Firefox 4

[20thStDad]

Has anyone else upgraded to Firefox 4 beta? If so, are you noticing that it's a big memory hog? I don't remember 3.6 versions taking that much memory. I'm not really noticing it's much faster, and seems to hang more often. I know it's a beta (or pre-release), but I was expecting it to run smoother, not heavier on memory.

[HoustonMidtown]

Has anyone else upgraded to Firefox 4 beta? If so, are you noticing that it's a big memory hog? I don't remember 3.6 versions taking that much memory. I'm not really noticing it's much faster, and seems to hang more often. I know it's a beta (or pre-release), but I was expecting it to run smoother, not heavier on memory.

I thought they just released the final version (not beta) ?

Forgot to add....I tried it a bit, didnt have any issues -- I didnt specifically check the memory usage though

[skwatra]

The full release came out on 3/22. I haven't tried it yet, about to upgrade to Windows 7 so I'm holding out of that.

[LTAWACS]

Yeah it is a memory hog. Plus lots of my scripts behaving slightly different. Ugh.

[samagon]

I started using it around Beta4 version of the 4.0 releases. It uses more memory than FF ever has before, but way less than IE (and most importantly, it doesn't leak memory, which IE is VERY prone to doing).

It's cleaner, more customizable, faster (at least for the sites I use at work, that are related to work), the IE rendering engine is blazingly fast (have no idea how that works, but IE is super fast inside FF4).

Personally, I don't care if a program loads up 1GB of memory for use, I can always buy more, and with i64 OS I'm not limited to 4GB being seen/utilized by the OS. My hatred is with a program that leaks memory. How is it possible that IE can go from 50MB of memory up to 1.98GB in only a month? I never reboot or turn off my computer in the office, since it takes so damn long to get all the programs that I use up and running and connected to the right place.

Anyway, I'm bully on FF, but then I've been a fan of Netscape since the 3.0 days.

[ricco67]

I upgraded and it seems to be running along just fine. Haven't had any problems with it hogging memory, though. I'm quite pleased with it, actually.

[mkultra25]

I was going to upgrade to the final version of FF4 as soon as it was released, until I realized that a key extension I use every day was not compatible. Since it looks like the developer of that extension quit actively upgrading it about a year ago, I suppose I'll have to try the old trick of manually editing the install.rdf file to bump up the maxVersion number and keeping my fingers crossed that will enable it to run within FF4, but I haven't had time yet to give it a shot.

Glad to hear that version 4 has more effectively addressed the memory leakage issue, which has been a problem with FF as long as I can remember. I have been using this about:config tweak recently with version 3.6.x to improve memory management, but I still have to restart the browser every day or two to maintain decent performance and response.

[samagon]

I was going to upgrade to the final version of FF4 as soon as it was released, until I realized that a key extension I use every day was not compatible. Since it looks like the developer of that extension quit actively upgrading it about a year ago, I suppose I'll have to try the old trick of manually editing the install.rdf file to bump up the maxVersion number and keeping my fingers crossed that will enable it to run within FF4, but I haven't had time yet to give it a shot.

Glad to hear that version 4 has more effectively addressed the memory leakage issue, which has been a problem with FF as long as I can remember. I have been using this about:config tweak recently with version 3.6.x to improve memory management, but I still have to restart the browser every day or two to maintain decent performance and response.

to be fair, my experience with IE and leaking memory was IE6. that browser was a sieve. Since I completely switched to FF (after finding the IE tabs available for FF) I only open IE long enough to download FF.

[august948]

Has anyone else upgraded to Firefox 4 beta? If so, are you noticing that it's a big memory hog? I don't remember 3.6 versions taking that much memory. I'm not really noticing it's much faster, and seems to hang more often. I know it's a beta (or pre-release), but I was expecting it to run smoother, not heavier on memory.

I just upgraded to the v4 production copy a few days ago and I'm not seeing any performance hit. I do like the more minimalist approach with the tabs in the title bar and the menus reduced to a button. It leaves a little more real estate for the web page.

