Firefox 8

[bendejo]

I had been keeping up with the 3.xx releases. Every few months I'd try the current experiment, which I'd toss off because I couldn't use my add-ins. Release 8 looks like it might be a keeper, as it runs most of my add-ins, though I'm waiting for a few more before it goes full-time.

If you want to try it without 'installing' try the portableapps.com version and copy over your ff data for a test drive.

[BB1950]

It's already gone full time. Yesterday morning, I received it in an update. So far, it looks good.

[Tywais]

It's already gone full time. Yesterday morning, I received it in an update. So far, it looks good.

Mine updated last week. One extension marked as incompatible. I just edited its .rdf file to change the FF version range and it is fully operational too.

[BB1950]

It's already gone full time. Yesterday morning, I received it in an update. So far, it looks good.

Mine updated last week. One extension marked as incompatible. I just edited its .rdf file to change the FF version range and it is fully operational too.

Yes, it was released Nov 8, 2011. For some reason, I always receive the update a few days later.

Note for Firefox 3.6.x users: Mozilla will be offering a "Major Update" for Firefox 3.6.x -> Firefox 8.0 on 2011-11-17. It does not mean that 3.6.x is EOL. It just allows them to opt in for the newer version.

[Tywais]

I always receive the update a few days later.

My office computer is on 24/7 as it is also a server and is the one updated the middle of last week automatically. My home computer which is only on in the evenings had not gotten a notice of the update yet until I clicked on About under Help and then it informed me one was available today. Not sure if it is timed to certain hours to check or not.

[BB1950]

I always receive the update a few days later.

My office computer is on 24/7 as it is also a server and is the one updated the middle of last week automatically. My home computer which is only on in the evenings had not gotten a notice of the update yet until I clicked on About under Help and then it informed me one was available today. Not sure if it is timed to certain hours to check or not.

I'm sure Mozilla has some kind of algorithm to prevent their severs from being overloaded.

I don't think it has anything to do with certain hours of the day, as my computer is also on 24/7. But I have noticed that when an upgrade is available for me, I am prompted when Firefox starts up. My assumption was, a check is made when Firefox starts up. But it might depend on the upgrade options settings.

I had several issues with version 5 and would manually check for updates when version 6 was released. Although many users had reported that they had received it as an automatic update, it did not show up until almost a week later. At that time, it was not offered to me as an automatic update.

With version 8, I was not expecting an update till later this month. I was surprised when it was offered to me.

Edited November 13, 2011 by BB1950

[Gary A]

I've been using Version 8 since it was beta and it has now been released. It hasn't missed a beat and looks very solid. I had a couple of add-ons that said incompatible but they work fine. I have actually uninstalled Chrome since Firefox fits my preferences much better.

[KHR1010]

Does any have experience with this version using Gmail "offline." Does it support this?

Thanks!

[astral]

I gave up climbing the FF ladder a couple of months back.

I am back on 3.6 and all my add-ons work.

If you need off-line mail service then run the mail client Thunderbird,

a sister product to FireFox

[canuckamuck]

Yep, I like Thunderbird.

Edited November 14, 2011 by canuckamuck

[Tywais]

Yep, I like Thunderbird.

+1

[MJCM]

Does any have experience with this version using Gmail "offline." Does it support this?

Thanks!

I think that only Chrome supports Gmail "Offline"

Edit: //

If you go in Gmail to "Offline", you are redirected to the Chrome Webpage and you get the following Message:

Sorry, we don't support your browser just yet. You'll need Google Chrome to install apps, extensions and themes.

And this is with Firefox 8

Edited November 14, 2011 by MJCM

[bendejo]

Yeah, I've also been ignoring the ladder. The other day when I updated my 3.xx.xx the message said something about 8 so I decided to give it a shot. I was surprised most of my add-ins were supported. Also, some things I used add-ins for are now part of the browser, like zoom in/out. The only important one (to me) that hasn't updated yet is Aardvark -- I tried hacking the xpi to change the version but it got reject as corrupt, so either I botched it or the thing really needs to be up upgraded to support the new browser version.

The fact that there have been four major release numbers since the last acceptable version says something about what's going on over at Mozilla. How do they make money anyway?

[Tywais]

The only important one (to me) that hasn't updated yet is Aardvark -- I tried hacking the xpi to change the version but it got reject as corrupt, so either I botched it or the thing really needs to be up upgraded to support the new browser version.

