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Firefox 2 Downloads Top 2 million in 24 Hours

linuxci writes "Firefox 2.0 has had over two million downloads in 24 hours with a peak rate of over 30 downloads a second. This means Firefox is well on track to beat IE7's three million in four days. Of course stats don't equal users but it's interesting to see that the demand for Firefox is currently outstripping IE."

295 comments

  1. But who needs to download IE? by Aliencow · · Score: 1, Insightful

    These stats aren't worth crap, but it's cool Firefox got 2 million downloads. How many Windows installs were installed in 2 days when Win98 was released?

    1. Re:But who needs to download IE? by dr_strang · · Score: 4, Funny

      Only four, because it took over 28 hours to install from floppy.

      --
      This is a sig. It is like every other sig in the world, except that it is mine, and it is different.
    2. Re:But who needs to download IE? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Well, IE7 isn't default in XP.

    3. Re:But who needs to download IE? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      I personally know of two people who bought Win95 because "everyone else" was buying it. Neither of them owned a PC.

      So much for the American consumer making educated choices in the marketplace, (an alledged keystone of American Capitalism; the type of Capitalism we want to seed in the developing world.)

    4. Re:But who needs to download IE? by eneville · · Score: 1, Insightful
      Well, IE7 isn't default in XP.
      firefox isnt default in windows either
    5. Re:But who needs to download IE? by canuck57 · · Score: 1

      How many Windows installs were installed in 2 days when Win98 was released?

      That was 8 years ago and people were desperate to get off of 95. In converting to human terms it happened in the 1800's. Or at least last century - litterally. Second point, I bet it costs a lot less! Next, didn't even have to leave my seat and upgraded in seconds including download time. A whole lot less painful than Windows 98 or IE updates.

      BTW, the new 2.0 version looks good.

    6. Re:But who needs to download IE? by drsmithy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That was 8 years ago and people were desperate to get off of 95.

      No, they weren't. Indeed, the take-up of Windows 98 could only be described - generously - as "sluggish".

      Slashdot, at the time, was overjoyed at how poorly received Windows 98 was, considering it another sign of Microsoft's downfall and using it as another example of how Linux on everyone's desktop was only 12 months away...

    7. Re:But who needs to download IE? by Zarniwoop_Editor · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Perhaps the stats are not worth crap, but it certainly shows a trend.
      I for one welcome anything that provides a choice, especially when it comes to microsofts dominance.
      I'm not a member of the "Microsoft is evil" club but I do think that their market share is certainly not based on the merits of their quality products.

      --
      - F1 NEWS
    8. Re:But who needs to download IE? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      These stats aren't worth crap
      It's true. I've updated 6 computers so far with the same download that I pulled on Monday so that's 6 not included in this stat.
    9. Re:But who needs to download IE? by Isotopian · · Score: 1
      BTW, the new 2.0 version looks good.
      Oh yeah? Well when is Black Japan 2.0 coming out? That's what I want to know.
      --

      It's poetry with a beat behind it! And guns! They're like beatniks with automatic weapons.

    10. Re:But who needs to download IE? by teslar · · Score: 2, Funny
      No, they weren't. Indeed, the take-up of Windows 98 could only be described - generously - as "sluggish".
      Can't speak for anyone else, of course, but personally, that was due to my Windows installation at the time being Windows 95c, whose only major difference to 98, as far as I could tell at the time, was that 98 had integrated Internet Explorer into itself. So I wasn't desperate at all to get rid of 95c. In fact, I don't think I ever had a 98 installation... I just went to 2k as soon as that was out. Nowadays of course, it's just Ubuntu... until the doctor says it safe for me to start playing games again ;)
    11. Re:But who needs to download IE? by Shawn+is+an+Asshole · · Score: 1

      I got my second computer (first was a C64) when Win95 first came out. At first I really liked it, but after a few weeks I couldn't wait to get rid of it and went back to using my C64 primarily. Luckily I found out about Linux through a C64 IRC channel and have been a happy Linux ever since.

      Win95 was awful. I really can't understand how anyone thought it was halfway decent. Maybe this was just because my first computer experiences were with Commodore (also used GEOS on it) and Macs in middle school.

      --
      "It ain't a war against drugs.it's a war against personal freedom" --Bill Hicks
    12. Re:But who needs to download IE? by crazygamer · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Well, IE7 isn't default in XP.
      That's the point. As soon as Vista comes out IE7 will probably top out Firefox within a few days.
    13. Re:But who needs to download IE? by towsonu2003 · · Score: 1
      (an alledged keystone of American Capitalism; the type of Capitalism we want to seed in the developing world.)
      if you get that type of capitalism in developing countries, your developed countries will go bankrupt... You need developing countries to export everything they have to developed countries instead of consuming it themselves.
    14. Re:But who needs to download IE? by tehcyder · · Score: 1
      These stats aren't worth crap, but it's cool Firefox got 2 million downloads
      Yes, the statistics are meaningless, apart from the one statistic I like, which is true.
      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  2. Most people don't know IE7 is out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Most people don't even know IE7 is out yet. They don't care.

    Once Windows automatically downloads IE7 next month, then compare downloads. IE7's stats will skyrocket next month when it's deployed to home users. (Most companies are delaying the roll-out for additional testing. So expect usage rates to slowly increase over the next year.)

    No matter how good Firefox may be, it'll never overcome "already installed and automatically updated".

    1. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by arose · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Once Windows automatically downloads IE7 next month, then compare downloads.
      The current statistics are interesting because they show user demand as opposed to market share.

      No matter how good Firefox may be, it'll never overcome "already installed and automatically updated".
      That's funny, because I'm typing this from an Ubuntu 6.10 CD with Firefox 2.0 while the system is installing in the background, when I reboot Firefox 2.0 will be already installed and automatically updated with the rest of the system. On Windows systems the "already installed" part depends on OEMs and automatic updates are done by Firefox itself. Will you be able to browse the web with IE 7 while Vista installs? Will there be system-wide automatic updates or will people still need to update a large part of the system by hand?
      --
      Analogies don't equal equalities, they are merely somewhat analogous.
    2. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by canuck57 · · Score: 1

      Once Windows automatically downloads IE7 next month, then compare downloads. IE7's stats will skyrocket next month when it's deployed to home users. (Most companies are delaying the roll-out for additional testing. So expect usage rates to slowly increase over the next year.)

      Knowing Microsoft they timed this so that they could be the last in and change the default browser back to IE.

      Time for me to turn off automatic updates so that my only XP system is (relatively) stable. (others are 2 solaris, 3 Suse, 1 RH).

      Thanks for the heads up!

    3. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      I installed IE7 and FF2.0. When IE7 was installed, it did not affect my default browser settings at all (it stayed as Firefox), so that's not a reason to turn off Automatic Updates. In addition, on my Server 2003 box (which got the update via Windows Update), the installer that launches gives you a choice of whether to install IE7, though it obviously strongly encourages you to do so.

      As for stable, I doubt IE7 will affect the stability of your system. While I'm sure there are numerous bugs to be discovered, the fact remains that IE7 is designed to avoid a lot of the problems in IE6, by removing some of the close ties with the OS, sandboxing webpages more effectively, etc.

    4. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Ubuntu isn't an OS.

      Ubuntu is a distro.

      Gnu/Linux is the OS.

    5. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by GIL_Dude · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It's funny about who is changing what here. I generally keep IE as the default browser because I get email with links for some admin tasks (approvals) that only work in IE. My main browser is FF, but I want these links to work right so IE stays the "default". However, installing FF 2.0 changed the default to FF without bothering to ask first! That was not appreciated at all. I repeated the install on another machine and it did the same. I did not see anywhere where it asked "would you like to make Firefox your default browser (recommended)". LAME. I like the browser, but that is reprehensible behavior.

    6. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by Selanit · · Score: 2, Informative
      I generally keep IE as the default browser because I get email with links for some admin tasks (approvals) that only work in IE.

      You need IE View. It's a Firefox extension that adds a new entry to the context menu: "Open link target in IE".

      So, your user sends you an approval email, you right click the link and select "Open in IE", and boom. There you go.

    7. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by PygmySurfer · · Score: 1

      So he's supposed to click the link in his email to have it open in Firefox, and then use that plugin to open the page again, but in IE this time?

      Seems rather inelegant...

    8. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by Shawn+is+an+Asshole · · Score: 1
      Will you be able to browse the web with IE 7 while Vista installs?


      No, but you'll be able to get 0wn3d during the install...

      --
      "It ain't a war against drugs.it's a war against personal freedom" --Bill Hicks
    9. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by Selanit · · Score: 1

      Hmm. I was assuming that he's using a web-based email client - in which case, IE View is exactly what he needs.

      You're assuming that he's using a standalone email client. In which case, having IE as the system default is what he needs.

      It just didn't occur to me that he might not be using webmail. Probably this is because I myself haven't used a standalone email client for at least eight years, and I've got a bad habit of making hasty generalizations about other people's behavior based on my own behavior.

      Now that I read the parent a little more carefully, there's actually no good way to tell whether his email client is web-based or standalone. How annoying.

    10. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by ruiner13 · · Score: 1

      I also have installed on many machines, and did not experience this behavior. It didn't change any of my previous settings. On first run, it asked if I wanted to make it my default (which i said no to, for the same reasons you listed), then asked if I wanted to import any IE bookmarks. I am not sure why you are getting this behavior. Did anyone else get what the parent experienced?

      --

      today is spelling optional day.

    11. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by mariotwins · · Score: 1
      That's funny, because I'm typing this from an Ubuntu 6.10 CD with Firefox 2.0 while the system is installing in the background, when I reboot Firefox 2.0 will be already installed and automatically updated with the rest of the system. On Windows systems the "already installed" part depends on OEMs and automatic updates are done by Firefox itself. Will you be able to browse the web with IE 7 while Vista installs? Will there be system-wide automatic updates or will people still need to update a large part of the system by hand?

      And...what does that have to do with the OP's point? "Already installed and automatically updated" refers to the fact that IE is "already installed" on a whole lot of PCs. Hooray for Ubuntu,= I suppose, but I don't see what your comment has to do with market share.

    12. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by Tim+C · · Score: 1

      Now that I read the parent a little more carefully, there's actually no good way to tell whether his email client is web-based or standalone.

      If it was web-based, and he uses FF as his main browser, why would clicking a link in an email *ever* open the link in IE? Similarly, if it was web-based and he reads it in IE, why would clicking a link *ever* open it in FF? That's not how system defaults work in Windows (or any system), as it would be utterly counter-intuitive - you open your non-default browser, browse to a website, click a link, and it launches your default browser? No.

      He uses a stand-alone client.

      As for the main point, imho it is unforgivable for any application to make itself default and/or take over file associations from other applications without asking. Just because I've installed it doesn't mean I want to switch over to it immediately (or indeed at all!).

    13. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by toddestan · · Score: 1

      I installed FF 2.0 on a Windows 2000 machine, and it did not change my default browser from IE to Firefox. On the other hand, this particular computer Firefox had never been installed before, which might explain the difference.

    14. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by GNious · · Score: 1

      "inelegant"? Hmm..

      But not so - first time he tells IEView to alway open URLs for work in IEView (I do this for the work-domain), and now he only has to worry about having 1 browser(-window) open at any time.

      Incidently, IEView is also cool to demo Firefox with. Open page in 1 tab, open same page in IEView tab. Now show the difference to people (Bad HTML, adblocked ads etc.) Remember to show that it Works; All proper sites render correctly.

      Cheers,
          G

    15. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lemme check... www.ubuntu.com: "Ubuntu is a complete Linux-based operating system." Seems like it is an operating system after all. The guys who make it decided to call it Ubuntu. Just like the guys at www.debian.org chose to call theirs Debian GNU/Linux. Just like the guys at Redhat chose to call their OS Redhat Linux. One of the freedoms anyone has is to name the operating system any way they want. You could put together an OS based on free components and call it "Lynooks" and no one in the world has the right to rename it to GNU/Lynooks or anything else.

    16. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by Selanit · · Score: 1
      ... you open your non-default browser, browse to a website, click a link, and it launches your default browser? No.

      Of course not. That would indeed be counter-intuitive, not to mention silly. What I said was that he can INSTALL AN EXTENSION that gives him the ability to DELIBERATELY CHOOSE to have a link open in IE by RIGHT-CLICKING and selecting (ahem) "Open link target in IE."

      Here is a screen shot showing the extra entry on the context menu that the "IE View" extension adds:

      http://ieview.mozdev.org/screenshots.html

      And yes, it was rude of the Firefox developers to take system default status without asking.

    17. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by 1310nm · · Score: 1

      Semantics: the universal trump card!

    18. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You've been PWND. Admit it.

    19. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by bradbury · · Score: 1

      > I generally keep IE as the default browser because I get email with links for
      > some admin tasks (approvals) that only work in IE.

      Hmmm... Can you tell me how I can rune IE7 under Linux? I've heard some rumors that some people can run IE6 under Wine under Linux. I think could pay $$ and install a Parallels emulator (and then pay $$$ for a current copy of XP -- or do I have to install an old vulnerable copy of XP and then go through a lengthy Service Pack upgrade process???). I recently tried upgrading my cousin's original version of XP and it said it wanted to install 67 security upgrades (really!). It was OK because we left the machine running overnight. Then it said it wanted to install Service Pack 2 (but that was from 97 to 250MB of downloads) and over a dial up that would require 1 to 2 more days. Her machine is only 3 years old and I really don't think it can run Vista. In contrast I split the NTFS partition on her hard drive and had Ubuntu up and running in an hour. No more lengthy MacAffee virus update delays for her. Though she likes Firefox (because I've explained how Javascript is a security risk unless only enabled for selected sites) I'm wondering if I should download IE7 and allow her to compare them side by side. But I'd really like her to compare them under Linux since that system seems have many fewer problems with viruses, keystroke loggers, and those other nasties that have generally resulted from Microsoft's attempts to dominate the software market.

