Mozilla Firefox 3 Beta 1

[Guest Reimar]

First look at Firefox 3.0 Beta 1

I noticed that the Beta 1 for Firefox 3.0 was made available sometime yesterday. I’ve been curious as to whether the Firefox dev team would do a serious revamp for this release or just concentrate on bug fixes and performance improvements.

Early indications seem to suggest that it is indeed a major revamp of both the core and the UI, and that Firefox will be a much better browser for it.

I’m not a big Firefox user because I find the memory management to be very poor most of the time and the spiraling memory consumption affects both Firefox’s performance and the overall performance of my systems. I like Firefox but Firefox just doesn’t like me, so, while I have it installed on most systems, I mostly use Internet Explorer 7 and Opera for day to day browsing. Every time I say this I’m faced by a chorus of users telling me that there’s no problem with the way that Firefox handles memory, but this isn’t what I’m seeing. When a browser starts to edge near to consuming 500MB of RAM on a regular basis, something is wrong. Sure, I hammer the browser and have dozens of pages open at a time, but since both IE and Opera can handle this load, I expect Firefox to do so too. So far, it can’t, and because of that the icon doesn’t get clicked on that often.

Over the past few years I’ve felt that Firefox has lost its way and moved too far away from its roots. Firefox used to be about security and performance, but lately I’ve felt that add-ons and junking up the interface with eye-candy has taken priority over security and core stability.

Is Firefox 3.0 going to be better? Given what I’m seeing so far, I think so. Why? Because it looks like Mozilla have gone back to basics and worked on what really matters to users - security, speed and ease of use.

Everything about Firefox 3.0 beta 1 is fast. The download package is small which means that it comes in fast, the installation is fast, the browser fires up fast, pages and tabs open fast, the browser shuts down fast, and the uninstall process is fast and painless (I always like to test the uninstall process on applications because there’s nothing worse than having a bad house guest on your system that you can’t get rid of). This is all good stuff.

Without a doubt the Firefox 3.0 UI has been dramatically improved. Compare version 3 to version 2 and you instantly see the difference. Everything is brighter, clearer, and easier to access. Things that should be simple, such as bookmarking, saving passwords, and finding words and phrases in the text of a web page are now simple. Page zooming is brilliant, as is the feature that resumes interrupted downloads.

Here's the DOWNLOAD from the Mozilla FTP Site

[Guest Reimar]

I run the Bet1 right now and this version is a lot faster! Ok, some or better the most of the Extensions I normal use didn't work but I don't mind about that. The Speed is a big improvement.

I installed the Beta 1 beside the old version and I can easly switch if I need or want.

[lopburi3]

Just gave it a quick check and installs/removes very quickly - would not work with TRUE proxy setting (did not close and try again however). Bangkok Bank seemed to display OK but Immigration web site still not show pop-ups. But what made my check short was it could not display PDF downloads (which is really needed). Not sure if a re-install of PDF reader would have cured that or not as was using plug-in on 2.0.0.9 that could not be used with the beta.

[george]

Wow! Just installed it and it's super fast.

[luckyluke]

Thanks Reimar

[Guest Reimar]

Wow! Just installed it and it's super fast.

That is FAST!! I like it!

[Guest Reimar]

Just gave it a quick check and installs/removes very quickly - would not work with TRUE proxy setting (did not close and try again however). Bangkok Bank seemed to display OK but Immigration web site still not show pop-ups. But what made my check short was it could not display PDF downloads (which is really needed). Not sure if a re-install of PDF reader would have cured that or not as was using plug-in on 2.0.0.9 that could not be used with the beta.

It run with Acrobat 8 on Vista Ultimate without Problems. But I do not use a Proxy even I'm on TRUE!

But will check on an other computer shortly with XP and older PDF Reader!

[lopburi3]

Have reinstalled and did not make it default on startup this time and worked fine for the TRUE proxy. Again would not load PDF as said helper application not found so went to tools/applications and found Adobe8 was default so changed it to use Adobe8 to open inside browser and working fine that way - just would not launch external I guess. So the games begin.