Most extensions you need to change the .rdf file to reversion it, at least that is how I got mine to work. .xpi is the zipped installation file. Example below where I changed it to 8.0.* File was for my exif_viewer addon and edited the install.rdf file.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<RDF:RDF xmlns:em="http://www.mozilla.org/2004/em-rdf#"
	 xmlns:NC="http://home.netscape.com/NC-rdf#"
	 xmlns:RDF="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#">
<RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:mozilla:install-manifest"
			   em:id="[email protected]"
			   em:name="Exif Viewer"
			   em:version="1.65"
			   em:description="Extracts and displays the Exif (Exchangeable Image File), IPTC-NAA/IIM (International Press Telecommunications Council / Newspaper Association of America / Information Interchange Model), and IPTC Core (Adobe XMP, Extensible Metadata Platform) metadata, as stored by digital still cameras, in both local and remote JPEG images."
			   em:creator="Alan Raskin, [email protected]"
			   em:homepageURL="http://araskin.webs.com/exif/exif.html">
	<em:targetApplication RDF:resource="rdf:#$p+bJJ3"/>
	<em:targetApplication RDF:resource="rdf:#$u+bJJ3"/>
</RDF:Description>
<RDF:Description RDF:about="rdf:#$u+bJJ3"
			   em:id="{3550f703-e582-4d05-9a08-453d09bdfdc6}"
			   em:minVersion="1.5"
			   em:maxVersion="3.1.*" /><!-- Thunderbird (should be 2.0.0.*) -->
     <RDF:Description RDF:about="rdf:#$p+bJJ3"
			   em:id="{ec8030f7-c20a-464f-9b0e-13a3a9e97384}"
			   em:minVersion="1.5"
			   em:maxVersion="8.0.*" /><!-- Firefox (was 3.5.* or 3.6.0) -->
<em:targetApplication>
	<!-- Postbox -->
	<Description>
		<em:id>[email protected]</em:id>
		<em:minVersion>1.1.5</em:minVersion>
		<em:maxVersion>2.*.*</em:maxVersion>
	</Description>
</em:targetApplication>
</RDF:RDF>

[McGarty]

I am using firfox 8 with no problems. In fact I have less crashes since I started using it. I have very few add ons so that is not an issue for me.

firefox has to be better than IE any day of the week too.

[bendejo]

Thanks, I tried it again, zipped it up then changed extension to xpi.

FF says the add-on appears to be corrupt.

Then I took the original xpi and opened in WinRAR. It allowed me to edit the rdf file in my text editor, then updated the xpi. This worked!

I'll try this with my other must-haves.

In researching I found some good info on creating plug-ins. I plan to play around with them when I have more time.

Edited November 15, 2011 by bendejo

[BB1950]

I have to say in my working with Firefox 8, it appears to be the best Firefox release to date. My problems with Firefox 7 have vanished! Extremely stable and I haven't noticed any memory leaks!

However that said, Firefox 3.6.x users may have problems with extensions/add-ons compatibility. Many of the extensions/add-ons for 3.6.x are no longer supported or available. There was a major change to the interface, starting with Firefox 4. But that's not really a problem now. Many have been incorporated in Firefox or there are replacements available for them. As far as the appearance, you can configure Firefox 8 to look the same.

I'm also beginning to like Mozilla's rapid release cycle. There have been far less problems with extensions/add-ons compatibility when new releases are released. The firm release dates, Alpha, and Beta releases appear to allow developers to adequately prepare in advance.

After the mess created by Firefox 4, Mozilla seems to be back on track.

Edited November 15, 2011 by BB1950

[canuckamuck]

I have updated Firefox often and I can't tell any difference between them except for at one point the made the main toolbar disappear and replaced it with a drop down. I am on 8 now, it looks the same.

Was there a 5 6 and 7? I don't recall.

[BB1950]

Most extensions you need to change the .rdf file to reversion it, at least that is how I got mine to work. .xpi is the zipped installation file. Example below where I changed it to 8.0.* File was for my exif_viewer addon and edited the install.rdf file.