    20. Re:Most people don't know IE7 is out by bradbury · · Score: 1

      As a separate note, I run Firefox with the NoScript Extension to manage which sites can use Javacript extremely selectively -- anyone who enables the running of unknown source and unknown agenda software remotely via their browser is IMO begging for problems. There should be a site -- IamAJavacriptDummy.Org.

  3. To be fair... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Users most likely to download a browser are probably already using firefox with it's auto-update. IE will see a huge roll out with windows update and Iceweasel will see a limited rollout repackaged for linux distros. Me, I'll wait another 6 months for ff2 to be marked stable in portage. These figures are meaningless.

    1. Re:To be fair... by _pruegel_ · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There is no auto-update from Firefox 1.5 to 2.0 yet. And there is no Windows Update for IE7 yet. Those figures are all but meaningless. The numbers show that early adopters are equaly likely to download FF2 and IE7 (or maybe download both).

    2. Re:To be fair... by Firehed · · Score: 1

      I'd bet at least half the downloads on either side were by web developers, doing exactly that - getting the latest versions of both.

      --
      How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
    3. Re:To be fair... by AmberBlackCat · · Score: 1

      I downloaded IE7 but didn't install it for fear that it would ruin the computer's stability. I downloaded Firefox 2 and installed it immediately. This is mainly because Firefox is more separate from the rest of the computer than Internet Explorer (at least to this point) so I wasn't so worried about it not working. I decided to wait for the automatic update so I'd get it the same time as everybody else and there would be more time to work out any potential issues. So if there are other people like me then IE7 may have a bunch of people who are eager to use it but don't want to be early adopters. That could result in the download rates spiking heavily after the comfort level increases.

    4. Re:To be fair... by Hakubi_Washu · · Score: 1

      Will there be one?
      I'm expecting one (though that'll probably be the point I abandon FF) and am a little disturbed that I can't find anything better than "you will receive an offer to upgrade [...] over the next several weeks" (That is under "dev news" only!) on this (Jeez, I'd expect a notice on the getfirefox.com frontpage, to be honest, but then, the team is too stupid to mask a directory on public mirrors as well...) From this thread I gather that the auto-updater can't handle a major upgrade at the moment, which seems not-so-well-thought-through as well...

  4. And what about RC3 Downloads? by Darwin_Frog · · Score: 2, Interesting

    After all, I never downloaded the final release since I already had RC3 and nothing changed.

    1. Re:And what about RC3 Downloads? by Chosen+Reject · · Score: 2, Interesting

      For that matter what about Ubuntu 6.10 which comes with it preinstalled?

      --
      Stop Global Warming!
      Just say no to irreversible processes!
    2. Re:And what about RC3 Downloads? by BeeBeard · · Score: 2, Interesting

      And what about all the Slashdot readers who swamped Mozilla's mirrors a day in advance and downloaded the thing? ;)

      - An RC3 user

    3. Re:And what about RC3 Downloads? by tOaOMiB · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Alright, they're up to 2,000,003.

      Or as a serious guyss, 2,050,000. I mean, come on guys. How many people really downloaded RC3? Or use Ubuntu? When we're talking about downloads in the millions, we're talking about what normal people are doing. The stats of nerds don't significantly contribute.

  5. RC3 was the same as 2.0 by linuxci · · Score: 4, Informative

    For those that didn't know Firefox 2 RC3 was the same release as the final 2.0 so people who had already downloaded the release candidate didn't need to download the final (Help > About shows the build number and they're identical). This is usual with Mozilla releases, the release candidates are actual candidates for release (unlike MS) so the final RC usually becomes the real release.

    So people with RC3 don't count in these stats unless they didn't realise and downloaded 2.0 again.

    1. Re:RC3 was the same as 2.0 by glowplug · · Score: 0

      You may very well say that but as a result I've chosen to redo all my themes from the default theme for 2. I had done them from a recent nightly build for rc3 but don't want to assume I have all the latest changes. I'm quite happy to do this to ensure that my themes are more compatible than otherwise. It's no longer quite so urgent to inform the planet about Firefox but the heat's still on for Thunderbird awareness. If you have any respect for your Uncles, Aunts and relatives in general then do like I do. * When they aren't looking setup Thundebird the same as their current email client and remove that thing(such as Outdone or whatever) - they'll only thank you for it. * Don't just mindlessly stagger down the street, stick your head into shops like Internet Cafes and give alternate users the drum. Tips in this are. 1. WTF are you doing, what's wrong with you and when are you going to get help? 2. Oh man, what a way to do something tough rather than intuitive, good old frustration, nothing like it. 3. Bursting into fits of laughter whenever they try to do stuff. In all honesty Outlook is back with the dinosaurs in terms of usability compared with Thunderbird. Correct me if I am currently wrong but last I read Microsoft's golden rule was 'It has to be easy, not just easier' Now come on folks, that is totally self defeatest - illogical. The trouble is that it sucks people in, they get used to a product then deny anything else no matter how superior it is. In the mean time most users are being confronted with the sort of stuff that gets up your nose sideways with a chisel! I mean REALLY, why would you bother??!!.. ...because...that..is...what..everybody...does Oh for FFS, snap out of it!! Regards, Greg (aka glowplug)

    2. Re:RC3 was the same as 2.0 by glowplug · · Score: 0

      I hate to double post but my last looks like spaghetti bolognaise. THUNDERBIRD AWARENESS Tell your friends, tell your relatives - even tell your dog just for practice. YOU tell me how something sooo excellent is going to get the right exposure otherwise... Try it, you'll like it, I've scrapped that 'Outdoor' thing

    3. Re:RC3 was the same as 2.0 by stud9920 · · Score: 1

      The builds may be the same, you still have to rebuild to remove the "RC" labels from the Release Graduate

    4. Re:RC3 was the same as 2.0 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      No you don't. RC3 was not marked in any way as a release candidate. Only the build date string (20061010) differentiates the different RCs. Just change the name of the installer file and upload it to the main servers and FF2 RC3 becomes FF2.

  6. mainly mac and windows installs by cies · · Score: 1, Insightful

    i thinks this must be mainly mac ans windows installs, linux user mostly use a package that is build by their distro and shipped from the distibutions package servers. for instance i just did a "sudo apt-get upgrade" on kubuntu 6.10-rcX.

    i don't think the mozilla team can actually measure these amounts.

    1. Re:mainly mac and windows installs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But the number of Linux and other UNIX users is comparatively very small when compared to the number of Mac OS X users, and virtually none when it comes to Windows users.

      So for every 10000 Windows Firefox downloads, you may have only 1 Linux Firefox download via FreeBSD packages or the Debian and Ubuntu APT repositories.

      In the end, the total number of Linux downloads is virtually irrelevant. Even if you do count them, they have very little impact on the total number of downloads, since that value is almost completely driven by Windows downloads. They might as well be ignored.

    2. Re:mainly mac and windows installs by backwardMechanic · · Score: 1

      That's okay, everybody knows Linux users are insignificant [ducks]

  7. A pity. by celardore · · Score: 1

    The link to the Firefox download page could have been included. I had to find it myself.

    http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

    1. Re:A pity. by linuxci · · Score: 3, Informative

      That's what Google is for. Anyway, the best way to remember the URL for Firefox downloads is getfirefox.com or even just firefox.com will get you there eventually.

    2. Re:A pity. by MassEnergySpaceTime · · Score: 3, Funny

      or ie7.com

      --
      Respect the laws of physics, for the laws of physics have no respect for you.
    3. Re:A pity. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just two words: karma whore.
      Wait, that's already five!

    4. Re:A pity. by Tony+Hoyle · · Score: 1

      The UK version of getfirefox sucks donkey.

      Try going to getfirefox.co.uk. There's no download link, and the only download on the page is for google toolbar.

      They *really* need to work on that, because UK users will go there first to get the en-GB version.

    5. Re:A pity. by linuxci · · Score: 1

      getfirefox.co.uk is not an official page, only getfirefox.com is

      The .co.uk site is just what some enterprising individual set up in order to make money off Google referral fees.

      Google offers $1 per Firefox download for users signed up to adsense. Just Google for Firefox you'll see that all the sponsored links take you to pages with "Get Firefox with Google Toolbar" buttons on them.

  8. How about IE7 downloaded as security update? by Fri13 · · Score: 2, Informative

    IE7 will be installed almoust every windows machine because it will come as security update. Firefox 2.0 will not and is needed to download by user. Like there is many Ubuntu 6.04 users and it seems that firefox 2.0 will not come for those machines as security update. Users would need to update 6.10 version to get it. (or am i very wrong about this? :-D) 2 million downloads is very nice number, if IE7 has got only 3 in 3 days, i think it will be tie, after few days.

    1. Re:How about IE7 downloaded as security update? by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      IE7 will be installed almoust every windows machine because it will come as security update.

      Thus far, IE requires a "genuine" version of Windows to install, so it certainly isn't going to be delivered like that.

    2. Re:How about IE7 downloaded as security update? by aitan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      IE7 can be installed only by users that are running WinXP with SP2 or Win2003 and have enabled the WGA, so all the users that are perfectly happy with their Win2000 aren't able to install it. Those that still prefer to avoid SP2 (there are strange users out there) also can't install it.
      And lastly all those that have an old system with pre-win2000 versions just can't get any update from MS.
      And many organizations seems willing to block the install of IE7.

      So not all windows users will get IE7. I don't have any statistics to say the percentages but I wouldn't be surprised if after 6 months no more than 50% of windows users are using IE7.

    3. Re:How about IE7 downloaded as security update? by GIL_Dude · · Score: 2, Informative

      That 50% number is probably pretty close. I know for us, with 70,000 XP SP2 machines we are concentrating our planning and energy on Vista with Office 2007 and not on updating XP to IE7. Besides, most of our internal websites need updated CSS to render properly in IE7 and it is taking awhile for that to happen. Pushing out IE7 to the users would make them unhappy until the CSS updates get done. That all said, my main machine is Vista with (of course IE7) and Firefox 2.0 (which I am using to write this as I prefer FF - mainly due to adblock).

    4. Re:How about IE7 downloaded as security update? by BrokenHalo · · Score: 0, Troll

      IE7 will be installed almoust every windows machine because it will come as security update.

      ...And in any case, nobody ever installs the updates. This is a personal observation; there's apparently something about having a shiny CDROM with all the Microsoft logos over it that seems to lead people to think their system will remain as inviolate as their reflective plastic.

    5. Re:How about IE7 downloaded as security update? by DeepZenPill · · Score: 1

      Nevertheless, I'm sure many Firefox users such as myself downloaded IE7 to see what it's like, and to upgrade just for potential security benefits for that one time per year I encounter a site that only works in IE.

      Firefox appears to be the more 'optional' program to have, not coming with Windows and all, so it's more likely that users who have downloaded both browsers and contributed to both stats are going to stick with Firefox for general usage.

    6. Re:How about IE7 downloaded as security update? by kimvette · · Score: 1
      Those that still prefer to avoid SP2 (there are strange users out there)


      What is so strange about rejecting Microsoft's declaration that "by installing SP2 you agree to let us do whatever we want to your computer, and also change the terms of use at whim despite our having no legal right to do so since WinXP is a commodity product and thus right of first sale applies since it is not technically a licensed product under a work for hire contract but in fact a commodity good"
      --
      The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
    7. Re:How about IE7 downloaded as security update? by zcat_NZ · · Score: 1

      Backports and/or seveas repositories will give you all the new hotness for Dapper.

      I got flash9 through seveas a few days after it was released. Firefox2 doesn't seem to be there yet, but I can wait another day or two.

      My sources.list, for anyone who wants it:

      deb http://nz.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper main restricted universe multiverse
      deb http://nz.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper-backports main restricted universe multiverse
      deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper-security main restricted universe multiverse

      # Seveas' packages (packages, GPG key: 1135D466)
      deb http://mirror.ubuntulinux.nl/ dapper-seveas all

      # Bleeding edge wine packages (packages)
      deb http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt dapper main

      # Quinnstorm beryl
      deb http://ubuntu.beryl-project.org/ dapper main aiglx

      --
      455fe10422ca29c4933f95052b792ab2
    8. Re:How about IE7 downloaded as security update? by Salmar · · Score: 1

      IE7 got 3M in 4 days, not 3. Also, Firefox downloads tend to escalate every day for the first week or so as the word spreads. Counting downloads, I would be stunned if IE7 ever caught up, by which I mean the first iteration version of each, not updates...IE7 might stick around, albeit in varied forms, for *ahem* another five YEARS.

      But yes, you are very right that there will be an extremely larger number of IE7 copies in circulation at the end of this, and it will all happen invisibly. Imagine how surprised the clueless majority of PC owners will be when they can't get to the File menu anymore!

      --
      This is not the signature you're looking for.
    9. Re:How about IE7 downloaded as security update? by towsonu2003 · · Score: 1

      They can also use this link to get their fix: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FirefoxNewVersio n

    10. Re:How about IE7 downloaded as security update? by LinuxIsRetarded · · Score: 1
      What is so strange about rejecting Microsoft's declaration that "by installing SP2 you agree to let us do whatever we want to your computer, and also change the terms of use at whim despite our having no legal right to do so since WinXP is a commodity product and thus right of first sale applies since it is not technically a licensed product under a work for hire contract but in fact a commodity good"
      That seems different than the EULA I accepted when I installed SP2. Will you please point me to the version you're quoting from?
    11. Re:How about IE7 downloaded as security update? by miro+f · · Score: 1

      actually, IE7 will be a very good test to see how quickly security updates propagate. we can view on all those "stats counter" websites just how quickly and how completely any update will move to users

      --
      being vague is almost as cool as doing that other thing...
    12. Re:How about IE7 downloaded as security update? by charlieman · · Score: 1
      most of our internal websites need updated CSS to render properly in IE7 and it is taking awhile for that to happen.
      Ahhh, feeling the pain of non-standard CSS?
    13. Re:How about IE7 downloaded as security update? by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      So is there a version of IE7 for Ubuntu 6.04?

