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Firefox 2.0 RC2 Review

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new dept.

segphault writes "Ars Technica has a comprehensive review of Firefox 2.0 RC2. It includes screenshot comparisons that illuminate the user interface changes that have transpired since the second beta, and it examines the similarities between the browser tab implementation from Internet Explorer 7 and the new tab management features in RC2. From the article: 'If RC2 is any indication, Firefox 2.0 is an incremental improvement of the 1.5.x series with performance improvements and a handful of relatively useful features. Based on my own experience, I consider it stable enough for regular use, but I endorse caution for users that rely on a lot of extensions, as most extensions aren't yet compatible with Firefox 2.0.'"

5 of 319 comments (clear)

  1. Extensions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    All but one of my ~dozen installed extensions (largely developer oriented) currently work, with the exception being TBE. Firefox 2 seems pretty good, but it would've been fairer for this to have been v1.5.

    1. Re:Extensions by samkass · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Loved the "tab remember" feature where you can close the browser and it will remember all the pages you had open in the previous session.

      This was one of my favorite features from Opera 4-5 years ago. Glad to see the idea finally spreading.

      --
      E pluribus unum
  2. Why ActiveX? by khasim · · Score: 4, Insightful
    (that, and a glaring lack of ActiveX)

    ActiveX is a Microsoft technology. Even Microsoft is trying to get away for the security holes they've created with that.

    Sometimes, security means not implementing something if it cannot be implemented securely.
    1. Re:Why ActiveX? by killjoe · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "Active X is INCREDIBLY useful for applications"

      Yes, it has full access to your machine including the ability to read and write to hard drives, reboot your machine, muck with your registry etc.

      "t's much more advanced than AJAX, and it was there 5-8 years ago. "

      Yes. It was Microsoft's answer to the applet. Applets were first of course. Too bad Sun never could make them work because they were much safer then activex.

      "Java never cut it (buggy, bloated, and hard to relatively hard to develop)."

      Bloated maybe, buggy no, hard to develop? Nonsense. Much easier to develop java applets then activex components.

      "AJAX is just another Javascript kludge. "

      Yes.

      "Active X is pretty damn useful when done correctly. I have a bunch of Active X apps that I use via IE."

      Great if you are willing to use IE and windows.

      --
      evil is as evil does
  3. Re:Close button in the active tab. Argh ! by Kelson · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Blame it on conflicting usability studies -- or maybe conflicting usability goals.

    Close buttons on the tabs are good from a discoverability standpoint.
    A close button on the end is good from a clicking-in-the-right-place standpoint.

    Firefox has traditionally given discoverability a high priority.