<?xml version="1.0"?><RDF:RDF xmlns:em="http://www.mozilla.org/2004/em-rdf#"    	xmlns:NC="http://home.netscape.com/NC-rdf#"    	xmlns:RDF="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"><RDF:Description RDF:about="urn:mozilla:install-manifest"               em:id="[email protected]"               em:name="Exif Viewer"               em:version="1.65"               em:description="Extracts and displays the Exif (Exchangeable Image File), IPTC-NAA/IIM (International Press Telecommunications Council / Newspaper Association of America / Information Interchange Model), and IPTC Core (Adobe XMP, Extensible Metadata Platform) metadata, as stored by digital still cameras, in both local and remote JPEG images."               em:creator="Alan Raskin, [email protected]"               em:homepageURL="http://araskin.webs.com/exif/exif.html">	<em:targetApplication RDF:resource="rdf:#$p+bJJ3"/>	<em:targetApplication RDF:resource="rdf:#$u+bJJ3"/></RDF:Description><RDF:Description RDF:about="rdf:#$u+bJJ3"               em:id="{3550f703-e582-4d05-9a08-453d09bdfdc6}"               em:minVersion="1.5"               em:maxVersion="3.1.*" /><!-- Thunderbird (should be 2.0.0.*) -->     <RDF:Description RDF:about="rdf:#$p+bJJ3"               em:id="{ec8030f7-c20a-464f-9b0e-13a3a9e97384}"               em:minVersion="1.5"               em:maxVersion="8.0.*" /><!-- Firefox (was 3.5.* or 3.6.0) --><em:targetApplication>	<!-- Postbox -->	<Description>		<em:id>[email protected]</em:id>		<em:minVersion>1.1.5</em:minVersion>		<em:maxVersion>2.*.*</em:maxVersion>	</Description></em:targetApplication></RDF:RDF>

Not to be picky, as you are giving good advice. But I noticed in your example, you were using Exif Viewer 1.65

Exif Viewer 1.70 is compatible with Firefox 8 and was released on September 29, 2011 (prior to the release of Firefox 8). I wonder why you haven't received an update to the updated extension? Firefox 8 and Firefox 7 should have checked for a newer version. You might want to check your update options. It might save you the extra effort in the future.

Here's the link to the new version:

https://addons.mozil...on/exif-viewer/

Edited November 15, 2011 by BB1950

[Tywais]

Not to be picky, as you are giving good advice. But I noticed in your example, you were using Exif Viewer 1.65

Exif Viewer 1.70 is compatible with Firefox 8 and was released on September 29, 2011 (prior to the release of Firefox 8). I wonder why you haven't received an update to the updated extension? Firefox 8 and Firefox 7 should have checked for a newer version. You might want to check your update options. It might save you the extra effort in the future.

Not sure what happened actually. When my office machine updated a week ago it complained about EXIF Viewer as not compatible and thus my above mod. But when I upgraded my home system to 8.0 there was no complaint. Normally when FF updates it checks for newer versions of plugins but, as I mentioned, my office machine said there was none.

Anyway, the basics of how is still valid. Step 1, check for extension updates even if FF doesn't think there is. Step 2, modify as above if non available.

Developer note: untested for FF 8. Seems some contradiction as the install.rdf file and the below note don't reflect the same info.

Version 1.70 Released September 29, 2011 220.2 KB Works with Thunderbird 1.5 - 3.1.*, Firefox 1.5 - 8.*

Fixed an intermittent bug encountered with Linux. Added special handling for the Maker Note created by ikeGPS devices (http://www.ikeGPS.com). Verified that the Viewer works with FF 6 and 7.

Just took a look at the .xpi file of the September 29 1.70 release:

				  
em:name="Exif Viewer"
em:version="1.70"
  <snip>
em:minVersion="1.5"
em:maxVersion="7.*" /><!-- Firefox (was 3.5.* or 3.6.0) -->

[BB1950]

Not sure what happened actually. When my office machine updated a week ago it complained about EXIF Viewer as not compatible and thus my above mod. But when I upgraded my home system to 8.0 there was no complaint. Normally when FF updates it checks for newer versions of plugins but, as I mentioned, my office machine said there was none.

Anyway, the basics of how is still valid. Step 1, check for extension updates even if FF doesn't think there is. Step 2, modify as above if non available.

Developer note: untested for FF 8. Seems some contradiction as the install.rdf file and the below note don't reflect the same info.

Version 1.70 Released September 29, 2011 220.2 KB Works with Thunderbird 1.5 - 3.1.*, Firefox 1.5 - 8.*

Fixed an intermittent bug encountered with Linux. Added special handling for the Maker Note created by ikeGPS devices (http://www.ikeGPS.com). Verified that the Viewer works with FF 6 and 7.

Just took a look at the .xpi file of the September 29 1.70 release:

  				
em:name="Exif Viewer"
em:version="1.70"
 	<snip>
em:minVersion="1.5"
em:maxVersion="7.*" /><!-- Firefox (was 3.5.* or 3.6.0) -->

I just downloaded and installed it.

