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Unfortunately, Mozilla Foundation suffers from poor management. The rapid unexplained major version changes are only the most visible evidence.

Mozilla Foundation is a rich, rich corporation. No one should make the mistake of thinking that work on Firefox is done mostly by volunteers.

Did you see $78.6 million worth of improvements in 2008?

Did you see improvements suggesting that Mozilla Foundation had $168 million in assets in 2010? (Official PDF file, see page 2. Numbers are in thousands, as it says at the top of the page.)

Firefox is a world-class asset. Firefox is extremely important partly because those who need to do a lot of research online depend on Firefox and Firefox add-ons such as Session Manager, Session Manager Export Tool, Mozilla Archive Format, Flashblock, Multi Links, and Tab Mix Plus. There is no substitute for the capabilities of Firefox together with Firefox Add-ons. (Add-ons are also known as extensions and plug-ins.) For those who do research, Firefox is simply the best browser. Firefox is literally a world-class asset.

Biggest flaw: Firefox is unstable. The first step in good management would be to fix the instability of Firefox. There would be a huge additional advantage in doing that, as someone else mentioned. Investigating how Firefox can be so unstable under Microsoft Windows might reveal flaws in Microsoft Windows that make the OS so unstable when using Firefox.

Firefox instabilities are experienced most frequently by those who open many Firefox windows and tabs and leave them open while putting the computer into standby or hibernation several times. That is the pattern of use of those who do a lot of online research.

An example of research: For example, in researching HDMI cables there are numerous manufacturers, distributors, online sellers, explanations of HDMI standards, explanations of the U.S. National Electrical Code, and online reviews. The research is made far more complicated by the many companies that try to take advantage of the ignorance of the average person about cables. Good research is important because HDMI cables are often embedded in the infrastructure of buildings. Poor cables may need to be replaced when video equipment is upgraded, sometimes requiring the tearing apart of walls. Equipment upgrades may be years away, but are almost certain to happen.

One condition of instability: Windows XP 32-bit with Service Pack 3, for example, becomes unstable when Firefox has taken all the available memory, and is beginning to require the OS to use virtual memory. It seems a reasonable guess that Microsoft will be slow to fix Windows instabilities since poor experiences encourage people to buy new versions. Microsoft requires payment of the full price for each new version of Windows. Microsoft does not allow upgrade pricing even when a previous version has had many flaws, as with Microsoft Windows Vista. The laws against unfair business practices of those who have virtual monopolies have had no effect on Microsoft, apparently.

Firefox crash info: Here are some links for those who want to discover more about the instabilities in Firefox.

about:crashes
Put about:crashes into your URL bar and press ENTER. Firefox will then show a list of crashes of the copy of Firefox on that computer.

Crash info for all users and all versions
https://crash-stats.mozilla.com/products/Firefox

Crashes per 100 active daily users, version 7.0.1, last week's version
https://crash-stats.mozilla.com/products/Fir

Unfortunately, Mozilla Foundation suffers from poor management. The rapid unexplained major version changes are only the most visible evidence.

Mozilla Foundation is a rich, rich corporation. No one should make the mistake of thinking that work on Firefox is done mostly by volunteers.

Did you see $78.6 million worth of improvements in 2008?

Did you see improvements suggesting that Mozilla Foundation had $168 million in assets in 2010? (Official PDF file, see page 2. Numbers are in thousands, as it says at the top of the page.)

Firefox is a world-class asset. Firefox is extremely important partly because those who need to do a lot of research online depend on Firefox and Firefox add-ons such as Session Manager, Session Manager Export Tool, Mozilla Archive Format, Flashblock, Multi Links, and Tab Mix Plus. There is no substitute for the capabilities of Firefox together with Firefox Add-ons. (Add-ons are also known as extensions and plug-ins.) For those who do research, Firefox is simply the best browser. Firefox is literally a world-class asset.

Biggest flaw: Firefox is unstable. The first step in good management would be to fix the instability of Firefox. There would be a huge additional advantage in doing that, as someone else mentioned. Investigating how Firefox can be so unstable under Microsoft Windows might reveal flaws in Microsoft Windows that make the OS so unstable when using Firefox.