[Guest Reimar]

Have reinstalled and did not make it default on startup this time and worked fine for the TRUE proxy. Again would not load PDF as said helper application not found so went to tools/applications and found Adobe8 was default so changed it to use Adobe8 to open inside browser and working fine that way - just would not launch external I guess. So the games begin.

Check even under Tools >Add-ons >Get Extensions and Tools >Options >Applications! There several Ways to customize the Firefox!

[fanciman]

If you haven't checked out Opera yet, you are in for a real treat. It is fantastic. Try the beta.

http://opera.com

[CosmicSurfer]

The problem with having so many different Browsers is the Favorites/Bookmarks...

I have IE7, Maxthon 2, Opera and Firefox..

But NONE of them will let you Synchronize your Favorites Folder with the others.. Sure They all will import & Export... But Why should I go through all that work ..

I Bookmark (Add Favorites all The time).. It's a real Pain with so many Browsers.. I want a Common File.

Also IE7 Has Really Pissed me Off.. sometimes it won't allow a Drag & Drop, so you need to open AD Fav.., Create in.. and now you have an EXTENDED TREE.. No Way to condense it.. Takes FOREVER to find the folder you want.

I've started to add all FAVs/BMs to an open Explorer window... at least that's easy to navigate and I get to keep them all in one folder.

Anybody have a better.. and FREE (FreeWare) suggestion?

CS

[onethailand]

Thanks for the link, Reimar! Trying it out now - so far, so fast But some plugins won't work

[Guest Reimar]

Thanks for the link, Reimar! Trying it out now - so far, so fast But some plugins won't work

You right with the plugins but this is a new version and the most extensions and plugins are third partie! Thinl about the driver and Vista! Even after one year of the launch still probs!

[Guest Reimar]

There's an new test about the memory consumption on the ZD Net website. I post below the report. if you want to see the screenshots you will need to go to the ZD Net Website

November 21st, 2007

Memory test - Firefox 2.0.0.9 vs Firefox 3.0 b 1

Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 12:40 am

Does Firefox 3.0 beta 1 do a better job of handling memory than earlier versions? In a test put Firefox 3.0 beta up against Firefox 2.0.0.9 in a series of tests.

Before I go any further, a few disclaimers and notes. First off, I’ve carried out this test on a single system running Windows Vista Home Premium on which Firefox had not been previously installed. The system has 2GB of RAM. Both Firefox 2.0.0.9 and Firefox 3.0 b 1 were installed fresh using a standard install. For each test I visited the same web pages and did my best to make the browsing the same on both versions.

OK, with that out of the way, on with the tests. I simulated three different browsing scenarios:

* Loading a five pages into the browser

* Loading a single page and leaving the browser for 10 minutes

* Loading 12 pages into the browser and wait 5 minutes

Here are the results:

Firefox 2.0.0.9

* The memory test - Firefox 2.0.0.9 vs Firefox 3.0 b 1Loading a five pages into the browser - 35,640KB (img)

* Loading a single page and leaving the browser for 10 minutes - 47,852KB (img)

* Loading 12 pages into the browser and wait 5 minutes - 103,180KB (img)

Firefox 3.0 b 1

* Loading a five pages into the browser - 38,644KB (img)

* Loading a single page and leaving the browser for 10 minutes - 63,764KB (img)

* Loading 12 pages into the browser and wait 5 minutes - 62,312KB (img)

Check out the complete screenshot gallery.

Just to give us a baseline, I repeated the 12 page test using Internet Explorer 7 and found that the browser used 89,756KB (img), more than Firefox 3.0 beta 1 but substantially less than Firefox 2.0.0.9.

This is interesting. Initially it seemed that Firefox 3.0 beta 1 was consuming more memory than 2.0.0.9, but during the twelve page test I started seeing what I’ve been seeing before - spiraling memory consumption when the browser is under significant load. I’m certain that if the browser had been left open longer, memory usage would have continued to rise. I didn’t see much signs of Firefox 3.0 beta 1 doing this. Certainly based on this test and from using Firefox 3.0 beta 1 today, I do think that things have significantly improved.