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  9. Download both by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone who's currently using Firefox will likely download IE7 as well. I know I will. Not because I like using IE, but because there's just some sites out there that don't work properly with Firefox (usually it's deliberate...)

    1. Re:Download both by grahammm · · Score: 1

      Anyone who's currently using Firefox will likely download IE7 as well.
      Only those people running Windows. I wonder what the proportions of the firefox 2 downloads were for the different operating systems.

    2. Re:Download both by linuxci · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You mean only those running XP or later? Mozilla now have an ideal target in Windows 2000 (businesses) and 98 (still in some peoples homes) as well as Linux and Mac.

    3. Re:Download both by baomike · · Score: 4, Funny

      I use Opera and complained to a site about their IE only policy/design.
      They replied with a Word document.

    4. Re:Download both by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only those running a *legal version* of windows.

    5. Re:Download both by A+Friendly+Troll · · Score: 1
      You mean only those running XP or later? Mozilla now have an ideal target in Windows 2000 (businesses) and 98 (still in some peoples homes) as well as Linux and Mac.
      Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to recall reading somewhere that Firefox 3 will drop support for Windows 98. I'm not sure if you should recommend people to download Firefox 2 on such machines, because they might be pissed off when they can't upgrade in a few months. IMHO, Windows 9x machines should be switched to Ubuntu first.
    6. Re:Download both by Pneuma+ROCKS · · Score: 1

      Even though I know those sites actually exist, I spend most of my life browsing the web (part of my job, in fact) with Firefox, and I almost never encounter Firefox-specific problems. Any respectable website (except Marlboro maybe) follows basic standards well enough these days. Even horribly random sites such as MySpace or hi5 work on Firefox just fine.

      I downloaded IE7, but mostly out of curiosity, and because, again, my job is heavily Internet-related. I only use it when I need to download an XPI from certain websites that don't have a direct download link :).

      --
      Favorite quote: "
    7. Re:Download both by justinchudgar · · Score: 1
      IMHO, Windows 9x machines should be switched to Ubuntu first.
      If there are users still using Win9x, they should be worried about saving for a new PC, not about which OS to use on their dinosaur.
      --
      WARNING: Smoking this sig may cause lowered IQ, insanity or short term memory loss. It is also really bad for your monit
    8. Re:Download both by A+Friendly+Troll · · Score: 1

      Why? My parents are using my old box - an old Celeron with 256 MB of memory and a 20 gig drive. I don't feel like spending money to buy them a new PC. This one is still good enough, and will be good enough for at least the next 4-5 years.

    9. Re:Download both by deesine · · Score: 1
      I've found most the lingering problems (not FF-specific, rather non-IE) center around sound and video files. Almost every time I encounter a problem, the site is being run on asp. A simple IE-Tab (FF extension, I'm too lazy to get the link)click and problem solved!

      I will be downloading IE7 eventually, but only for testing pages.

      --
      damaged by dogma
    10. Re:Download both by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is one company I unfortunately have to deal with that actually does reply with Word documents. Not only that, but they seem to be the only Word docs I've come across that OO2 chokes on. The damn things are unnecessarily complex, like three levels of nested tables. In every correspondence I plug PDFCreator, but they ignore that...

      The software also only works with administrator privileges (laziness) and is designed for high school students to use... What fun.

    11. Re:Download both by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Even horribly random sites such as MySpace

      This is just to be informative, and is not a commentary about my views of MySpace the and wide variety of "styles" you see there.

      For Firefox, download the EditCSS extension. Then when you load a MySpace page, open the EditCSS sidebar and select all and hit delete. Then you will be able to see the actual content on the page. I do this quite a bit as usually I cannot read any text due to the background image having colors that match the font colors.

      On a non website specific note. Ever wonder how table bloated a site is? Open the EditCSS sidebar again and at the bottom add
      table {border: 1px solid red;}
      and you will see the outline of all the tables, or whatever other attribute you want to check out.
    12. Re:Download both by miro+f · · Score: 1
      For Firefox, download the EditCSS extension. Then when you load a MySpace page, open the EditCSS sidebar and select all and hit delete. Then you will be able to see the actual content on the page. I do this quite a bit as usually I cannot read any text due to the background image having colors that match the font colors.


      or you could just click view->page style->no style
      --
      being vague is almost as cool as doing that other thing...
    13. Re:Download both by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep, your way is easier. I had forgotten about that, as I like to mess with the attributes to see what else is going on. I concede.

  10. So what the hell happened to all the fuss? by Channard · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Specifically, the fuss about the US Gov demanding IE be removed from Windows? It seems to have disappeared from public memory, just like Bird Flu.

    1. Re:So what the hell happened to all the fuss? by BostonVaulter · · Score: 2, Funny

      what is this "bird flu" you speak of?

      --
      Happy Puppy User
    2. Re:So what the hell happened to all the fuss? by JourneyExpertApe · · Score: 1

      Not only have people forgotten about bird flu, they don't even remember that Microsoft was ordered to separate IE from Windows. And they've also forgotten about that bird flu thing. People have such short memories.

      --
      If you can read this sig, you're too close.
    3. Re:So what the hell happened to all the fuss? by Overly+Critical+Guy · · Score: 1

      Microsoft untied IE7 from Windows. You got your wish.

      --
      "Sufferin' succotash."
  11. The one feature that makes it worth the download.. by scuba_steve_1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...an integrated spell checker for all HTML text form fields.

    Plus, it's a relatively trim download, so cheers to the dev team for that.

  12. Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT? by Yo+Grark · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Bye bye karma.

    I installed it and within a few minutes uninstalled it.

    Slow, featureless without the right extensions which are not at 2.0 yet and just a letdown in general.

    I thought things were supposed to get BETTER!

    -1, here I come!

    Yo Grark

    --
    Canadian Bred with American Buttering
    1. Re:Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT? by linuxci · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Everyone should know by now that extensions often take a few weeks to get updated. The extension mechanism can be annoying when there's a major update but it's like that so that extension authors are encouraged to test their extensions with new versions.

      Most people actually use Firefox without extensions and by default it's a lot more featureful than IE6 and about as featureful as IE7 some people say too much was put in 2.0. You can't please everybody so instead of putting everything under the sun like Seamonkey (the Mozilla suite) or Opera they've decided on the options that are of most use to the most people and allowed others to add the extra features.

      Also worth noting is that bugfix support for 1.5 will continue for a while so you can keep using it to wait for all your extensions to be compatible with the new version.

      Also, there's choice in the market if Firefox is not for you. I personally prefer Firefox to Opera, but Opera is a good browser and it's worth trying it may suit your needs better.

    2. Re:Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT? by slack_prad · · Score: 2, Insightful
      It's a nice tactic to say 'Bye bye karma' or 'This won't please the mods' and force the mod to mark it insightful/interesting

      oh, bye bye karma.

      --
      Sent from my desktop computer
    3. Re:Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT? by WoLpH · · Score: 0, Troll
      Everyone should know by now that extensions often take a few weeks to get updated. The extension mechanism can be annoying when there's a major update but it's like that so that extension authors are encouraged to test their extensions with new versions.
      Why should they take a few weeks to get updated? Firefox 2 has been beta for months and available for a long time in general, why couldn't they modify the extensions _before_ the release? It's not that hard... I do have to agree that FF (yes I know you have to call it Fx but that's just stupid) is a bit bare boned without extensions (or should I say add-ons?) and could have a little more functionality, but I do find FF 2.0 a lot better than 1.5 if it's about features, there are actually a few features that are pretty good. Altough I have to say that I'll never use the automatic spell checker (I hate stuff that gives me red letters without asking for it) since I switch languages too often (also, I'm a happy Opera user). But the tab features are actually pretty good, they've finally copied a few of those nifty possibilities from Opera, makes it a lot better to use :)
    4. Re:Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT? by Donniedarkness · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Really? FF2 seems to be the fastest yet (on all of my machines, one of which is uber, and some of which are old as dirt). This may be different on the Linux version, though...

      --
      Earn a % of cash back from Newegg, Tiger Direct, Walmart.com, and more: http://www.mrrebates.com?refid=458505
    5. Re:Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT? by FooAtWFU · · Score: 0, Flamebait
      It's an even better tactic to respond to someone saying 'Bye bye karma' or 'This won't please the mods' with analysis of and commentary upon their tactics.

      Now, metacommentary is a bit sparser, and when it does occur it's less likely to be recognized. Bye bye karma.

      --
      The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
    6. Re:Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT? by majortom1981 · · Score: 1

      I cant use it for 10 min without it crashing. what stinks I cant get ie to run with the address bar and menus showing up either. BUt atleast with ie7 if i click the windows update link i can use it that way. With firefox 2.0 I cant use it at all.

    7. Re:Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT? by StonyUK · · Score: 1

      I uninstalled it because it froze about 10 times a day on Windows XP. Sometimes it wouldn't open at all, the process started, but it stalled before opening the window. Other times it would freeze while trying to display a page.

      Rolled back to FF 1.5 which works just fine. I tried IE 7 too, but even though it's caught up considerably, I can't live without Ad block!

    8. Re:Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT? by nuzak · · Score: 0

      Hey mods? When someone pisses and moans about how they'll be downmodded, please oblige them? I'm sick of reading their idiotic whinging.

      Thanks.

      --
      Done with slashdot, done with nerds, getting a life.
    9. Re:Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT? by AusIV · · Score: 1

      Extensions generally aren't maintained by the same people who maintain Firefox. If the individual maintainers chose to update their extensions before the change, then they got updated, otherwise you have to wait for the maintainer decide they want to update. It's quite possible that some extensions will never get updated, simply because their creators no longer care. There were some extensions I used pre 1.5 that never got updated. I was sad to see them go, but unless I wanted to fix them myself, there wasn't much I could do.

    10. Re:Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT? by linuxci · · Score: 2, Interesting

      In an ideal world then all extension authors would test their extensions with the release candidates and have things good to go by release time, but most of these people who write extensions have jobs so may not have the time to update their extensions.

      I would really like to see the Mozilla Foundation employing the authors of the most popular extensions and make them official so that they'd be ready by every release.

      For some people extensions are the biggest selling point of Firefox.

    11. Re:Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT? by Dred_furst · · Score: 1

      Adblock runs PERFECTLY on FF2 :)

      Ive had no issues on both windows XP and Ubuntu, I dont know what you are all moaning about, FF2 is back with a vengeance and better than ever

    12. Re:Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT? by WoLpH · · Score: 1

      For me the extensions are the only selling point in Firefox, without extensions it's just too simple, Opera beats every part of it. With extensions there are atleast a few points which are better with FF. @AusIV: I know FF extensions are maintained an created by there creators, not the FF developers, but it's still a shame that a lot of developers haven't updated there extensions.

    13. Re:Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT? by CFBMoo1 · · Score: 1

      I installed it and Firefox automaticlly updated my existing extensions. I found it to be quite easy and painless. Firefox gets the kudos, it replaced IE7 on my desktop because some sites just loaded slow under IE7 compared to Firefox 2.0 and I'm running a fully patched and updated XP box.

      --
      ~~ Behold the flying cow with a rail gun! ~~
    14. Re:Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT? by penguinwhoflew · · Score: 1

      And it's a shame you can't use it. That spellchecker seems like it would really come in handy for you. =/

    15. Re:Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT? by Yo+Grark · · Score: 1

      Nono, I was serious about the karma going bye bye :)

      Yo Grark

      --
      Canadian Bred with American Buttering
    16. Re:Well, how many UNINSTALLED IT? by slack_prad · · Score: 1
      Yes I know. It works though.
      It's unfortunate that you got modded flaimbait, there are really no _new_ features as such.

      Btw I was aiming for 'Funny' and I got modded 'Insightful'. :/

      But that's the crowd here. :P

      --
      Sent from my desktop computer
  13. Firefox update broken ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Firefox update on 1.5.x says.....

    There are no new updates available. Firefox may check periodically for new updates

    perhaps Mozilla actually like everyone downloading full 5mb binaries when the update diff patch system would be minimal
    at least Microsoft Windows Update actually works

    come on Mozilla sort it out !

    1. Re:Firefox update broken ? by ilovepolymorphism · · Score: 2

      Or maybe they just haven't enabled the auto update, and are waiting until the demand goes down a bit.

    2. Re:Firefox update broken ? by grondu · · Score: 1

      Firefox update on 1.5.x says.....

      There are no new updates available. Firefox may check periodically for new updates


      See http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=4769 75
      (You may have trouble accessing the page. Since 2.0 was released, the forums have been slowwwww.)

      --

      I'm the urban spaceman babe, but here comes the twist... I don't exist

    3. Re:Firefox update broken ? by Teun · · Score: 1
      The Dutch version of Windows won't automatically update to IE7.

      So for me it's a no-brainer, I only downloaded what is best.

      --
      "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
    4. Re:Firefox update broken ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's only two things I can't stand in this world. Those who are intolerant of other peoples cultures... and the Dutch.

  14. The outstripping won't last long by TheCrayfish · · Score: 1

    As soon as Microsoft Update downloads and installs IE7 on every Windows machine with automatic updates enabled, this race will be over.

    1. Re:The outstripping won't last long by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe so, but there is a difference between voluntarily going out and downloading the newest version of firefox, and having IE7 jammed down your throat by Windows update because MS says its time to upgrade.

      On a side note, I've DLed Firefox 2 once onto a USB drive. Its been installed on 7 machines so far from that one copy. Then of course theres three ubuntu machines that magically got it when I dist-upgraded. So thats 10 installs on 1 download for me!

    2. Re:The outstripping won't last long by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's an update to something that every Windows user has installed whether or not they use it, because it cannot be uninstalled. Every Windows PC will download IE7 automatically, even if the user never even uses the program. The stats for IE downloads are worthless.