Firefox instabilities are experienced most frequently by those who open many Firefox windows and tabs and leave them open while putting the computer into standby or hibernation several times. That is the pattern of use of those who do a lot of online research.

An example of research: For example, in researching HDMI cables there are numerous manufacturers, distributors, online sellers, explanations of HDMI standards, explanations of the U.S. National Electrical Code, and online reviews. The research is made far more complicated by the many companies that try to take advantage of the ignorance of the average person about cables. Good research is important because HDMI cables are often embedded in the infrastructure of buildings. Poor cables may need to be replaced when video equipment is upgraded, sometimes requiring the tearing apart of walls. Equipment upgrades may be years away, but are almost certain to happen.

One condition of instability: Windows XP 32-bit with Service Pack 3, for example, becomes unstable when Firefox has taken all the available memory, and is beginning to require the OS to use virtual memory. It seems a reasonable guess that Microsoft will be slow to fix Windows instabilities since poor experiences encourage people to buy new versions. Microsoft requires payment of the full price for each new version of Windows. Microsoft does not allow upgrade pricing even when a previous version has had many flaws, as with Microsoft Windows Vista. The laws against unfair business practices of those who have virtual monopolies have had no effect on Microsoft, apparently.

Firefox crash info: Here are some links for those who want to discover more about the instabilities in Firefox.

about:crashes
Put about:crashes into your URL bar and press ENTER. Firefox will then show a list of crashes of the copy of Firefox on that computer.

Crash info for all users and all versions
https://crash-stats.mozilla.com/products/Firefox

Crashes per 100 active daily users, version 7.0.1, last week's version
https://crash-stats.mozilla.com/products/Fir

1. Why the hell would that not be hard-coded to "Hell no, do not ever track me!".

See http://blog.mozilla.com/privacy/2011/11/09/dnt-cannot-be-default/

You do know that this is one of the settings you can change, right?

https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Search%20bar?s=search+provider&r=2&as=s#w_switching-search-engines

http://people.mozilla.com/~prouget/ie9/ie9_vs_fx4.html

And that's Firefox 4. In past year, situation has changed even further.

Hell. Let's take JavaScript. Setting aside how Microsoft if not faked, then poorly optimised to the test for SunSpider...

Here's my personal browser tests:
http://m8y.org/tmp/kraken.xhtml

Third-party plugins are supposed to be able to install themselves.

Third-party plugins are not supposed to add themselves to the "enabled plugins" list, and doing so would probably be a quick way to get their plugin added to the plugin blocklist.

Firefox Crash Info

about:crashes
Put into your URL bar and press ENTER. Shows a list of crashes of your copy of Firefox.

Crash Info for all users and all versions
https://crash-stats.mozilla.com/products/Firefox

Crashes per 100 Active Daily Users, version 7.0.1
https://crash-stats.mozilla.com/products/Firefox/versions/7.0.1

Top Crashers, version 7.0.1
https://crash-stats.mozilla.com/topcrasher/byversion/Firefox/7.0.1/14

Notes:

1) The lists of crashes are ONLY the ones that Firefox caught. The lists do NOT include crashes that don't start the crash reporter.

2) Version 7.0.1 often stays in memory even though the GUI was closed.

3) The crashes are often preceded by rapidly increasing memory use. Firefox corrupts Microsoft Windows, so that Windows needs to be re-started. When Firefox corrupts Microsoft Windows, it often damages operations in Windows that are not connected with browsing.

4) Crashes are most frequent for those who do a lot of online research, and open many Firefox windows and tabs, and leave them open while putting the computer into standby or hibernation.

5) The crashes and memory gobbling have been reported for more than 9 years. Not much has improved, even though the change reports for every version say there have been "stability improvements".

Firefox Crash Info

about:crashes
Put into your URL bar and press ENTER. Shows a list of crashes of your copy of Firefox.