[onethailand]

Nice one. Was a bit shocked at the one-page test, in my opinion too much memory required - but as I usually have multiple tabs open, the 12 page test was more relevant - and 63mb is more than acceptable by comparison to IE and the old Firefox.

However - I just did a check of memory consumption - and FF Beta 1 is eating 152mb with just three pages open (though the browser's been open ever since I downloaded it) - which means that the memory issue is not really resolved. Both FF and IE need to learn to release memory when pages are closed.

Restarting the browser showed about 62K used with the same three pages open. Visiting a topic in ThaiVisa (this one, in fact) took it to 68K - then pressing Back to go to the previous page took it to 73K - clearly a problem since nothing new has been loaded on pressing back as FF caches this data. Opening this quick edit took it to 78K, and I am sure that when I press the "Complete Edit" button it will go to 80K or more.

Not good.

Edited November 22, 2007 by onethailand

[Thaigreg]

The problem with having so many different Browsers is the Favorites/Bookmarks...

I have IE7, Maxthon 2, Opera and Firefox..

But NONE of them will let you Synchronize your Favorites Folder with the others.. Sure They all will import & Export... But Why should I go through all that work ..

I Bookmark (Add Favorites all The time).. It's a real Pain with so many Browsers.. I want a Common File.

Also IE7 Has Really Pissed me Off.. sometimes it won't allow a Drag & Drop, so you need to open AD Fav.., Create in.. and now you have an EXTENDED TREE.. No Way to condense it.. Takes FOREVER to find the folder you want.

I've started to add all FAVs/BMs to an open Explorer window... at least that's easy to navigate and I get to keep them all in one folder.

Anybody have a better.. and FREE (FreeWare) suggestion?

CS

Hi CS,

Try this link:http://www.linkshelf.com/. You can have all your Bookmarks/Favorites no matter which browser you use without having to import/export or synchronize.

Greg

[Plus]

Too many of my addons are not compatible yet.

Mouse gestures - I'm so used to them, they work in IE7 and Opera but not FF3.

Firebug - if you use it, there's no substitute, no addons for any other browser can replace it.

HTML validator - FF is useless for me without it.

I can't live without those, so I reinstalled FF 2... Never had memory issues on any of my machines. In fact I use FF for java games where Opera drives CPU to 100%.

[CosmicSurfer]

The problem with having so many different Browsers is the Favorites/Bookmarks...

I have IE7, Maxthon 2, Opera and Firefox..

But NONE of them will let you Synchronize your Favorites Folder with the others.. Sure They all will import & Export... But Why should I go through all that work ..

I Bookmark (Add Favorites all The time).. It's a real Pain with so many Browsers.. I want a Common File.

Also IE7 Has Really Pissed me Off.. sometimes it won't allow a Drag & Drop, so you need to open AD Fav.., Create in.. and now you have an EXTENDED TREE.. No Way to condense it.. Takes FOREVER to find the folder you want.

I've started to add all FAVs/BMs to an open Explorer window... at least that's easy to navigate and I get to keep them all in one folder.

Anybody have a better.. and FREE (FreeWare) suggestion?

CS

Hi CS,

Try this link:http://www.linkshelf.com/. You can have all your Bookmarks/Favorites no matter which browser you use without having to import/export or synchronize.

Greg

Greg.. Thanks for your suggestion... But I'm not a fan of the "on-Line" solution... for a variety of reasons:

- Sites are not always available.. Sever Down.. DNS screw-Up.. Site Closed... Don't trust Web-Based Security or Privacy.. Not accessible when I'm Off-Line, etc.

I'd really like a Local (on my HDD) solution. I thought I found a program.. LinkSys.. <http://kodosan.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!1pGDzWSnMimb_jE5ra_RAbvQ!111.entry> It Syncs all browsers.. IE, FireFox, Opera ad Maxthon... , BUT doesn't maintain Directory tree.. so It's still a pain to use. I stopped.

So I'm still looking for an answer to this problem.

Thanks again,

CS