    3. Re:The outstripping won't last long by Reziac · · Score: 1

      I had a similar thought: how many of the rash of IE7 downloads were done by Windows automatic update? I'd guess the majority, since most average-users don't have any idea that you can switch your browser, let alone where updates come from.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    4. Re:The outstripping won't last long by glowplug · · Score: 0

      It is a pity that you were modded down to 2 - with over 10 years in IT that is exactly what I am seeing. I seriously doubt that there will be a significant shift in the near future. The fact is that most people will mindlessly accept what they percieve to good due to commonality. The other fact is that as a result superior products will go unrecognized without appropriate counteraction. In this case it is all the more that we can sensibly state on news feed such as this,

    5. Re:The outstripping won't last long by k_187 · · Score: 1

      nope, it hasn't been put up on windows update yet, so all of the IE7 downloads were people voluntarily downloading it.

      --
      11 was a racehorse
      12 was 12
      1111 Race
      12112
    6. Re:The outstripping won't last long by dvice_null · · Score: 1

      Windows 2k can have automatic updates, but you won't see IE7 getting there, because IE7 is only for XP and above.

      Btw. Ubuntu was recently updated to 6.10 version, with Firefox 2.0 included. I got my Firefox from there and I supposed that doesn't count.

    7. Re:The outstripping won't last long by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure, but only MORONS leave automatic updates enabled.

    8. Re:The outstripping won't last long by Reziac · · Score: 1

      Oh, okay. I thought I heard that IE7 would be pushed out by WU as of last Tuesday, but maybe not. I don't use IE so I don't really pay that much attention. :)

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    9. Re:The outstripping won't last long by Aqualung812 · · Score: 1
      This is a good point, and something I have been monitoring on my company's online banking site:

      Msie 7.0 105535 hits 4.1 %

      Firefox 2.0 6694 hits 0.2 %

      Firefox 1.5.0.7 96935 hits 3.8 %

      Stats are for the last few days, since FF 2.0 was out.

      Being an online banking site, I figure the users are as "Joe six-pack" or "My Grandma" or "Insert home user stereotype here" as they get. I wish Microsoft was holding off another month because I would LOVE to see how this plays out when people have to take extra effort to install a browser. Right now, it looks like MS is "winning", but the race is only meaningful for another few days. Once it hits Automatic Updates the stats are going to just show me how many XP users have AU turned on and chose "yes" when prompted.

      I also think it is important to note that on my "generic" site, MSIE 7 hits are at 4.1%, and total non-IE hits are at 6%. We have 1% Max users, so MSIE 7 is only 0.9% behind of all other browsers that people choose to install (since MSIE 7 is not available on Mac).

      --
      Grammer Nazis - I mod you "troll" unless you actually add something on-topic. Yes, I know I have mispellings in my sig.
    10. Re:The outstripping won't last long by Aqualung812 · · Score: 1

      Before the grammer Nazi's hit me, I ment Mac, not Max. Forget forms spell-check, where is the grammer check? And while I'm looking for that, where is the "Edit Comment" button? ;)

      --
      Grammer Nazis - I mod you "troll" unless you actually add something on-topic. Yes, I know I have mispellings in my sig.
    11. Re:The outstripping won't last long by thrills33ker · · Score: 2, Funny

      You mean Nazis, not Nazi's.

    12. Re:The outstripping won't last long by Aqualung812 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, them too. Well played.

      --
      Grammer Nazis - I mod you "troll" unless you actually add something on-topic. Yes, I know I have mispellings in my sig.
  15. I've downloaded both and one is easier by bgfay · · Score: 5, Informative

    I downloaded IE7 on one of my school's computers. It took a little while to download, took a long time to install, required a reboot of the computer, and I've used it twice so far. To be fair, I wasn't an IE user before IE7 and don't have a lot of interest in using it now. I downloaded it out of curiosity.

    I downloaded Firefox 2.0 on two machines at home and eighteen machines at work. It downloaded very quickly, installed even faster, and did not require a reboot. It also installed over my old version, asked if I wanted to check for updates to extensions, and moved all my bookmarks over. (IE7 might have done this too, but I didn't check.)

    All in all, Firefox is easier, has a cleaner layout, and just plain works. Way to go Firefox. What a great program.

    --
    Yeah, I'm as old as my UID would suggest.
    1. Re:I've downloaded both and one is easier by ElvisGump · · Score: 1

      I downloaded it for my two desktops and laptop, plus for a friend on dial-up. If there was a checkbox someplace that tallied up the download to install ratio like that Firefox would have a bigger market share. I haven't used IE maybe three times on purpose in years.

    2. Re:I've downloaded both and one is easier by Gavin+Rogers · · Score: 1

      If there was a checkbox someplace that tallied up the download to install ratio like that Firefox would have a bigger market share.

      Wait... let's see if I got this straight. You want Firefox to come with a spyware-like function that reports back whenever it's installed?

      Yup, that'll go far in convincing the crowd that Firefox is more secure than the Microsoft alternative!

    3. Re:I've downloaded both and one is easier by ElvisGump · · Score: 1

      Wait... let's see if I got this straight. You want Firefox to come with a spyware-like function that reports back whenever it's installed?

      Well, like on their site, not in the BROWSER. I'm just saying that Firefox users probably would take a second and say how many times they were going to install it which would give you a better idea of download to install ratio.

    4. Re:I've downloaded both and one is easier by jb.hl.com · · Score: 1

      Because as we all know, people are always honest with themselves and others when they fill out web based surveys.

      --
      By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
    5. Re:I've downloaded both and one is easier by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, how many programs do you have installed that depend on the copy of the Gecko library in your old Firefox installation directory that may or may not be running? If you're like everybody else in the world, it'll be just one - Firefox. That's a pretty easy scenario for the installer to handle.

      For mshtml.dll, there's probably dozens of programs that you have that depend on it, your Explorer shell being one of them. Having the installer check for all of the processes using mshtml and killing them all is probably a much worse idea than just asking for a reboot. That's also the real reason Microsoft can't remove Internet Explorer from Windows - not that it's integrated into the kernel (which would be a really retarded idea), but that so much third party software is programmed to use its rendering libraries.

    6. Re:I've downloaded both and one is easier by Mad+Marlin · · Score: 1

      I downloaded and installed it at work. It doesn't seem that bad really, but I will stick with Firefox (and Konqueror on unix).

    7. Re:I've downloaded both and one is easier by bgfay · · Score: 1

      I'm the first to admit that I don't understand all that goes into it. I was just saying that, from a user's perspective, Firefox is quicker and easier to install. It's not a statement about the programming. It's about the experience.

      --
      Yeah, I'm as old as my UID would suggest.
    8. Re:I've downloaded both and one is easier by hey! · · Score: 1

      I had a completely different experience. I downloaded FF 2.0, installed over 1.5, but it did not bring over any FF 1.5 bookmarks or passwords -- what a pain. Not only that, I could set bookmarks, but after an FF 2.0 restart they would disappear. If I imported the IE bookmarks, the FF 1.5 bookmarks would appear, but not be usable. After an FF 2.0 restart, they'd be gone.

      After deinstalling 2.0 and reinstalling 1.5, all my bookmarks were completely intact and unchanged and so were my passwords.

      I take this as a sign the FF2.0 is flummoxed by my FF 1.5 bookmarks file. It cannot read the file, although the bookmarks appear after an IE7 bookmark import, it can't really use them, and it can't update or save the file. What I probably need to do is export my bookmarks to save them, then completely wipe out 1.5 and its application data. Ditto with my passwords. Which I don't have time to do yet.

      I sent a bug report and went back to 1.5; nothing in the 2.0 release is so earth shattering as to be worth the trouble to me, at least for the moment.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    9. Re:I've downloaded both and one is easier by dynamo52 · · Score: 1
      The updater should work but if it doesn't, from the run menu, type
      firefox.exe -profilemanager
      Create a new profile and browse to your old profile folder (usually in the %USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ folder). This should restore all of your settings.
      Of course, all of your extensions might not work. If you use the MRTech Local Install extension, you can force compatibility but try this at your own risk.
      --
      Like this comment? I accept Bitcoin! - 153sc8UUBXyp12ofQqfAWDmJrzyiKCYC1x
    10. Re:I've downloaded both and one is easier by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      bfgay wrote:

      I downloaded IE7 on one of my school's computers...

      Ahem.

      And now, on to the scientific results!

      It took a little while to download,

      OMFG, a "little while"!!!

      took a long time to install,

      OH NO!!! a "long time"...

      required a reboot of the computer,

      The horror.

      and I've used it twice so far.

      Well, at least you fess up to being completely useless.

      I downloaded it out of curiosity.

      LMFAO!

      This is just in: Slashtards are still, umm, slashtards.

    11. Re:I've downloaded both and one is easier by Pink+Tinkletini · · Score: 1

      Nothing to add here except another voice of praise for the good work by the KHTML and WebKit teams, whose engines are far leaner, more portable, and usefully standards-compliant than Gecko has ever been. And the resultant browsers don't suck, either—which is more than you can say for Gecko (Firefox) or Trident (IE/Win).

    12. Re:I've downloaded both and one is easier by computechnica · · Score: 1

      I downloaded one of each browser:
      Firefox 2.0 was installed to 6 Win2K PCs
      IE 7 was installed to 1 new XP laptop
      Hardly seems fair to count downloads

    13. Re:I've downloaded both and one is easier by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You have to be kidding or blind. Use what works the best, but always reevaluate when the variables change. If we didn't we'd still be using netscape 4. Ie 7 is a huge upgrade and much much better than the previous edition FF2 is more like IE 5 in terms of improvement over the previous edition. IE looks better and has some features that Firefox really could use( the button that shows all tabs in single window and the ease of choosing a bookmarked site). Its pretty sweet. But for my money, Opera wins. it seems to devise and perfect innovations years before anyone else. I guess firefox is a close second or least it was until the release. I haven't made up my mind which I prefer ie or firefox. I do know that firefox seems a bit flaky. the default skin is ugly my favorite skins haven't been updated yet. Another one I found that said it worked, didn't. to be fair IE 7 seems to suck, when you first start using it. On two computers I've set up with it, its locked up on first run (then its fine afterwards, what do you want its microsoft! But then it grows on you like fine cheese. I find it matches well with a fine merlot from the northern part of california and wagnu beef.

      --
      Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
  16. Of course... by OgGreeb · · Score: 1

    In a fair fight Firefox would come out at least even and probably ahead. But Firefox can't push itself onto people's desktops through Windows Update or come as the default browser in Vista. Unless you pay people to use it, its "game over" before things really get started.

    --
    -- Gary Goldberg KA3ZYW 301/249-6501 AIM:OgGreeb Digital Marketing Inc., Bowie, MD //www.digimark.net/
  17. ubuntu edgy eft has firefox 2.0 by spacepimp · · Score: 1

    I installed edgy eft on several machines which includes firefox 2.0 in the distro. they should add the number of edgy eft users/downloads/installs to that number.

    1. Re:ubuntu edgy eft has firefox 2.0 by bookstack · · Score: 1

      The same thing to Gentoo users, we have both source code release and binary packages.

    2. Re:ubuntu edgy eft has firefox 2.0 by glowplug · · Score: 0

      i've run out of room for now to set up an edgy chroot - i'm developing my themes on dapper but don't like to assume they're right for 32bit os - of course the FF2 linux is in a 32 bit gaol not unlike windows versions i test using wine - all up I still have to reboot about 3-5 times a work session to make sure I accomodate windblows and it pisses me off to no end.

    3. Re:ubuntu edgy eft has firefox 2.0 by Shawn+is+an+Asshole · · Score: 1

      Have you heard of VMware? VMWare Server is free and works much like VMWare Workstation. I use it on my development box and have a few Windows images for testing. It works great, as long as you have RAM (1g+) and a real processor (no cripple-ons). No more rebooting. Plus the snapshot feature is great for testing things out.

      --
      "It ain't a war against drugs.it's a war against personal freedom" --Bill Hicks
  18. whats the fuss about by eneville · · Score: 2, Funny

    i preferred phoenix anyways

  19. It's "better" but nothing much over 1.5.x by baadger · · Score: 1

    I installed it and instantly hated the "visual refresh". Install this theme which restores the 1.5 look and feel. Once this was done I found disappointing. For me the annoyances introduced in 2.0 are outweighing the things I like about it.

    The GTK matching on Linux is not very good, with glitches surrounding button sizes and positioning of text (the new "add ons" combi-dialog is horrible) and with strange button focusing.

    One thing I will say for it is it does seem a bit zippier than 1.5.x, but I suspect I will be messing with userChrome.css in the coming weeks.

    1. Re:It's "better" but nothing much over 1.5.x by Fnkmaster · · Score: 1

      You really ought to install Qute, a theme that was actually designed by somebody with an aesthetic sense. I'm actually using QuBranch right now, the unofficial Qute build for FF 2.0. I actually forgot how much better Qute was than that default theme in FF 1.5.

      When I saw how awful the FF 2.0 default theme was (refresh? ugh!) I went out and found Qute again, and remembered what it was like to actually enjoy looking at my web browser again.

  20. Impressive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    specially considering IE7 is a huge distance from IE6 and was much more anticipated than FF2, I mean FF1 was already damn good.
    Maybe the same people downloaded both IE7 and FF2, those 2 million that are always online and want to be on the vanguard.

  21. stats from firefox site prob don't include ubuntu by martinflack · · Score: 1

    And that Firefox downloads figure probably doesn't even include all the downloads and CD copies of a file called firefox_2.0+0dfsg-0ubuntu3_i386.deb also going on this week...

