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Firefox 2.0 Beta 2 Arrives

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the enjoy-the-pretty dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Mozilla has released Beta 2 of its upcoming Firefox 2 browser for developer review. It is being made available for testing purposes only. The release contains a number of new features, as well as some enhancements to look and feel. DesktopLinux.com has posted a list of the changes along with a few quick screen grabs. Apparently, the download can be found on Mozilla's ftp site."

22 of 351 comments (clear)

  1. One question before I try this out... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Can this version happily co-exist with my existing Firefox 1.5 installation without screwing everything up? I'm eager to try out FF 2.0, but not if it causes problems with the version I have installed already.

    1. Re:One question before I try this out... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yes. I downloaded 2.0b2 and installed it alongside 1.5.0.6 and played with it for about 10 minutes. I like that you can reopen a recently closed tab. I don't like how Adblock and Flashblock are no longer compatible with it. I uninstalled it and am back to 1.5.0.6 without any problems.

    2. Re:One question before I try this out... by _xeno_ · · Score: 5, Informative

      Short answer: no.

      Long answer: Sure, if you make sure you use a new profile and never run Firefox 2.0 beta2 using your old profile.

      If you don't understand what I just said, then stick with "no." Portable versions of Firefox 2.0beta2 may coexist as long as they don't use the standard profile directory. Unless you're absolutely sure that your existing profile won't be touched, it's best to assume not to.

      In any case, if you're going to try out Firefox 2.0beta2, you should definitely make a backup of your profile.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
    3. Re:One question before I try this out... by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Informative

      Shit, its shared - backup before installing people.

      --
      liqbase :: faster than paper
    4. Re:One question before I try this out... by fireman+sam · · Score: 5, Funny

      Do I have to back up my people v1.5 profile and what type of people are you installing?

      *sorry*

      --
      it is only after a long journey that you know the strength of the horse.
  2. Firefox 2? by KSobby · · Score: 5, Funny

    Isn't Clint Eastwood a bit old to be doing this stuff?

    --
    "It's difficult to meditate on amphetamines." - Joe Walsh
    1. Re:Firefox 2? by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 4, Funny

      Be honest: How long have you been saving that one up?

      --
      Comment of the year
  3. Portable version by xorowo · · Score: 5, Informative

    For those of you that want to test this out without installing it, consider a portable version of Firefox 2 Beta 2.

  4. Firefox Shakespear by Aqws · · Score: 4, Funny

    FireFox, 2B or not 2B.

  5. This alone makes it worth it by eyeye · · Score: 5, Funny

    "toolbar buttons now glow when you hover over them."

    FINALLY!

    --
    Bush and Blair ate my sig!
  6. Tabs will be broken by anagama · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Looks like Firefox drank the coolaid and opted for the tab closing button on each tab, thus presenting a moving target for closing tabs. I hope they make single button an option a least.

    --
    What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
    1. Re:Tabs will be broken by .killedkenny · · Score: 5, Informative

      -Red X (Close Button)-
      Some people were frustrated that Mozilla added a close button to every tab which resulted in an extension that removed those close buttons. Well, you no longer need to get an extension to remove those pesky X's, in fact there are multiple options that you can do now: display a close button on the active tab only, display close buttons on all tabs, don't display any close buttons, and display a single close button at the end of the tab strip (Firefox 1.x behavior). Here is how you can customize the placement:

            1. Start Firefox.
            2. In the Address Bar type "about:config" and press Enter.
            3. Right-Click and select New->Integer.
            4. A box requesting the Preference Name will popup and you should enter "browser.tabs.closeButtons" (without the quotes). Press OK to continue.
            5. Now you need to select the type of close button you want: 0 - display a close button on the active tab only, 1 - display close buttons on all tabs, 2 - don't display any close buttons, and 3 - display a single close button at the end of the tab strip (Firefox 1.x behavior). After entering the value corresponding to your preference press OK again.

    2. Re:Tabs will be broken by ZeroExistenZ · · Score: 5, Informative

      What about the middle button-click on the tab? (mostly using the clickable scrollbutton on your mouse)

      It took a bit of adjustment, but middleclicking a link to open it in a new tab is really easy; in the case of slashdot I just load the comments I want to read, or the article while I browse on until I decide to go more in depth or reply without losing where you were.

      When finished, I just middle-click the tab. It dramatically speeds up the browsing experience if you're used to using your mouse alot. (once I'm actually with both hands on my keyboard I tend to switch to keyboard shortcuts. But it's tedious to get to the right links using TAB)

      --
      I think we can keep recursing like this until someone returns 1
  7. greetings from the year 3000 by User+956 · · Score: 4, Funny

    New Firefox 2 feature: Inline spell checking -- A new built-in spell checker enables users to quickly check the spelling of text entered into Web forms.

    But will this detect antiquated Elglish, such as when people use "ask" instead of "ax"?

    --
    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
  8. Re:I hope they improved the reliability by bigbigbison · · Score: 4, Informative

    A beta was unstable and not ready for daily use? That's umpossible!

    Seriously, beta 1 was unstable for me as well until I realized that it was because of a couple extensions that I had installed with the nightly tester tool that were crashing it. Since I removed those I haven't had any trouble with beta 1.

    --
    http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players
  9. Does it still hog memory? by TheWoozle · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Anyway, Opera has most of these "new" features, and consumes fewer resources. I switched, and haven't looked back.

    --
    Insisting on "correct" English is like saying that there is only one, definitive recipe for chili.
  10. Re:Testing? by Trillan · · Score: 4, Funny

    You must have incredible lung capacity. If I'd held my breath waiting for Internet Explorer 7 I'd have been dead for just over five years now.

  11. Re:Solution. by jfengel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's not a question of closing multiple tabs. It's the fact that if you want to close the current tab, you have to hunt it down visually, rather than going to the same place in the window no matter what tab you're viewing.

    We're talking about a difference of perhaps a tenth of a second, but of such microscopic units of time are human-factors decisions made. Interfaces are all about developing habits, and things that make it hard to form habits interfere with smooth operation. Maybe the new interface would make different and better habits; maybe not. I didn't think so, but YMMV.

  12. Re:SoaF by mcmonkey · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes, but where will they find snakes that think in Russian?

  13. This is INCORRECT by asa · · Score: 5, Informative

    We have not yet released Firefox 2 Beta 2. This story is incorrect.

    - Asa

    1. Re:This is INCORRECT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Oh what do you know?

  14. Re:Even better... by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually, you have always been able to close a background tab; just do a middle click with your scroll wheel on the tab.

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper