new window automatically? Is there a way to do this with Firefox? I know you can simply right-click and so forth, but I often have to double-click on a link in an email message in Outlook, and would prefer that it opened a new tab, or at least a new window and not open the link into my current tab.

And yeah, SM, I did dislike the tabs when I tried Firebird. Ironically, I now love Firefox for the same reason I disliked Firebird...that and the speed. Yeah, I'm strange.

Firefox is much improved over mozilla for speed reasons. However they have left some of the preferences out, like using pipelining. Im sure they will be added back in the future. As a mac user, I have become accustumed to closing the tab with an x style button thanks to safari. Overall, this is a much welcomed improvement though.

I always opened a link in a new window, and then had a bunch of windows open, and had to close them from the little x. So now I have lots of tabs open, and keep accidentally closing the whole damn browser by meaning to close just one tab.

What would be a nice feature for future updates is that the browser would "memorize" open tabs and open them again when the browser is launched again.

The extension Tab X will put a close box on every tab (that's a direct-install XPI link, BTW).

Thanks guys. I thought it may be to follow a set of standards, now I know.. I'll learn to live with it :)

Good to know. Thanks for the tip.

Alright.. I resisted a couple days before getting extentions.. but I finally went and checked out what they had to offer.. already I'm amazed and love what I've downloaded.. never knew what I was missing until I got more, but now I don't know if I could ever go back :)

Anyways, I ran into a problem that I image a few people may have (those on *nix, at least). I su'd to root and installed all the extensions I wanted.. as I was guessing some would need root no matter what (like Optimoz Mouse Gestures used to for Firebird). I was pleasantly surprised that most extensions had the option to install locally.. anyways.. some that I installed system-wide wouldn't load for me (as a normal user). As a result, it was locking up every session of Firefox. What you need to do is allow rx permissions to the jar files in your Firefox chrome directory.

On Gentoo (and probably a lot of other distros), the Firefox chrome directory is:
/usr/lib/MozillaFirefox/chrome. Then you need to chmod -R 755 *.

For example:

latch@afx latch $ su
Password: [put in your root password]
root@afx latch # cd /usr/lib/MozillaFirefox/chrome
root@afx chrome # chmod -R 755 *
root@afx chrome # exit
exit
latch@afx latch $

Firefox should then load successfully for you :)

Prince, regarding image placeholders, try the following. If it doesn't work, then change it back since I'm not POSITIVE that this is what the setting is for :p Can't hurt to try though....

1) in the location bar, type about:config
2) find browser.display.show_image_placeholders
3) right click and select modify
4) type in false and then hit enter
5) restart Firefox (probably unnecessary but just in case)
6) check if it works and report back :)

Good luck! :)

It works!! Thanks a bundle, SM.

I downloaded a version of Mozilla a while ago, and it somehow broke my internet connection settings. Just downloaded FireFox a few days ago, and I haven't looked back once. FireFox rocks, IE sucks balls.

I never knew you could edit the config like that! Thanks for the tip!!!

Yep, there's tons of things you can change from about:config.

It's also worth checking out some user content/chrome hacks as well.

Once you get under the skin Mozilla is a very configurable browser.

I want Firefox to open a new tab with every link I click. ONE click. Is this possible?

Use CTRL + Click

You could try out TBE's "Single Window Mode" but thats not going to open every href link in a new tab.

the above suggestions, or middle click as well.

ok im a newb on this one.. im finally fed up with IE.. no really lol

if i like mozilla.. and it works for me.. (which it should) should i just delete IE (can i do that?) and will my os win xp home still be ok to use.. dont want to mess up my system here

It isn't worth the effort, if it is even possible. Just ignore IE, other than using it to run Windows Update every once in a while. And feel free to ask any Firefox questions you have in this thread.

Is there a way to have Firefox load images one by one instead of trying to load them all at the same time? When I go to a uhhhh tread with lots of uhh pictures, like 20+, it is a painfully long wait, as it tries to load all the images at the same time. This means I can sit there for 20 minutes and still not see but the first inch or so of each image, as I am on 56k. It'd be nice if it didn't start loading a jpeg until it had stopped loading the previous one. Is there a way to do this?

I'm on DSL, so I can't test how this works. I believe that in about:config, you could set network.http.max-connections-per-server to 1.

RedLemon, it works beautifully!

Now I can fully embrace the TB in all its glory.

You are welcome. The thing that makes Firefox fun is tweaking all of these options under the hood. Make it a hotrod!

Question:

I have tabbrowser preferences extension installed, and have it selected to always open new links in tabs, rather than windows.

I'm switching from MyIE2, and in that program, you can set the newly opened tabs to automatically have focus. Is there any way to do this in FireFox? Seriously, it's pretty much the only thing keeping me from bailing on IE-based browsers entirely.

MPEDrummer

mpedrummer: that's not a TBE setting, it is in Firefox. Go to Tools>Options>Advanced>Browsing, and deselect "Open links in the background".

Go into TabBrowser Extensions Options, go to the focus section, set the "load new tab in the background when it is opened by" preferences to your liking :)

Farking superb.

Thanks guys!