  22. Multiple Machines by tmh+-+The+Mad+Hacker · · Score: 1

    I would guess that -- at least initially (before all the corporate Microsoft Update cycles start) -- the ratio of users-to-downloads for Firefox is significantly greater than for IE. Firefox users tend to be more technical (and bandwidth-conscious) on average, and Microsoft tends to make it difficult to download full install packages that can be re-used without requiring further Internet access. I just downloaded Firefox once, and installed it on several machines at home, as well as making it available at the office. I probably have 10 "users" from that one download right now. While I'm sure that's way higher than the average, I'd bet that IE is a lot closer to 1:1 than Firefox is.

    1. Re:Multiple Machines by MeanMF · · Score: 1

      Corporate systems tend to use Windows Server Update Services, which downloads updates including IE7 once and then automatically sends them to every PC on the corporate network. So thousands of PCs will be updated with one download from Microsoft.

    2. Re:Multiple Machines by OriginalArlen · · Score: 1

      Close, but no cigar. SUS is so old it's actually just about to (or has just has) reach the end of support. Microsoft have other.... solutions... for you now.

      --

      Everything I needed to know about life, I learnt from Blake's Seven
    3. Re:Multiple Machines by MeanMF · · Score: 1

      Yeah, like Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) which is what I was talking about.

    4. Re:Multiple Machines by miro+f · · Score: 1

      firstly, I very much doubt many corporations are rolling out ie7 yet.

      secondly, doesn't every copy of ie7 require a WGA check? and then wouldn't that WGA check let ms know another person has installed ie?

      --
      being vague is almost as cool as doing that other thing...
  23. Nothing unexpected by Ksempac · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Who are the people who are most likely to download a new browser right after its release ? The guys who read IT news everyday with great interest...Call them Geeks, Devellopers, or typical Slashdot's reader it doesn t matter...

    The point is : do theses guys use IE as their main browser ? No.
    Are they using Firefox as their main browser ? The majority of them does.

    Therefore they are more likely to get Firefox 2.0 than IE7 (although many of them will get both in case they stumble upon a IE-only website). So its absolutly normal that the initial rush is in favor of Firefox...In the same way that Firefox's RC were more used than IE7's RC. Actually if Firefox had a lower download rush i would have quite worried for them.

    1. Re:Nothing unexpected by dvice_null · · Score: 1

      Devellopers? You sound like a person who should install Firefox 2 and use the spell checker.

    2. Re:Nothing unexpected by Sinbios · · Score: 1

      And you sound like a spelling Nazi. Not even a grammar Nazi, just a spelling Nazi.

      --
      Anyone can "stand up for what they believe", but it takes a very brave individual to change what they believe. - Loundry
    3. Re:Nothing unexpected by dvice_null · · Score: 1

      Sorry, just trying to be humorous.

  24. Who did the artwork? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/2.0/releaseno tes/

    The yellow and blue are more suited to Microsoft than Mozilla because for some reason, those colors remind me of dealing with indian call centers. There are also zero new features that appeal to me, this is nothing but a glorified point release with some "2.0" branding slapped on top. The artwork, now there's something special; special as-in total catastrophy.

    http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

    **My poor eyes**

  25. That's what I did with Firefox 2.0 for Mac by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I had the exact same experience. I downloaded Firefox 2.0 for Mac and soon went back to 1.5. Version 2.0 has no useful new features (save for session persistence, but you can add that to 1.5 with an extension), leaves existing problems unsolved, and actually represents a step back on some fronts (such as the hideous new default theme, just to name the most obvious).

    1. Re:That's what I did with Firefox 2.0 for Mac by Kyro · · Score: 1

      A nice firefox 2.0 theme is Pinstripe for Firefox 2.0

      It's a pretty nice theme for mac, I think it makes firefox look like one of the nicest browsers on the platform. The new default firefox 2.0 theme looks like ass. Whoever signed off on the changes needs to be shot.

      --
      save the GNUs!
  26. Re:The one feature that makes it worth the downloa by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Best part about the spell checker is (at least in my English/United kingdom dictionary) it thinks Firefox is misspelt.
    It gives options for firebox and Fire fox.

    There are other oddities in this dictionary which will no doubt be ironed out.

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  27. Re:stats from firefox site prob don't include ubun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's nice but Linux distro with the silliest name competition is down the corridoor to your left.

  28. Re:The one feature that makes it worth the downloa by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 1

    It would be nice if the spell checker could have a toggle to check the ENTIRE web page. Would be useful when I'm making web pages.

  29. The way I understand it... by urbanradar · · Score: 1

    ...IE7 is a mandatory update on Windows. Firefox, on the other hand, is a voluntary update (unless you have automatic updates switched on in the programme, but I assume a lot of people don't). That makes the Firefox download statistic all the more impressive.

    (Someone correct me if I'm wrong about the Windows update thing. I'm not exactly an expert there - I use Linux.)

    1. Re:The way I understand it... by Timesprout · · Score: 1

      You have the most naive understanding in the world if you think windows update only pushed out 3 million updates to the hundreds of millions of windows installs out there.
      Currently IE7 is currently a voluntary download and will be pushed out by windows update shortly.

      --
      Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
      What truth?
      There is no dupe
    2. Re:The way I understand it... by j79zlr · · Score: 1

      Neither IE7 or Firefox are automatic updates as of now. If you were running 1.5.0.7 and clicked "Check for updates" it would come back with no updates, and IE7 has to be downloaded from microsoft manually and installed, as the other poster stated.

      --
      I'm not not licking toads.
    3. Re:The way I understand it... by Jugalator · · Score: 1

      IE 7 isn't a mandatory update -- not yet at least.

      That makes these statistics pretty interesting, because when these statistics were collected, neither IE 6 nor Firefox 1.x had either of their respective update services (Windows vs Firefox's update-on-launch thing) active, so the results shouldn't have been skewed. The only skewing I can see is that Firefox's users are generally more technically minded and more likely to care for their browser to be updated.

      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
  30. Re:The one feature that makes it worth the downloa by Millenniumman · · Score: 1

    It would be smarter if it didn't use a whole new dictionary in addition to the ones users inevitable have for other applications.

    --
    Stupidity is like nuclear power, it can be used for good or evil. And you don't want to get any on you.
  31. IE only on english computers by MadMirko · · Score: 2, Informative

    Considering that you currently can't install IE7 on anything but an ENGLISH XPSP2, which excludes the majority of worldwide users.

    I wouldn't jump to conclusions right now, you might be embarrassed later.

    1. Re:IE only on english computers by Bambi+Dee · · Score: 1

      I didn't know that. I installed IE7 on a German XP, parts of which are now English. I think I'll try adding a Northern Low Saxon WMP next. Granted, most people don't actually speak English if they can avoid it. I'm also not downloading Firefox 2, preferring Konqueror. Wait, I'm actually doing a dist-upgrade at the moment. Never mind - mandatory Firefox download for me. :}

    2. Re:IE only on english computers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      You can install IE7 in a non-english Windows. You get the English IE7, but you can install it if you want to use it right now.

  32. My contribution by digitalderbs · · Score: 1
    Firefox 2.0 has had over two million downloads in 24 hours... This means Firefox is well on track to beat IE7's three million in four days.

    I did my part and downloaded it 20 times.
  33. Issues in Edgy. by haeger · · Score: 1
    I got my FF2 with Edgy and it's a great program. It feels much faster although I haven't benchmarked it. It looks great and it is my preferred browser by far.

    Unfortunatly I've had some issues with it. Perhaps it's Ubuntus fault, but still. It's issues with FF for me.

    https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+source/firef ox/+bug/68586

    That's one. The browser just "closes" on some pages. That's the major one actually.

    Also, they've changed so that ctrl-tab no longer switches tab (in kubuntu) but changes virtual desktop.

    Come to think of it, none of the issues are probably firefox issues.

    Hmm...

    Forget I said anything. Firefox2 is a great browser. Keep up the good work.

    .haeger

    --
    You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. -- Harlan Ellison
    1. Re:Issues in Edgy. by AusIV · · Score: 1
      I use kubuntu edgy and I haven't run into either of the problems you mention. The browser has never closed on me, and Ctrl tab changes tabs for me, not desktops.

      I will say that Edgy Eft has given me more trouble than any earlier version of Ubuntu (enough so that I'm thinking of moving to Gentoo), but Firefox is one thing that is working as expected.

    2. Re:Issues in Edgy. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm guessing it's KDE's fault (or at least Kubuntu's), because the site you mentioned in that bug report (morningstar.se) loads fine for me. I'm using a fresh install of the standard Gnome version of Edgy.

    3. Re:Issues in Edgy. by CheeseTroll · · Score: 1

      I haven't upgraded to Edgy yet, but Kubuntu 6.06 (Dapper Drake) switches desktops when I use control+tab, too. This is controlled by the 'Regional & Accessibility' control panel thingamabob in System Settings. Switching tabs is done with Ctrl+period and Ctrl+comma.

      Actually, it's kinda cool to poke around the keyboard shortcuts - there are windows and functions I never knew existed before, just a keyboard shortcut away. I should let my 4-year-old use my computer more often - he's a master at discovering new keyboard combinations.

      --
      A post a day keeps productivity at bay.
  34. Re:The one feature that makes it worth the downloa by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 1

    I like the idea of what you suggest, but there isn't always another dictionary available.
    Perhaps in the future it can be consolidated into a single block of code, but I think the context sensitivity required would be quite bad.
    I type differently and use words here I would not consider using for a work related document.

    The dictionary as it stands now is a VERY good start for windows Firefox users at least, am I right in my belief that a global dictionary is already available for every text field on the mac?

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  35. Languages and piracy stop IE7 by diegocgteleline.es · · Score: 1

    Firefox 2 is translated to 34 languages. IE 7, on the other hand..."The short version is that we will be releasing IE7 in all languages available for each version of Windows - twenty-four fully localized languages in total. In two to three weeks, we'll ship the Arabic, Finnish, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish language versions. The remaining languages will be released in phases between November and January.

    And then the IE7 install checks if your computer is a legal XP copy. But most of desktop users just don't own a legal copy. So, in the long run, even if you can crack the license checking, most of desktop people won't be able to install IE7. But they will want a IE7-like browser. And people will tell them to install firefox 2, which doesn't require a legal XP copy.

    1. Re:Languages and piracy stop IE7 by eneville · · Score: 1
      Firefox 2 is translated to 34 languages. IE 7, on the other hand..."The short version is that we will be releasing IE7 in all languages available for each version of Windows - twenty-four fully localized languages in total. In two to three weeks, we'll ship the Arabic, Finnish, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish language versions. The remaining languages will be released in phases between November and January.
      And then the IE7 install checks if your computer is a legal XP copy. But most of desktop users just don't own a legal copy. So, in the long run, even if you can crack the license checking, most of desktop people won't be able to install IE7. But they will want a IE7-like browser. And people will tell them to install firefox 2, which doesn't require a legal XP copy.
      so what you're saying then is that in a moral world ff should check that ie7 is a legal copy also. personally i'm in favour of that, i really hate people who pirate software, and then complain that linux has some bugs. that's kind of ironic really, to complain that something is not up to scratch and still use pirate software.

      it would encourage better use of computers.
    2. Re:Languages and piracy stop IE7 by Tim+C · · Score: 1

      But most of desktop users just don't own a legal copy.

      Do you have any figures to back up that assertion? I likewise assert that the vast majority of desktop users have perfectly legal copies of Windows, as they simply use whatever came with their PC when they bought it, and that likewise the majority of users buy their PCs from big-name shops/manufacturers that install correctly licenced copies.

      Office and other apps, now that's a different story. As everyone here keeps saying, though, most users couldn't install Windows if they tried, so how would they be using a pirated copy? (I appreciate that some system bulders install pirated copies of Windows, but they're in the minority, not the majority.)

    3. Re:Languages and piracy stop IE7 by westlake · · Score: 1
      And then the IE7 install checks if your computer is a legal XP copy. But most of desktop users just don't own a legal copy

      You seem mighty sure about that.

      But XP has been the default OEM system install for five years. The gold standard for end users. XP upgrade bundles haven't slipped far down the software sales charts.

      The truth, I suspect, is that there are a lot more legit XP installs out there than the Geek is willing to admit.

    4. Re:Languages and piracy stop IE7 by arabagast · · Score: 1

      I actually tried to buy a XP license for a friends computer through the windows update (it failed genuine advantage test), but lo and behold - in some bizzare manner it failed because it couldn't validate some activex stuff - with wga. It was by then I simply laughed and went to a webshop instead.

      --
      Doolittle : ...What is your one purpose in life?
      Bomb no.20 : To explode of course.
    5. Re:Languages and piracy stop IE7 by Tim+C · · Score: 1

      The truth, I suspect, is that there are a lot more legit XP installs out there than the Geek is willing to admit.

      Of course there are. Think about it - most users are barely able to secure their machines, even though all it really takes is installing some av software, not switching off its auto-update feature, and installing Windows updates fromtime to time (which is also fully automated by default).

      Are we really exepcted to believe that these same people are able to not only obtain an illicit copy of XP and a serial number, but successfully install it? Most people treat their PCs as though they were appliances; they use whatever copy of Windows came with it, changing only when they change PCs.

      It's only us geeks that are likely to install our own OS. For what it's worth, I personally think that anyone who installs illicit software deserves whatever problems they get. My enthusiasm for shutting them out of updates is tempered only by the realisation that if they can't get security updates, they'll be that much more likely to get compromised and send me even more spam (or send spam "from" my domain).

    6. Re:Languages and piracy stop IE7 by The_DoubleU · · Score: 1

      Let's have a look at a pole at Tweakers.net, a Dutch news IT website. The question is: "Is your primairy OS legal?"
      The answers:
      ja, mijn Windows is betaald (yes, I paid for Windows) 45,7% (8896)
      Nee, ik gebruik een 'geleende' Windows (No, I have a 'borrowed' copy of Windows) 39,5% (7676)
      Ja, ik gebruik een opensource-besturingssysteem (Yes, I'm using an opensource OS) 8,2% (1589)
      Ja, mijn Mac is onbespoten (Yes, legal version of Mac OS 4,6% (899)
      Nee, ik draai tegenwoordig stiekum OS 'X86' (No, I'm running OS 'X86') 2,0% (386)
      Almost 50% of the Dutch geeks run an illegal copy of Windows.