[Justin Gomez]

Mine was upgraded automatically but I couldn't use it. Some of the add-ons are not compatible with the new version.

[Guest vklr92]

The Web is all about innovation, and Firefox sets the pace with dozens of new features to deliver a faster, more secure and customizable Web browsing experience for all.

User Experience. The enhancements to Firefox provide the best possible browsing experience on the Web. The new Firefox smart location bar, affectionately known as the "Awesome Bar," learns as people use it, adapting to user preferences and offering better fitting matches over time.

Performance. Firefox is built on top of the powerful new Gecko platform, resulting in a safer, easier to use and more personal product.

Security. Firefox raises the bar for security. The new malware and phishing protection helps protect from viruses, worms, trojans and spyware to keep people safe on the Web.

Customization. Everyone uses the Web differently, and Firefox lets users customize their browser with more than 5,000 add-ons.

[Guest Shawn]

12 new features in Mozilla Firefox 4

D-day is here for Mozilla Firefox 4, almost 8 months after its first beta release. The launch comes eight days after Microsoft IE 9's official launch. Firefox 4 was originally scheduled to launch in November 2010. Damon Sicore, Mozilla's senior director of platform engineering, said in a message on a company forum, “Today's triage session concluded with all systems go for a Firefox 4 launch on March 22.”

Users running Firefox 3.5 or 3.6 can download the latest version by selecting "Check for updates" from the Help menu. While users running Firefox 4 RC, need not download anything as Mozilla deems that build identical to the final.

Firefox 4 for Windows, Mac and Linux is available in more than 70 languages. And yes, Firefox 4 supports Windows XP too, unlike IE 9 which supports Windows Vista and Windows 7. So, here's looking into all that is new in Firefox 4.

Tabs location

Tabs are given top visual priority for intuitive browsing.

An easier way to manage your add-ons and discover new options for personalising your browsing.

Speed

Firefox 4 contains huge performance enhancements, including new JagerMonkey JavaScript engine. From faster start up times and graphics rendering to improved page load speed, Mozilla claims that users will notice the difference instantly.

HD Video

As pioneers of HTML5 video standards, Firefox also supports the WebM format so you can watch open HD quality video.

Changes to the C++ representation of JavaScript values allow Firefox to execute heavy, numeric code more efficiently, resulting in cleaner graphics and a better browsing experience.

Multi-touch support

Firefox now integrates multi-touch support for Windows 7, enabling users to interact with their browser in a new way.

3D on the Web

WebGL brings 3D graphics to Firefox, opening the door for developers to create vivid games and new kinds of visualizations and experiences for the Web.

Firefox also starts up faster thanks to XPCOM module improvements that help in better extensions framework

New fonts

Firefox 4's OpenType font feature gives designers and developers more control over a variety of font features -- like kerning or ligatures -- to create websites. There's also support for new CSS3 features like Transitions and Transformations

Upgrading FormsFirefox integrated Form features like list attributes and HTML5 validation provide the tools to make annoying form implementation development a thing of the past. A new HTML5 parser and full support for web video, audio, drag & drop, and file handling means Firefox 4 is ready to run the Web apps.

Full Hardware Acceleration

Users can experience fast graphics acceleration with Direct2D and Direct3D on Windows, XRender on Linux and OpenGL on Mac, now enabled by default, on all supported hardware.

SVG as images

SVG files can now be used as images and backgrounds in Firefox, meaning that developers and designers can have performance-conscious websites with lighter, resolution-independent image files.

Compartments

Firefox can now better manage JavaScript objects with Compartments, offering improved cache utilisation and garbage collection mechanisms for better security, memory management and overall performance.

Crash protection

Firefox provides uninterrupted browsing for Windows, Linux, and now Mac when there is a crash in the Adobe Flash, Apple Quicktime or Microsoft Silverlight plugins. If one of these commonly-used plugins crashes or freezes, it won’t affect the rest of Firefox. Instead, user can simply reload the page to restart the plugin and try again.

HSTS

Sites can now keep attackers from intercepting sensitive data while accessing the site by telling Firefox to automatically establish secure connections to their servers (https).