Crash Info for all users and all versions
https://crash-stats.mozilla.com/products/Firefox

Crashes per 100 Active Daily Users, version 7.0.1
https://crash-stats.mozilla.com/products/Firefox/versions/7.0.1

Top Crashers, version 7.0.1
https://crash-stats.mozilla.com/topcrasher/byversion/Firefox/7.0.1/14

Notes:

1) The lists of crashes are ONLY the ones that Firefox caught. The lists do NOT include crashes that don't start the crash reporter.

2) Version 7.0.1 often stays in memory even though the GUI was closed.

3) The crashes are often preceded by rapidly increasing memory use. Firefox corrupts Microsoft Windows, so that Windows needs to be re-started. When Firefox corrupts Microsoft Windows, it often damages operations in Windows that are not connected with browsing.

4) Crashes are most frequent for those who do a lot of online research, and open many Firefox windows and tabs, and leave them open while putting the computer into standby or hibernation.

5) The crashes and memory gobbling have been reported for more than 9 years. Not much has improved, even though the change reports for every version say there have been "stability improvements".

Firefox Crash Info

about:crashes
Put into your URL bar and press ENTER. Shows a list of crashes of your copy of Firefox.

Crash Info for all users and all versions
https://crash-stats.mozilla.com/products/Firefox

Crashes per 100 Active Daily Users, version 7.0.1
https://crash-stats.mozilla.com/products/Firefox/versions/7.0.1

Top Crashers, version 7.0.1
https://crash-stats.mozilla.com/topcrasher/byversion/Firefox/7.0.1/14

Notes:

1) The lists of crashes are ONLY the ones that Firefox caught. The lists do NOT include crashes that don't start the crash reporter.

2) Version 7.0.1 often stays in memory even though the GUI was closed.

3) The crashes are often preceded by rapidly increasing memory use. Firefox corrupts Microsoft Windows, so that Windows needs to be re-started. When Firefox corrupts Microsoft Windows, it often damages operations in Windows that are not connected with browsing.

4) Crashes are most frequent for those who do a lot of online research, and open many Firefox windows and tabs, and leave them open while putting the computer into standby or hibernation.

5) The crashes and memory gobbling have been reported for more than 9 years. Not much has improved, even though the change reports for every version say there have been "stability improvements".

Does it show the URL in the status bar when you hover over a link to make sure it's not Goatse? (Oh, wait, the Fx UX team doesn't think I need a status bar.)

Yes. When you mouse over a link the URL pops up at the bottom of the window. This page may help you: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/what-happened-status-bar. Your complaint isn't a valid one.

> It's only Firefox that's running around screaming
> about their version numbers.

Screaming where? http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/fx/ doesn't say what version you're downloading. Updating from Firefox 7.0.1 to Firefox 8 never says anything about Firefox 8; the experience is exactly the same as the update from 7.0.0 to 7.0.1.

> I don't see Google screaming about every new
> Chrome release that comes out.

It does it just as much as Mozilla does. Compare http://googlechromereleases.blogspot.com/2011/10/chrome-stable-release.html and http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2011/11/08/mozilla-firefox-adds-twitter-search-and-new-features-that-make-web-browsing-easier/ which are both the official announcements for Chrome 15 and Firefox 8 as far as I can tell.

What exactly makes the latter "screaming" while the former is not?

How is creating a whole project specifically to address memory issues "ignoring"? Your last point is bogus.

Turning off "allow pages to choose their own font" switch should quench this flaming 0-day.

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Changing%20fonts%20and%20colors

Thanks!!

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Changing%20fonts%20and%20colors

Read that page.

Absolutely. Chromium is already being ported and I would love to see Mozilla's Azure optimized for Wayland. I'm anxiously waiting for the speed boost.

I did leave it open for a while till it stopped shrinking and I also clicked on "minimize mem usage".

FWIW the yahoo thing is still there despite the tab not being there. I did reopen that link again some minutes ago. How long do I have to wait till it goes away?

If you click minimize memory usage, everything should go away immediately. If you don't, I'm not sure how long you have to wait; five minutes (without touching Firefox) should be sufficient.