      --
      What power has law where only money rules.
    7. Re:Languages and piracy stop IE7 by Tim+C · · Score: 1

      Well, two points spring to mind:

      1) The poll says 39.5% of respsondents are running an illegal copy of Windows; that's not "almost half" of Dutch geeks, it's not even almost half of Dutch geeks that run Windows
      2) The original assertion was that most copies of Windows on the desktop are illicit; geeks most certainly do not make up the majority of desktop users

      I stand by my assertion that the majority of desktop users do not have the technical skills nor contacts required to install an illicit copy of Windows. It's been a long, long time since geeks were in the majority amongst computer users.

    8. Re:Languages and piracy stop IE7 by The_DoubleU · · Score: 1

      Chill man. I was just providing you some data. As you say, the majority (joe sixpack) buys a pc with a legal version of Windows. So only the people with the technical skills (the geeks) run an illegal version but even they don't all run an illegal version. And I stand corrected, it is around 45% of all windows using geeks, give me a break it is weekend. Then again, most geeks are the "helpdesk" of the family and often provide them with a nice program or OS to do something they want (Office, Photoshop). But even that shouldn't change the nummers much.

      --
      What power has law where only money rules.
    9. Re:Languages and piracy stop IE7 by sponga · · Score: 1

      Wow you guys got quite an imagination around here.
      Actually I was thinking if they couldn't get it installed than the users would say just download IE7 and extract them all and only run the setup.exe to avoid the WGA; like the thousands already out there talking about it in the other friendly Windows forums.

      Most desktop users just don't own a legal copy is not true in my opinion; unless you have some legitimate facts or links out there that says so I think it will be a slow progress but it is going to happen.
      FF2 is just like 1.5x but a little bit more sluggish, cleaned up some areas and gave it a darker tone.

  36. Firefox is avalaible in many more languages by escudier0 · · Score: 1

    For the time being IE7 is only avalaible in english.
    Firefox 2.0 was avalaible in many languages on launch day.
    I am sure it has helped Firefox numbers.
    ( As I my work implies testing of some webpages, I have installed FireFox 2.0, but I still use IE7 RC1 since the final release is still not avalaible in French ).
    Eric

  37. why would you download ie? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i've never downloaded ie. why would you? the only ie that was downloaded with any frequency was ie for mac- which isn't around anymore.

  38. More downloads then the internet? by mynameis_1 · · Score: 1

    Why would the average IE user download some other browser when they can get the newest version of "the internet" when they buy a new computer?

  39. Upgrade vs. switch by arvindn · · Score: 1

    I suspect that most of these people were simply upgrading from older versions of firefox. It would be interesting to see the browser stats for these downloads. That would paint a clearer picture.

  40. 3 types of people... by kerashi · · Score: 1

    There are 3 types of people in this world. The first is those with a clue. Many of these probably downloaded both IE7 and Firefox. After all, there are sites that still require Internet Explorer, so it's best to have it, even though Firefox is better. Then there's the slightly larger number with half a clue, who will probably download IE7 when it hits Windows Update. These people aren't too much of a problem. Then there's the majority of the user population, who are probably running unpatched Windows XP with IE6 and wondering why they are getting popup ads and viruses. I think I had a point somewhere in there...

    1. Re:3 types of people... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      There are 3 types of people in this world. The first is those with a clue. Many of these probably downloaded both IE7 and Firefox.

      Nice try, except that your "people with a clue" would not, by definition, be running Windows. So unless they cracked WGA and downloaded IE7 to run strings on the binary, you're wrong.

      The moral of the story is this; there are many different types of people and elitist pricks are just one such type.

    2. Re:3 types of people... by davidkv · · Score: 1

      What (public) sites still require IE nowadays? I've stumbled on the odd old restaurant homepage that requires IE and weird plugins, but apart from that most stuff seems to work in FF. In fact IE(6) seems to render some sites badly, from what my wife tells me (she runs FF, but sometimes happens to start up IE).

      Now if only flash (9) would work properly on x86_64 and linux I would be happy. Even more so if gnash could take care of the flash.

    3. Re:3 types of people... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      3 types of people... those who can count, an those who can't.

    4. Re:3 types of people... by Teun · · Score: 1
      What (public) sites still require IE nowadays?
      http://www.bonaparte.nl/

      This commercial site still needs some beating with the clue stick, especially because everything works fine on Linux + Firefox that reports to be IE.

      Strange enough the Danish (.dk) and German (.de) error pages give you an 'If you really want to try click here' link...

      --
      "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
    5. Re:3 types of people... by IdolizingStewie · · Score: 1

      My bank does, for one. Yes, I have bitched to them (and gotten a form letter in response) and am contemplating changing banks (although that is mostly because my rates are shit and it's a bitch to cash checks when I have to mail them to another state because my bank doesn't have any branches here.)

  41. Re:The one feature that makes it worth the downloa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Best part about the spell checker is (at least in my English/United kingdom dictionary) it thinks Firefox is misspelt

    Yet apparently does not 'think' that you misspelled "misspelled"!

  42. Annoyances by teslatug · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here are some of the settings that I've gathered so far to get Firefox 2.0 to my liking:

    In about:config
    * browser.tabs.closeButtons to 3 for one close tab button
    * browser.tabs.selectOwnerOnClose to false for successive reading and closing
    * browser.tabs.tabminwidth to 20 for displaying tab scrolling in extreme cases only
    * browser.urlbar.hideGoButton no use for the Go button
    * dom.disable_window to true, fix various window annoyances
    * network.prefetch-next to false for not wasting my bandwidth

    In userChrome.css for disabling the List all tabs which annoys me when using the close button:
    /* Disable Container box for "List all Tabs" Button */
    .tabs-alltabs-stack {
    display: none !important;
    }

    Feel free to add your own to the thread.

    1. Re:Annoyances by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      To get your backspace working again:
      browser.backspace_action = 0

      To get your accesskeys working "alt", instead of annoying "ctrl+alt":
      ui.key.generalAccessKey = 18

    2. Re:Annoyances by Trentus · · Score: 2, Informative

      I remember the day I learned to use about:config. I was able to get rid of a couple of simple extensions, and it made me feel like I could make the browser do whatever I wanted.
      Some of the ones I use are

      *browser.search.openintab true
      *browser.search.suggest.enabled false
      *network.dns.disableIPv6 true

      Some pages were taking a while to load up, but when I disabled IPv6, most pages sped right up. Guess I'll enable it again when more sites use it. As for the search, well, perhaps I'm just particular about this sort of thing, but I don't need any suggestions for my searches, and when I do search, I want it to be in a new tab dammit!

    3. Re:Annoyances by value_added · · Score: 1

      Here are some of the settings that I've gathered so far to get Firefox 2.0 to my liking:

      In about:config ...
      In userChrome.css ...


      Granted that a user can get a fresh cup of coffee, and scroll through about:config, I'm left wondering why this stuff doesn't get properly documented, leaving us to waste our afternoons performing web searches looking for tidbits (or yet another extension that promises to do it all for us), not to mention doing it all over again with each subsequent release.

    4. Re:Annoyances by Trentus · · Score: 3, Informative

      MozillaZine seem to have a pretty comprehensive list on the about:config entries and possible values. It'd be nice to see a help section on about:config though, and maybe include all the entries in the help file, or at least a link to the MozillaZine page.

    5. Re:Annoyances by no_space_in_time · · Score: 1

      Nice post. I have most of them set already but what about "dom.disable_window" ? There are many dom.disable_window........ Which one do you have set to true?

      --
      "save a cow, eat a vegetarian"
    6. Re:Annoyances by ChoGGi · · Score: 1

      you mean something like this?
      http://kb.mozillazine.org/About:config_entries

    7. Re:Annoyances by malevo · · Score: 1

      You can also move the alltabs button to the left. In userChrome.css: .tabs-alltabs-stack {-moz-box-ordinal-group: 1 !important} .tabbrowser-arrowscrollbox {-moz-box-ordinal-group: 2 !important} .tabs-closebutton-box {-moz-box-ordinal-group: 3 !important}

    8. Re:Annoyances by value_added · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the (duh) reminder, and link.

      I stumbled across some Mozillazine "knowledge base" articles in the past when I was trying to configure some custom shortcuts. My recollection of what I found was that the information incomplete. If it helps anyone else, the "keyboard registry" can be found here.

      It's nice to see someone else who agrees that this stuff should be distributed as documentation (or made part of the Help file), rather than buried in an MS-styled knowledgebase on the web. Yeah, it's a browser we're talking about, but I'd rather have a README or something similar available at install time. Maybe I should write up some man pages and quit my bitching?

    9. Re:Annoyances by teslatug · · Score: 1

      I was actually searching for something like this. I haven't tried it yet, but thanks!

    10. Re:Annoyances by ufotofu · · Score: 1

      Better yet, add a search plugin for those about:config options at the mozillazine.org knowledge base.

  43. FF 2.0 got me to switch to Camnio (OS X) by don'tyellatme · · Score: 1

    2.0 was a terrible release of OS X -- check out the mozillazine support forums -- i was running about a 25% chance of getting 2.0 to startup without having to force quit. started with RC 3 (obviously) but up until then it wasn't doing it. oh well, i had always wanted to give camino a fair shot on a consistent basis....and it's been performing beautifully so far.

  44. Here is the IE7 link, FOR GREAT JUSTICE by Provocateur · · Score: 1

    For your friends that absolutely insist on getting the latest and greatest, only from Microsoft, here is the link.

    --
    WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
    1. Re:Here is the IE7 link, FOR GREAT JUSTICE by Tim+C · · Score: 1

      I have never and will never use IE as my primary browser, and yet I still installed IE7 almost as soon as soon as it was officially available.

      Why? Because lots of other apps use the IE web component, so anything that makes my PC that little bit less exposed to IE exploits has to be a good thing.

  45. "2 million ... using Firefox 2 ... first 24 hours" by VGPowerlord · · Score: 1

    I had to cut that down to fit it in the title box.

    The full quote is "Firefox 2: 2 million (actually slightly more) people using Firefox 2 in the first 24 hours."

    This is, unfortunately, an uncited statistic that is much more vague than "X downloads in the first 24 hours." How are the number of users tracked? What constitutes a user? Are people using Alphas, Betas, and RCs counted in this statistic (the vagueness of the wording implies yes to at least RC3).

    --
    GLaDOS for President 2016! "Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure." -- GLaDOS, 2011
  46. Plugins by Beefslaya · · Score: 1

    None of the plugin's I use are compatible with 2.0...So I wait...for plugin updates... :(

  47. It still isn't production quality software! by bradbury · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yep its just like the fancy new Christmas toy that has a few more bells and whistles than last year's toy. Unfortunately it lasted less than a hour before I managed to break it.

    I downloaded Firefox 2.0 and installed it under Linux (Gentoo 2.6.17-r7).

    Just for the heck of it I tried the same tests I tried in 1.5 and filed bug reports about several months ago. Sure enough Firefox 2.0 does *NOT* handle memory allocation failures. If one limits the amount of virtual memory (e.g. ulimit -Sv 115000) and starts firefox shortly thereafter it will core dump and will open a Talkback Incident window. I managed to file 3 different reports in 30 minutes of using it with memory limits in the range from 100-120MB.

    While I anticipate the bookmarks handling may be better (1.5 never should have been released until its bookmarks handling was on par with Netscape 4.72!) I still do not consider this to be production quality software. It will not be until it has decent handling of the various types of resource allocation failures (can't open tab, can't open window, can't allocate memory for image, script, network connection, etc.).

    Though I haven't tested it yet I also suspect they haven't handled things like window switching or efficient session restart. The open window (tab) should have top CPU and network priority until it is displayed. Any excess CPU or network resources can be dedicated to non-lead tabs or mininimized windows. They probably also haven't handled the heap fragmentation issue -- so after using Firefox for a week and one has opened 100 windows and 700 tabs (pushing the memory usage up to 1.2GB) it will still take 15 minutes or more to simply close all the windows and exit from Firefox (presumably because it has to merge all of the memory fragments being deallocated). Upon restarting the same session one will find that Firefox only needs 900MB. That is a memory leak and/or heap fragmentation problem.

    Please, no comments about how I shouldn't be using my browser this way... You use your browser your way, I'll use it my way. I happen to like to work on multiple things at the same time and when I'm writing research papers it isn't uncommon for me to open hundreds of sources simultaneously. I wouldn't have started limiting the virtual memory and run into Firefox's failings in that area at all if 1.5 hadn't turned out to be such an excessive memory consumer.

    The interesting question one might ask is how one releases software and specifies what its minimal memory requirements are if you don't limit its memory to determine that? I can only assume that the Firefox developers picked their numbers out of thin air [1].

    As an aside it may be worth noting that Firefox 1.5.0.7 does run under Windows 98 on a 75 MHz Pentium that only has 132MB of memory. It doesn't have the performance that Netscape 4.72 can show on the same machine though. As the 2.0 memory requirements seem to have increased (presumably due to the SQL libraries for bookmarks & history handling) I strongly doubt its performance would be improved over 1.5.0.7.

    1. Firefox 2.0 will *NOT* run in the Linux specified Minimum System Requirements of 64MB of RAM [2] unless you also have several hundred MB of swap space. And believe me, having pushed Firefox memory to ~70% of system RAM under Linux -- you would *not* want to try to use it even on a 128MB system due to Firefox's problems with heap memory management and the poor paging performance it generates under Linux.
    2. http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/system-requir ements.html

    1. Re:It still isn't production quality software! by Faizdog · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Ok,
      I won't comment on how you use your browser. But here's a question, is there ANY browser that would be able to handle the stress tests you used?