You're right that's what's in the RDF file of the XPI file, it also installed into my Firefox 8 without a problem.

I just noticed another extension which I use, has the em:maxVersion="5.*". It also installed into my Firefox 8 without a problem.

I'm not sure what's going on either. Could it be that Mozilla has a method to make extensions compatible, based on results of the comparability extension reports?

Agreed, the basics are still valid.

Edited November 15, 2011 by BB1950

[BB1950]

Here are three useful Firefox extensions that can help deal with Firefox extension compatibility issues:

Is It Compatible? 0.5.3

Works with Firefox 3.0 - 9.*

Are your add-ons compatible with the next version of Firefox? Find out straight from the Add-ons Manager window!

This add-on does exactly one thing: displays Firefox compatibility versions for each add-on in the add-ons window (Tools Menu -> Add-ons). Works for extensions, themes, and locales.

https://addons.mozil...-it-compatible/

Disable Add-on Compatibility Checks 1.3

Works with Firefox 4.0 - 10.0a1

Warning!

This application only disables extension compatibility checks on Firefox start-up.

It does not make extensions compatible! Incompatible extensions may cause your Firefox to become unstable or crash.

It allows you to test if extensions are compatible with your version of Firefox. You must disable or uninstall any incompatible extensions. If you have a compatible extension, you can modify the install.rdf file in the XPI file.

You can restore compatibility checking by disabling or uninstalling this extension.

https://addons.mozil...kcompatibility/

Add-on Compatibility Reporter 0.9.3

Works with Firefox 3.5 - 11.0a1

After installing the Add-on Compatibility Reporter, your incompatible extensions will become enabled for you to test whether they still work with the version of Firefox that you're using. If you notice that one of your add-ons doesn't seem to be working the same way it did in previous versions of Firefox, just open the Add-ons Manager and click Compatibility next to that add-on to send a report to Mozilla.

Even if your add-ons all work fine, if they're marked incompatible, please let Mozilla know they work fine by submitting a success report so they can encourage the add-on developer to update their compatibility information.

Mozilla will collect all of the reports and let add-on developers know what users are having problems with, or if their add-ons seem to work just fine in future versions of the product.

If you encounter problems and want to disable your incompatible add-ons again, uninstalling the Add-on Compatibility Reporter should revert to your previous compatibility checking settings.

https://addons.mozil...ility-reporter/

Edited November 15, 2011 by BB1950

[4evermaat]

I've been using Version 8 since it was beta and it has now been released. It hasn't missed a beat and looks very solid. I had a couple of add-ons that said incompatible but they work fine. I have actually uninstalled Chrome since Firefox fits my preferences much better.

I will check out firefox 8. FF7 has impressed me with its reduced memory consumption, something firefox has caught lots of flack for in past versions. It is very difficult to do without textarea cache or lazerus form text recovery. Saved me hundreds of hours in lost forms. it's those small powerful plugins that really make you think twice about switching browsers.

[bendejo]

Well, having started this thread I consider it my duty to update it and say that I ended up going back to version 3.6.xx

Here’s why: I leave browsing history on. When I do a backup of my system I try to reduce space by culling entries from history. I don’t want to eliminate history, just get rid of the redundant usage, like visits to email sites, tv, imdb etc. While I never noticed a time lag before, ff8 took a while to update, eg deleting 200 entries from browsing history took over a minute. I have a dual-core Intel system and lots of RAM. I’m not someone who is always bitching about “too slow” programs, but this was noticeable. Also sometimes if waiting for a download I may do something, like play a game, and I noticed things may run haltingly since I upgraded to ff8. About a week ago I decided to push it a bit and deleted 1,000 entries at one go – this took about 10 minutes! During this time the browser was unusable, any attempt got the ‘not responding’ message. I laughed it off and went on about my business.

A few days later I noticed some of my bookmarks were gone! Yeah, I have a lot of them, and noticed one sub-menu was severely shorter than it should be. I could only assume other entries elsewhere were also gone. Well, I was able to restore from backups (I may have lost the new entries of the previous few days) and then removed the ff8 installation (actually zipped it up just in case), kept my ff data files and installed 3.6.xx, which updated online to 3.6.25.

All in all, from a user perspective there is no disadvantage. Yeah, styles and colors, placement of tabs and toolbar, but nothing to write home about. I’m not too quick to update major releases, so probably will be in 3.xx.xx for a while.