Are you running with extensions? It's probably an extension bug which is causing that yahoo compartment to stay there. If you can reproduce without any extensions, please file a bug and cc :jlebar. If not, then you may want to get in touch with the extension author (and you're welcome to file a bug and cc me anyway).

p.s. Is the Content Security Policy stuff gaining traction?

I have no idea whether people are using CSP, but apparently there's a WordPress plugin. :) http://people.mozilla.com/~bsterne/content-security-policy/wordpress.html

This is for people who may want the browser. We're not talking about the default Firefox version here or anything. Anyone can take Firefox and modify it; the only question is whether the result can be called Firefox. That last bit is the only story here.

http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2011/10/26/offering-a-customized-firefox-experience-for-bing-users/ has more details if you care... and mentions that there are also customized builds being distributed by Twitter, Yahoo, and so forth.

It doesn't even indicate that. All it indicates is that Mozilla allowed Microsoft to use the "Firefox" trademark for this particular modification of an existing open-source browser. Just like Twitter, Yahoo, Yandex, and various other parties are already doing. See http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2011/10/26/offering-a-customized-firefox-experience-for-bing-users/

FF has got a plugin sandbox since 3.6.4 (maybe not on OS X). All plugins are in a separate process, but only one process for all plugins of all tabs.

One single memory allocator has been rounding up to the nearest factor of two, with bugs that make it request double the amount of space. This was resolved Aug 2011. Example, I allocate a string for 1024 bytes but didn't consider the additional null-term, so it comes back using 2048 bytes.

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=676457

Several other bugs have been known for 3-5 years, the whole time that Mozilla has blamed anything but the code for memory problems, and are just now getting fixed.

http://blog.mozilla.com/nnethercote/2011/08/05/clownshoes-available-in-sizes-2101-and-up/

If you are experiencing crashes please provide crash ids. https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Mozilla%20Crash%20Reporter

Please provide crash IDs then. https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Mozilla%20Crash%20Reporter

Automatic update to Firefox 7 is disabled for them moment (at least it was still disabled this morning), they are checking a bug

I haven't read up too closely on this, but I think traffic going through Firefox itself is not vulnerable. See http://blog.mozilla.com/security/2011/09/27/attack-against-tls-protected-communications/.

I tried the Android version of FF7 but I think I'll stay on Dolphin HD even if has some random crashes. Dolphin feels a little more responsive and it's much better at reflowing the page. Commenting here on /. with Firefox is nearly impossible: it's very difficult make the keyboard appear when tapping the text area.

I'd say, Dolphin comes first despite the crashes, the Android browser and Firefox are almost level: the stock browser is better at basic functionality, FF is better at anything else. Too bad the basic functionality must be done right.

By the way, I checked how to setup a private sync server http://docs.services.mozilla.com/howtos/run-sync.html even if it seems I won't need one.

Add-ons are automatically updated now unless they specifically had a reason to break on the new version.

http://blog.mozilla.com/addons/2011/06/07/making-compatible-with-firefox-5-and-6/

As a Dutch reader, I can guarantee you that nobody in his right mind here minds the way DigiNotar's fiasco is handled. They deserve this, and worse. If you're basically selling trust, you'd better be trustworthy.
On the Mozilla Security Blog, the the reason why they handled this as they dit is explained very well:
http://blog.mozilla.com/security/2011/09/02/diginotar-removal-follow-up/

Someone already did - the Comodo CA hack issued a cert for addons.mozilla.org

Can't see anyone having posted this, but Mozilla have instructions on how to remove DigiNotar as a trusted CA in your Firefox. I'm sure other browsers have similar processes.

I also note they've just released a new Firefox (and Thunderbird) version that has removed the CA entirely - good response:

Because the extent of the mis-issuance is not clear, we are releasing new versions of Firefox for desktop (3.6.21, 6.0.1, 7, 8, and 9) and mobile (6.0.1, 7, 8, and 9), Thunderbird (3.1.13, and 6.0.1) and SeaMonkey (2.3.2) shortly that will revoke trust in the DigiNotar root and protect users from this attack. We encourage all users to keep their software up-to-date by regularly applying security updates. Users can also manually disable the DigiNotar root through the Firefox preferences.