      If there is another browser that can handle "hundreds" of open sessions, and still work well for you, then perhaps that is a better fit for your purposes.

      Otherwise you're pushing your browser to the extremes, then pointing out its faults, however nothing else can handle it either.

      --
      -"Those who fought today will die tommorow."-
    2. Re:It still isn't production quality software! by oGMo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Sure enough Firefox 2.0 does *NOT* handle memory allocation failures.

      [...]

      Upon restarting the same session one will find that Firefox only needs 900MB. That is a memory leak and/or heap fragmentation problem.

      First off, almost nothing gracefully handles memory allocation failure. Particularly anything in C/C++. You need memory to complete an operation, and if you don't get it, you're screwed. There's no way to reliably unwind the stack and reverse the state of the program to continue without performing that operation.

      Second, I believe you are suggesting they implement a defragmenting memory manager. If you'd care write one, particularly one that drops in place of their current one, I'm sure they'd be happy to accept. Good luck.

      The real complaint here is "Firefox uses a lot of memory". That may be so, but then it has a pretty high compatibility for rendering all the silly XML and Javascript and crap the web requires these days. If you want a slim (but not so compatible) browser, you should check out dillo or something.

      --

      Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage

    3. Re:It still isn't production quality software! by stefanb · · Score: 1

      That's terrible! You should ask your money back.

    4. Re:It still isn't production quality software! by kripkenstein · · Score: 1

      The real complaint here is "Firefox uses a lot of memory". That may be so, but then it has a pretty high compatibility for rendering all the silly XML and Javascript and crap the web requires these days.

      Agreed, but still - Firefox takes (in my experience) more memory than Opera and Konqueror, both of which are also highly compatible.

    5. Re:It still isn't production quality software! by bradbury · · Score: 1

      Given the $70 I've had to spend for an additional 1GB of memory and the days of time I've spent trying to compile Firefox with debugging capabilities [1] so I could figure out exactly what its problems were I would have to agree.

      Just because its free and open source and has all this hype associated with it doesn't mean its actually a well written program.

      1. It isn't exactly a trivial build.

    6. Re:It still isn't production quality software! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I downloaded, built & installed last night. Had a ton of problems with the default firefox that came with FC4 for x86_64. Whenever I opened a wikipedia page it would core dump half the time. This frustrated me to the point where I started using Lynx again.
      It could be the default package was just incompatible with my system & I haven't given the new build a full stress test, but I have not had any more problems core dumping. Hats off to the development team!

    7. Re:It still isn't production quality software! by adrianmonk · · Score: 1
      First off, almost nothing gracefully handles memory allocation failure. Particularly anything in C/C++. You need memory to complete an operation, and if you don't get it, you're screwed. There's no way to reliably unwind the stack and reverse the state of the program to continue without performing that operation.

      That's simply not true. There is a way. You simply follow two rules when coding: (a) that any resource allocation can fail and must be handled, and (b) that when a resource allocation does fail, error handling isn't allowed to require further resource acquisition to complete. The second rule might require things like printing error messages character by character rather than building up the message in a buffer before printing it. It's more of a pain, and it's slower, but it's possible. Basically, you don't have to reverse the state of the program. You only have to put the program into a new valid state without any further attempts to allocate more memory (or other resources). Since you're guaranteed you can use the memory you already did successfully allocate, that's not an impossible task.

      Yes, this is harder because it has to be designed in from the very beginning. Yes, it may be true that it's not worth the effort given plentiful virtual memory available on today's machines where disk space is amazingly cheap. But it's not impossible to gracefully and reliably recover from allocation failures.

    8. Re:It still isn't production quality software! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      First off, almost nothing gracefully handles memory allocation failure. Particularly anything in C/C++. You need memory to complete an operation, and if you don't get it, you're screwed. There's no way to reliably unwind the stack and reverse the state of the program to continue without performing that operation.


      You are a terrible programmer. Are there lots of terrible programmers like you? Yes, especially in our times. Are all programmers like that? Heck no.
    9. Re:It still isn't production quality software! by pjpII · · Score: 1

      This is why we need a -1 "Bitchy" mod category: this post really isn't terribly insightful, and as others have pointed out, few browsers can withstand hundreds of open ANYTHING. It's hard to design anything to withstand the absolutely worst scenario.

      I've had my share of problems with Firefox's memory usage, but I find 2.0 has done a reasonable job of addressing some of these concerns - the runaway memory usage seems to have been reduced significantly, and I'm rarely finding the 300MB+ memory usage that I had before. Even with the new features, Firefox is taking up less memory than before.

    10. Re:It still isn't production quality software! by bradbury · · Score: 1

      Precisely. I have managed to put together C++ and thread libraries that explicitly inform me that at least in some cases Firefox is throwing a "bad_alloc" exception. Older libraries apparently just aborted leaving a core dump and a difficult debugging situation when the libraries are distributed without sufficient debugging information.

      Almost everywhere in the code whether its downloading a HTML files, allocating parsed code memory, image display memory, etc. should be happening within a context for a specific tab (or window). The bad_alloc should get caught and handled. It doesn't matter most of the time if you lose track of all of that memory so long as you have a preallocated pop-up that says "You are running low on memory, please close some tabs or windows". In that case most of what one is doing (the browser state information) doesn't get lost and you don't have a state of mind resumption nightmare.

      This isn't "rocket science" but convincing the Firefox developers of that seems rather difficult.

    11. Re:It still isn't production quality software! by jesser · · Score: 1

      Opera, which has to run on small devices such as cell phones, is quite a bit better at handling memory allocation failures. As Firefox is ported to cell phones and its code is simplified, I imagine it will get significantly better at handling OOM situations. But for now, with Firefox only running on desktop OSes that pretty much never fail when you call malloc or new, I don't see why anyone would care that it crashes when you artificially limit the amount of memory it is allowed to use. Unless you're encountering really bad memory leaks, in which case you'd be thrashing well before hitting OOM anyway.

      --
      The shareholder is always right.
    12. Re:It still isn't production quality software! by bit01 · · Score: 1

      The second rule might require things like printing error messages character by character rather than building up the message in a buffer before printing it. It's more of a pain, and it's slower, but it's possible.

      It's even easier than that. Just reserve whatever miniscule resources error recovery may need at program startup. Even statically allocate them. There is no excuse for not having decent error recovery for anything but the most pathological of cases.

      I'm tired of lazy programmers who regard resource allocation failure as a "rare event" when it's probably the most common system error that a user sees. Gigabyte memory is no excuse; another program may be using all of that memory.

      ---

      Don't be a programmer-bureaucrat; someone who substitutes marketing buzzwords and software bloat for verifiable improvements.

    13. Re:It still isn't production quality software! by BZ · · Score: 1

      > I managed to file 3 different reports in 30 minutes

      Did you also file Bugzilla bugs on these? Talkback in general is used to isolate common crash bugs; one-off incidents will never get noticed in the mass of talkback data...

      On the other hand, if you file a bug on the crash and link to the talkback incident ID, it will be clear what the stack for the crash is so it can get fixed.

    14. Re:It still isn't production quality software! by bradbury · · Score: 1

      I intend to do that. The Bugzilla bugs *were* filed and linked to the talkback incidents for the 1.5 examples. I've now reached the point where I understand what precisely is going on. (See my expanded comments regarding new+libstdc++ and GDK/GTK+Glib+g_malloc and throwing exceptions vs. abort() in the "Nine Reasons to Skip Firefox 2.0" discussion [1].)

      The problem wasn't addressed in 1.5 and still isn't addressed in 2.0. It is clear that the developers have simply never tested running out of memory under Linux. There were some exchanges in the 1.5 Bugzilla reports (search for ulimit) and perhaps in some email exchanges about how "hard" it would be to fix. I bought that for a while but now that I understand it more fully that excuse isn't flying anymore. It isn't a degree of difficulty problem as much as a not testing & not caring problem. It took me going down into the guts of libstdc++-v3 and glib to see how the memory allocation was actually being handled to be clear about what was going on. As the Firefox developers tend to be Windows oriented (my subjective impression) I doubt they have ever done that (because they are used to not having source?).

      1. http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=203284&pid= 16629912

    15. Re:It still isn't production quality software! by bradbury · · Score: 1

      Its "bitchy" because the problems (sorry but I consider being able to core dump a program a *problem* [1]) were pointed out *in* Bugzilla in 1.5 and they weren't fixed in 2.0. I took the time to describe the Talkback incidents. I took the time to file the Bugzilla bug reports. I even attempted to build Firefox in debugging mode with symbols to enable better stack traces [2]. That didn't help much because to understand this problem involves not only knowing Firefox in depth but understanding its environment (libstdc++, Glib & Linux) as well. This was done in my free time because I didn't understand how the program could perform so poorly (others get paid to do this kind of thing -- I no longer do). I think I have just reason to bitch.

      If you want the "insight" see [3] which was written somewhat after my original post in this thread.

      1. I've got 79 (10 GB of compressed(!!)) Firefox core files accumulated over a 5 month period. In normal use I can crash Firefox once or twice a week. If I work at it would take me minutes to hours to crash production (cough) versions of Firefox 1.5 (and now 2.0) -- depending on how "artificial" I make the tests.
      2. The developers tend to suggest that this is a "requirement" for people who want to file "serious" bug reports. Why not simply release a *production* debugging version?!?
      3. http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=203284&pid= 16629912

  48. 100,000 Linux Users by ac7xc · · Score: 1

    installed it onto twenty machines each. ;-)

  49. No way I will dl ie7 on an important machine by GodSpiral · · Score: 1

    IE upgrades in the past have caused serious system troubles that required 5-10 hours to fix. I believe MS leaves semi-intentionally bugs that affect out of date OSs (XP fits MS's definition).

    IE 6 works fine for sites that have been designed as it is the only browser in existance, which still exists. Hosing IE 6 with IE 7 is the stupidest thing anyone could do, considering that firefox/opera are at least as good.

    I may wait for a 2.01 firefox, but there's no question what my main browser will be.

  50. If you got the notion by BeeBeard · · Score: 1

    I second that emotion. It's hard to quantify, but Firefox 2 feels faster and lighter than earlier iterations. It's more responsive and the memory footprint seems smaller. This seems counterintuitive, because feature creep is usually the bane of most version 2.x.x software releases. Mozilla got this one right. By the way, this is on a highly riced Gentoo Firefox 2 RC3 ebuild, with the same USE and CFLAGS settings.

  51. Re:The one feature that makes it worth the downloa by calharding · · Score: 1

    This is probably universally known by now (at least on /.), but you can right-click on a word which Firefox thinks is misspelled, but isn't - such as your username or whatever - and select "add to dictionary" to have firefox remember it as a "correct" spelling.

    --
    Before enlightenment - Code C, read Usenet, play NetHack. After enlightenment - Code C, read Usenet, play NetHack.
  52. Off the Grid by SonicRED · · Score: 1

    I know that there are probably some individuals who, like me, are using Linux on their machines and have upgraded to Ubuntu Edgy. I am now happily running Firefox 2 and I'm very impressed.

    Was I included in the total?

    Probably not. I downloaded the iso through Bittorrent as well so I'm at least two steps away from the official Mozilla HTTP mirror network. Still, it shows how hard it is to track a download like this. The actual figure is probably even higher.

    Congratulations Firefox team!

  53. FireFox 2.0 for Intel Macs by methano · · Score: 1

    I downloaded and installed FireFox 2.0 for my intel mac mini. It's a lot zippier than 1.5.x. I like it.

  54. No Firefox auto update from 1.5 to 2.0 by _pruegel_ · · Score: 1

    There is no automatic update from 1.5 to 2.0 yet. It will be available over the next weeks as it says here

  55. poor math skills among windows admins by weierstrass · · Score: 1

    5 not included.

    --
    my password really is 'stinkypants'
  56. Re:The one feature that makes it worth the downloa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In UK English "misspelt" is an acceptable variant.

  57. People who say downloads != users by oldosadmin · · Score: 1

    I can say the same thing... but not in the "a user may download it 17 times" way... I am the Systems Manager for a company with about 50 seats, and we're deploying it on -one- download to our local samba share... I'm betting there are similar cases so the margin of error on IE7 dls --> users is similar to the FFX 2 dls --> users margin of error.

    --
    Jay | http://oldos.org
  58. an annoying change they made by SCHecklerX · · Score: 1

    The menus in 2.0 in linux are now using instead of . This interferes with a couple of plugins, and goes against the conventions I have always used on my system, that every other app adheres to. Playing with ui.key stuff in about:config has not helped.

    1. Re:an annoying change they made by SCHecklerX · · Score: 1

      dammit. Why does "plain old text" not escape my #!@$# tags? Yeah I know, use preview.

      Above should read "The menus in 2.0 in linux are now using <alt> instead of <control>"

  59. Re:The one feature that makes it worth the downloa by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

    ... except it does not use my os x custom dictionary, so for me it is a lot less useful than safari.

  60. BBC Browser Poll by geoff+lane · · Score: 1

    See here.

    1. Re:BBC Browser Poll by LordVader717 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, doing a voluntary poll on the BBC "technology" page is really representative.

  61. Re:The one feature that makes it worth the downloa by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 1

    When every user has to teach the dictionary how to spell the name of its own host environment it shows a level of professionalism which is a bit rough.
    Additionally, if the word is added to your custom dictionary I believe it does not come up as a near miss and will not be listed as an alternative to an incorrect word.

    I wonder if the dictionary coders have ever thought of allowing the additions be uploaded to the central server and merging the most used examples into the main version? Like picing out the big entries from a tag cloud.
    Sort of self fixing, but would require it to know the variations in error which the user types but intended to type something else.

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  62. Don't bother, here's the first 5 minutes buglist by Joe+Decker · · Score: 1
    1. Firefox 2.0 install cleared my bookmarks. There are what appear to be bookmark backups, but copying them to the obvious place does not actually cause the bookmarks to reappear. Still trying to figure that out.

