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Firefox 2.0 Officially Released
Many readers wrote in to make sure we all knew that Firefox 2.0 has officially been released on Mozilla.com, unlike yesterday's early preview. Here are builds for all languages and Win/Linux/Mac, and the release notes.
Once again...
If you find the Firefox 2 theme too bleak, I've got your fix right here.
Yesterday's "pre-release" (CRC32): 4F3CF1D7
Today's "official" release (CRC32): 4F3CF1D7
I guess not much has changed since RC3...
The auto-update system will automatically apply security and stability updates. We're planning on providing an "optional" update to Firefox 2 through this system, and that will likely happen in a few weeks. In the meantime, please do download through getfirefox.com. As long as you do not use a direct ftp.mozilla.org or releases.mozilla.org, we're pretty confident in our ability to handle demand, thanks to our volunteer mirror network.
I just installed 2.0 on XP and it seems to be working quite well. Most of my extensions work, and I'm happy.
Then I discovered The Feature(tm). A website popped up a window, rather than a new tab, with no ability to control the size and whatnot. I discovered a button in the upper right corner that says "open this window in default browser". Clicking it opens that window in a new tab in my open browser.
Thanks to whoever added that feature. Brilliant idea.
Okay, so I had a problem where when I hovered over a tab's close button, it would disappear (though it would still when clicked). Also, when I installed the beta of the upcoming Tab Mix Plus, the main tab close button would flicker when hovered over it, and I'd have to click several times very quickly to make it work.
The problem: a theme I had installed (which has since been updated today).
So, if you experience any UI weirdness, you may want to switch over to the default theme and restart to see if that makes a difference.
Now that I have my Tabs Mix Plus, I'm doin' okay with FF2.
Shame about the non-multi-threaded UI, though. Maybe someday.
Ack, that horrible thing seems to sometimes cause weird problems with some websites that don't like all the simultaneous connections, and it can also cause memory leaks. Just be hardcore and modify your about:config yourself.
I've had v2.0 for all of 3 minutes and already have a gripe. The X tabs icon has been moved from the far right to the right of each individual tab. I rather liked the old version as I could quickly X all my tabs down to the original window that I had open. Now I must mouse around to click all tabs.
"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." - Shepard Book Quoting Malcolm Reynolds
IMHO, this release warrants the 2.0 moniker. Aside from the inline spell checker, it appears the dreaded "memory usage" problem has finally been nailed. FF 2.0 does appear to reclaim memory much faster than the older version. To me, this bug fix together with the perceptible increase in launch time and page loading/rendering is a major improvement, which combined with the inline spell checker is enough to warrant the 2.o moniker. I also agree that additional features are better left to extension developers.
Part of 2.0 release it appears is also not just contained in the browser code itself but in Mozilla's Add-ons website which gets launch when you click the "Get Extensions" link in the Add-ons dialog. Add-ons or extensions are now grouped together by functionality as opposed to being grouped together by popularity, ratings, etc.
A new version of TabMixPlus that works with FF2 will be released within the week according to the author's note here:
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1122/
In the meantime, you can install a pre-release version of the extension here:
http://tmp.garyr.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3515
To get rid of the close buttons on all tabs, go to about:config and set
browser.tabs.closeButtons
to 0 if you only want the close button on the active tab
or to 0 if you want the close button only at the right hand side of the tab bar.
a world in progress...
First, Firefox 2.0 is supposed to be a "0.5" upgrade from 1.5; that is, approximately as much of a change as 1.5 was compared to 1.0.
Now, Firefox 2.0 offers these noticeable features, among others:
- Updated UI
- Anti-phishing
- Tab close undo
- Session restore
- Form spell checker
- Microsummaries
- JavaScript 1.7
- Loads and loads of bug and stability fixes, including improved memory usage
I'm really not sure why this couldn't be a 2.0 release? What else should it be? 1.6 would be way to minor for its features anyway. Heck, this is the scale e.g. IE 5 -> 6 was on IMHO, if not more, and then that was an incremental step of 1, not 0.5 as Firefox 2.0 is.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
(Notice: Lower-case 'w' in subject.)
Enter "about:config" in to the Address bar.
Filter on "dom.disable_window".
Make sure every resulting knob is set to "True".
This prevents JavaScript-spawned windows from having their title bar, address bar, tool bar, menu bar, status bar, scroll bars, or other decorations removed/disabled. Now I can move, resize, or otherwise twiddle with all the windows in my browser, the way I should be able to.
Me to web developers: They're my windows; get your grubby JavaScript off them!
dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.
http://www.wordorigins.org/Words/LetterL/lockandlo ad.html
:)
Lock and Load
This imperative phrase originally referred to the operation of the M1 Garand Rifle, the standard U.S. Army rifle of WWII. Its meaning is more general now, referring to preparation for any imminent event.
To load a Garand, the bolt would be locked to the rear and a clip of ammunition loaded into the receiver. The command lock and load was immortalized by John Wayne in the 1949 movie The Sands of Iwo Jima: "Lock and load, boy, lock and load."
There are earlier uses of the command reversed, load and lock. This command, primarily used on firing ranges, referred to the loading of a single round into the Garand (or into another weapon). In this case, the lock referred to striking the bolt handle with the heel of the hand to ensure it was fully closed and locked into place.
And you want to mess with something the Duke said? Shame on you.
My deer rifle is a 30-06 Remmington slide action. I'm a southpaw and a lefthanded bolt was more than I could afford when I got the gun (used): the slide action is ambidextrous. It has a 4 round clip. I've owned it for 31 years now. I don't use it much any more, but at one time it helped stretch the grocery budget.
I learned to shoot from a couple guys who had grown up hunting in the 1930s and who learned to shoot all over again when in the service in World War II. Both saw more action on the Pacific islands than they would ever talk about.
The litany they taught included these steps (done just before the first steps of the hunt)
I doubt that either of those guys saw any of the John Wayne war movies (they liked his westerns though). But I'm pretty sure neither one would have thought "Lock and load, son" was wrong or laughable. It is the way it was done.
Sorry about the rant. But this argument among people who have never had to worry about extracting a jammed live round from a rifle because the shooter hadn't locked the clip into place before trying to load the chamber has grown tiresome.
The download page picks a random mirror. Linking directly to the file would put all of the load on a single mirror.
no, it would not:
Stop Computers/Cars Analogies on S