Can't see anyone having posted this, but Mozilla have instructions on how to remove DigiNotar as a trusted CA in your Firefox. I'm sure other browsers have similar processes.

I also note they've just released a new Firefox (and Thunderbird) version that has removed the CA entirely - good response:

Because the extent of the mis-issuance is not clear, we are releasing new versions of Firefox for desktop (3.6.21, 6.0.1, 7, 8, and 9) and mobile (6.0.1, 7, 8, and 9), Thunderbird (3.1.13, and 6.0.1) and SeaMonkey (2.3.2) shortly that will revoke trust in the DigiNotar root and protect users from this attack. We encourage all users to keep their software up-to-date by regularly applying security updates. Users can also manually disable the DigiNotar root through the Firefox preferences.

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/deleting-diginotar-ca-cert

This does nothing for all the 3.6.x series firefox users.

We released 3.6.21 yesterday to remove the Diginotar root cert.

http://blog.mozilla.com/security/2011/08/29/fraudulent-google-com-certificate/

http://blog.mozilla.com/security/2011/08/29/fraudulent-google-com-certificate/
http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.com/2011/08/update-on-attempted-man-in-middle.html
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/2607712.mspx

Use profiles instead of the VM. Currently, I run the nightlies with a reduced number of extensions. Very stable and very fast. If I want to use one of the heftier extensions, I can open up an earlier version (of firefox) at the same time. I've setup up several profiles for the different ways i use my browser, such as work, media grabbing, reading feeds etc.. With the speed of recent firefox launches, it doesn't take more than a second or two when switching between profiles. There's also the added bonus of no goat porn appearing in the awesome bar at the office.

If it's so easy, then why the fuck is it not automated in the first place??

It's as if you never had used a computer. (Using = automating things. Consuming it as if it were a gadget/appliance is NOT using it.)

Or even better: why the fuck does it have to be done in the first place? Why don't they simply stabilize the modules of the API and only force you to change your extension my changing the API version when it's... you know... actually needed??

They've been doing that since 5.0. They automatically check what parts of the API an addon uses against the change list, and bumps the version compatibility if nothing it uses has been changed, otherwise it sends an email to the developer alerting them that this version's changes broke their addon.

http://blog.mozilla.com/addons/2011/05/21/firefox-5-compatibility-bump/

The picture you paint may seem rosy to you, but it is not attractive most people IMO. The good news is, reality is even better than you think it is.

If the add-on developer hosts the add-on on addons.mozilla.org (AMO), the browser will check with AMO to see if the extension is compatible when the browser starts; if so, the maxVersion of the extension is *automatically* bumped.

The extension compatilibity is determined through automated analysis, and the *vast* majority of updates work properly this way. The update bump normally happens some time around the second week of Aurora; it is possible that *you* need to edit your XPI files by hand because you are on the beta channel, but that is *not* the expected end-user experience.

End users should almost always find out that extensions hosted on AMO "just work"

http://blog.mozilla.com/addons/2011/05/21/firefox-5-compatibility-bump/ :

We were able to mark 3,890 add-ons as compatible with Firefox 5. There were 256 that failed our automatic scanners either due to including binary components or using navigator.language, which was changed in Firefox 5. All affected add-on authors received an email about the compatibility update and instructions depending on whether they passed or failed.

Mozilla has no such position as "Community Lead". Tyler was/is (he is still engaged in constructive discussion) a valued volunteer member of the Mozilla QA and triage community, but he does not have the title "Community Lead".

There are several things which Mozilla's new more rapid release process has made a bit rocky, as Johnathan Nightingale, the Firefox development manager, noted in a recent blog post (syndicated at the Future of Firefox blog). This is one of them.

And, of course, when Tyler says we have told bug reporters we don't care about their bug reports, that's not actually true. He is suggesting that this is what it might seem like. And clearly, it's not great when a bug report is filed and just sits there for months. Mozilla's success has made this a perennial problem for the last decade. We've cracked it, to a degree, before and I'm sure we can do it again.

Could you please point out in these blog posts where the "current practice" is what you described it as?

In fact: http://blog.mozilla.com/addons/2011/04/19/add-on-compatibility-rapid-releases/
(this needs to get mentioned more widely)

For example, have they finally reverted "tabs on top"?

I hated it at first also. But give it a try. And watch the video here if you want to know why it is better.

Is Chrome any better in this regard? Honest question. I've heard others talk about it having a rapid release schedule (before Firefox moved to one). And how do Chrome and Firefox compare on UI changes per release?

My mother uses Facebook and plays Bejeweled on it. Recently, there are massive lag times of a few minutes for some actions, such as sharing points. This lag isn't there with Firefox, and many of my mother's friends who play use Chrome. I installed Firefox on my mother's laptop, from this page here, but apparently that is the version four installer, and Firefox is nearing its version six release...

Rather than trying to customize Firefox 4 to look like Firefox 3 on my mother's PC, I told her the user interface (I gestured to the top area of Firefox we had open on her PC) would look a little different. It shouldn't affect anything my mother does to have the interface look a little different. Thanks to Firefox's interface becoming more Chrome-like, if Chrome is any better with memory use than Firefox, the day might come when I'm installing Chrome rather than Firefox for my mother.

I wouldn't recommend Nightly for normal browsing. You'd be better off with Aurora (Firefox 7) if you want the new features sooner but also like to be sure Firefox will start after every update.

But now it just lags behind Webkit.

As pointed out in several other posts, the Kindle Reader is actually broken because Safari's WebKit lags behind in STANDARDs implementation instead of vendor-specific extensions.

think it's a complete waste of time of Firefox to come out with a mobile browser that only works in like two different handsets!

This is more than 2:
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/mobile/platforms/

I'm running FF5 and that doesn't work for me. If I launch private browsing mode it appears to close all current windows and opens a new one in private mode. The state of the other windows is still retained somewhat; switching back brings me back to the same pages I was on, but dynamic content like flash or embedded video gets reloaded to its default state. The private browsing window is completely destroyed in the process of switching back; the two modes, private and standard, don't display together. A quick search of the firefox online manual suggests that this behavior is by design.

That's actually a solid win for Chrome in my book; I may have to finally try it out.

These decisions that may seem random or ill thought out to you have data behind them. A surprisingly large number of people would be happy with a back button, a bookmark menu and a way to bookmark a site. Now these might not be the same users that Firefox has but there are a lot of people who only use those functions.

http://blog.mozilla.com/metrics/2010/04/14/menu-item-usage-study-an-update-to-the-initial-analysis/

In that mockup, it depicts this stupid word for which I cannot pronounce the "t". WTF, Firefox?

I think that the Mozilla team just want you to keep saying "Chrome, Chrome, Chrome".

It looks to me that Mozilla's mission is to promote Google. When Google didn't have a browser, Firefox integrated Google search right into the browser. Now that Google has a browser, Mozilla seems hell bent on getting all of it's users to switch to that browser.

I'm so glad there is Opera.

Please read the comment appearing at the top of the web page, and then un-wad your knickers, folks.

We appreciate your interest in our design experiments!
The UI mock-ups shown on these pages were part of a meeting, and were for discussion purposes, and to explore different design directions. Some of them are already out of date.
Mozilla works in the open, and the way to get the latest in UI improvements to Firefox is to download the UX channel build for your OS, which will auto-update every night with various design experiments we're looking at.

In that mockup, it depicts this stupid word for which I cannot pronounce the "t". WTF, Firefox?

Now I know you're trolling; Firefox for Android DOES support Flash

If Firefox for Android supports Flash they're being pretty quiet about it. News reports announcing the Firefox 6 beta complain that it has no Flash support. User comments on the Firefox Beta page on the Android Market complain that it still has no Flash support. The release notes for Firefox 6 say Flash and other plugins are not supported. This bug report has been open since January and as of late June it just says "we're working on it." If you guys are using Flash with Firefox for Android I'd love to hear how you've managed it. Sounds like the Mozilla Foundation would love to hear about it, too.

You do know Firefox has an option 'clear cache whre Firefox closes' ?:

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Options%20window%20-%20Privacy%20panel?as=u