    2. Find "^F" in Firefox 2.0 does not appear to work, text is entered in the Find area bottom-left but no page motion happens, queries that do not match text on the given page are not marked in red, etc.

    3. Only the first tab works. You can open a second and more tab, but you can't load files into it, nor can you close any of the additional tabs. You can close the tab that works, though, leaving you with an entirely useless browser window.

  63. Re:The one feature that makes it worth the downloa by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

    On OPENSTEP (and hence OS X and, I believe, recent versions of GNUstep), spell checking is provided by a text service. Any application can access this through the standard text services interface and add spell checking to any text. Anything that uses the standard text views gets spell checking without needing any application-specific code. Since the spell checker is global, words added in one place work anywhere.

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  64. Re:Don't bother, here's the first 5 minutes buglis by Stonent1 · · Score: 1

    Find "^F" in Firefox 2.0 does not appear to work, text is entered in the Find area bottom-left but no page motion happens, queries that do not match text on the given page are not marked in red, etc.

    I've noticed this as well.

  65. Re:Don't bother, here's the first 5 minutes buglis by Joe+Decker · · Score: 1

    An uninstall and reinstall corrected all three issues for me.

  66. IE7 has small number because by d1g1t4l · · Score: 1

    Most people can't pass the WGA check.

  67. Ban advertising?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
    You're right, how unsuspecting third worlders are been preyed upon by savagely greedy ad agencies. We can't allow that. I say put a moratorium on all advertising in developing countries. It's the only way to keep those pristine cultures untainted by western immorality.

    It's a good thing we know what's best for them!

  68. Give him a break.... by deesine · · Score: 1
    It's Saturday, his day off.

    (May I suggest to the GP to stay away from financial transactions on the weekends :P)

    --
    damaged by dogma
  69. cannot upgrade through the Help menu??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    did anyone notice that Help>Check for upgrades... will NOT allow you to upgrade to FF2? This is particularly upsetting as I want to have a clean install on my laptop (no install of 1.x and then re-install of 2.0)

  70. Which compiler was used? by mnmn · · Score: 1

    I'm too lazy to check, but I think FF is compiled using gcc. Last I checked both the Visual C++ compiler and the Intel compiler produced faster and smaller binaries (generally speaking) for win32 on x86.

    Is the current FF compiled with the Intel compiler? If not, are there any projects that compile stuff like FF, Videolan etc on the Intel compiler? I remember a project that was trying to compile the linux kernel using the ICC, but was failing. If Intel releases a gcc-compatible compiler for win32, we should have even faster and smaller binaries.

    --
    "Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
    1. Re:Which compiler was used? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Little something called OSS

    2. Re:Which compiler was used? by swsnyder · · Score: 1

      I used to build the Mozilla Suite (Gecko v1.7.x) with ICC/Linux, so it's likely that Firefox is also possible. It doesn't work out-of-the-box, though, because the Mozilla config programs only recognizes a few specific compilers.

      The default floating-point optimization breaks the code in prstoa.c and jsdtoa.c, but that's fixable with a compiler switch. Beyond that it's a no-brainer to patch the config files to use call ICC instead of GCC.

    3. Re:Which compiler was used? by jesser · · Score: 1

      Official version of Firefox for Windows are compiled with MSVC. You can also compile it with gcc on Windows, but currently not with Intel's compiler. If you're interested in fixing it to work with Intel's compiler, I don't think it would be too hard to get your patches checked in.

      --
      The shareholder is always right.
  71. Got Firefox 2.0 - More Sites Than Ever Don't Work by Master+of+Transhuman · · Score: 1

    Most of the half dozen or so (illegal) ebook sites I download from have stopped working with Firefox 2.0.

    When the hell are Web sites going to start following standards? I don't care if they don't obey copyright law - I just want them to work with my preferred browser.

    Fortunately I just discovered at least one of them works with Kongueror - so at least I don't have to boot into Windows to use the site. OTOH, if I just click the links, they open in Firefox - so I have to tell Kongueror to "Open in a new tab"...you'd think if Konqueror is being used as a Web browser, it would be smart enough to open links itself...sigh...morons everywhere...

    --
    Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
  72. Win98 75Mhz 132MB? by Kamiza+Ikioi · · Score: 1

    To sum it up: If you want 100 windows and 700 tabs open on your Win98 75MHz Pentium with 132 MB memory... Firefox isn't for you. It will break. You are much better going with Netscape 4.72 on Win98. Because of this, Firefox is SO not production quality yet. Wait for version 3.

    Thanks for the tip, hehe.

    --
    I8-D
    1. Re:Win98 75Mhz 132MB? by bradbury · · Score: 1

      I very much doubt you could run 100 windows under Win98 because you would exhaust the OS memory. You would need at least Win2K and I've never tried pushing it to 100 windows. Linux & X will handle 100 windows fine on newer Pentiums that can support more than 128MB.

      For 100 windows you will probably need 1GB of RAM (or be willing to wait long periods of time while Linux pages the Firefox heap in and out). If it were designed properly it would give you great response in the open tab in your top window and fast tab switching within that window. It would provide reasonable performance (seconds) switching between windows. The implementation quality would be determined by the resident memory size and the tab/window switch time for various amounts of main memory. The actual number of windows would be limited by the amount of swap and/or cache file space you are willing to make available.

      Making this fly on 256 or 128MB machines would be possible but would however require very good resource management & coordination between Firefox, X windows and Linux and I doubt even Version 3 will manage to pull it off unless the development team significantly changes is emphasis away from bells and whistles.

      I made the Win98 comment to point out that Firefox will at least run on older (even "ancient") hardware and software.

  73. A thousand million flies can't be wrong - eat shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The subject is intentionally provocative, but that's what such silly silly (please repeat with me: SILLY) stats boil down to.

    With at least about five times as many IE users as Firefox users, why do we even care about "Firefox"? IE must be five times better at least?! Not.

    Learn: Quantity != Quality. Stop going with the flow and start thinking for yourself. Thank you.

    (This is not a statement neither for nor against IE or FF. It's a statement against stupid people.)

  74. I had to download it six times... by briancnorton · · Score: 1

    It kept failing on me

    --

    People who think they know everything really piss off those of us that actually do.

  75. Using Firefox 2 by Shohat · · Score: 1

    It's crashing every 3 hours . I am using FireFox 2 with two addons (all downloaded from their official collection) , Firebug (for simple web page and xml "debugging" ) and AdSense notifier .
    Just FYI , FireFox has a very nice feature for restoring previous session in case it crashes , which is regretfully a rather common sight with my newly installed FireFox 2 . Thing is , it actually crashes because of certain web pages (try the comments on the Israeli www.ynet.co.il site) , which is just sad . A browser should not just crash and burn because of non-standard pages , no matter how weird they are . If you are just a Windows user and not a developer which needs several browsers , just stick to IE7 .

  76. Voluntary vs. Involuntary by Kamiza+Ikioi · · Score: 1

    Ah, so that's why MS is going to push IE7 via automatic updates; anyone that does care about their browser won't voluntarily install it. Kinda like how Linux downloads outpace retail Microsoft Windows sales; nobody in their right mind voluntarily installs Windows unless they are forced to for one reason or another.

    Yes yes, I know... but making the connection here was just too tempting... and too true, if I may say so myself.

    --
    I8-D
  77. Re:stats from firefox site prob don't include ubun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, there's like literally uh, dozons of people who will do that.

  78. -1 Troll. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wait a second. You're saying that a browser released in 1999 requires fewer resources than one released in 2006? Whoa, dude, you've blown my mind. You are a promising researcher indeed.

    By the way, Firefox 2.0 doesn't use an SQL database to store bookmarks and history. That feature got cut.

    Go troll somewhere else, please.

  79. Without Clippy? by Kamiza+Ikioi · · Score: 1

    Pshhhh, it doesn't even come with Clippy!

    "Do you want to know more about browsing? [Yes] [No]"

    --
    I8-D
  80. Re: Win 95 / 98 by TaoPhoenix · · Score: 1

    Everyone in the world agrees that Win95 was awful. What excited the business world is that far sighted managers saw through the initial stability problems, and correctly guessed that MS had mostly nailed the front end.

    After several years using early Macs, I received a Win98 P133 machine as a gift (Free as in ?). Two years is not truly a lot of time, so I barely had time to learn the basics of where Microsoft put things, visit Shawn Fanning's creation, and then, per my pattern, hunker down with a bargain Win2000 machine to wait 4 years for Microsoft to sort itself out.

    I'll be getting another long haul machine early next year combining new Intel hardware with the last, best copy of XP while I wait for another 4 years for Microsoft to sort itself out again.

    Poke 53280,0

    Ready.

    --
    My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
  81. Windows Package Manager? by Nasarius · · Score: 1

    Will there be system-wide automatic updates or will people still need to update a large part of the system by hand?

    If there's one thing that Windows is missing, it's a Linux-style package manager. There's this, but development has apparently stalled, and their database server doesn't work. It seems like a fairly simple to do; I want a program that will take a list of open-source and freeware packages, download and install the latest version, and keep them updated. Why doesn't this exist already? It's crazy that each program has to check for its own updates.

    --
    LOAD "SIG",8,1
  82. Re:Got Firefox 2.0 - More Sites Than Ever Don't Wo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Funny, given that Firefox 2.0 uses the exact same rendering engine as 1.5...

  83. pre-release downloads by benicillin · · Score: 1

    Did they count the folks who downloaded it the day before the official release date? I saw it on slashdot when they said they posted it a day early and downloaded it then - I suspect many others did as well. Is this counted in the statistic? I imagine if they had not released it a day early, and the statistic doesnt take that early day into account, these numbers would be even higher. However, if they did take that first day into account and just included those downloads in the official release date, then this statistic is flawed! I can see a number of ways the statistic is wrong, depending on how they counted (or didn't count) the pre-release downloads - however I wont enumerate the rest so as to avoid boring you all.

    --
    "i stand on the edge of destruction" -shai hulud
  84. Re:The one feature that makes it worth the downloa by Overly+Critical+Guy · · Score: 1

    This is the point where all the Mac users point out that Mac OS X has had system-wide spell-checking for all text input fields for years, and that this is nothing new to them (grammar checking coming in Leopard).

    --
    "Sufferin' succotash."
  85. Re:The one feature that makes it worth the downloa by Millenniumman · · Score: 1
    Perhaps in the future it can be consolidated into a single block of code, but I think the context sensitivity required would be quite bad.
    I type differently and use words here I would not consider using for a work related document.
    I hadn't thought of that, but it doesn't seem like a huge issue. Are you really accidentally going to type an entirely context inappropriate word by accident? Certainly, you could type "waht" rather than "what" or "rediculous" rather than "ridiculous", but not "t3h l33tzor haxxor" rather than "very skilled".

    The dictionary as it stands now is a VERY good start for windows Firefox users at least, am I right in my belief that a global dictionary is already available for every text field on the mac?
    Yes. It works for every application using standard OS X text fields with no effort on the part of the programmer (unless they want to customize it). Unfortunately, Firefox does not use standard OS X text fields, so this leaves you with two dictionaries. Although, it probably wouldn't be too hard for the Firefox developers to sync words added to the two dictionaries, since the ones for the OS X dictionary are stored in a simple ascii list.
    --
    Stupidity is like nuclear power, it can be used for good or evil. And you don't want to get any on you.
  86. Back to 1.5... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Downloaded 2.0 and fired it up only to find that it installed a QuickTime plugin without asking me. Since I loathe QuickTime, I removed it and Firefox 2.0.

    Back to 1.5.

    1. Re:Back to 1.5... by linuxci · · Score: 1

      FUD or you're mistaken. There's no quicktime bundled with Firefox, in fact no plugins at all are bundled.

  87. So which group do I fall into? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I downloaded IE7, attempted to install it, and gave up because the WGA didn't validate, so I downloaded the "IE7 NO WGA CHECK!!!1", followed the directions, and installed it without a problem. Does that count as two downloads for IE7? Or just one... Or two downloads and one install? I'm just glad there isn't "Mozilla Genuine Advantage", wouldn't be any good for all those cracked IceWeasel versions out there...

  88. Why I'm not posting this on IE7 by TehChozenTwo · · Score: 1

    I'm not posting this on IE7 because the IE7 download is more then 14 megs and that would take awhile to complete on 56k. So I downloaded Firefox 2.0. I still plan on getting IE7 down the road though, just to check it out.

  89. Apples and Nuclear Submarines by eonlabs · · Score: 1

    Do you realize that you're comparing the number of installs in 4 days of an operating system which needed an install via physical media, and an open source web-browser which can be downloaded and installed in under 3 minutes. Yes they're both software, but the comparison is moot.
    I'm waiting for someone to start doing a comparison between how long it took to download firefox vs build their house...
    You also need to take our current bandwidth and latencies into account. We can pump a considerable amount of data over a pipe spanning from coast to coast today, even compared to what we had 3 years ago.

    --
    I wouldn't consider the mad hatter mad. Just reality impaired. He sure can make a mean cup of tea.
  90. Re:Don't bother, here's the first 5 minutes buglis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    might be a stupid question but as you didnt mention it did you rename the bookmark backup to bookmarks.html?
    also what do you mean by only the first tab works?

  91. Re:The one feature that makes it worth the downloa by Pink+Tinkletini · · Score: 1
    ...am I right in my belief that a global dictionary is already available for every text field on the mac?
    Yes, but the Firefox team has decided to reimplement the entire UI framework in a way that is neither as useful nor as elegant as OS X's native Cocoa. As a result, Firefox behaves like a poor facsimile of a real Mac application, and does not benefit from systemwide Cocoa services such as spellchecking.
  92. Misleading by umbrellasd · · Score: 1
    These statistics are extremely misleading. The slow uptake of IE updates may well be due to the huge corporate install-base. Corporations are much slower to bring a new version in-house and usually wait until the new version is vetted by the general consumer. When they do bring the version in-house, it only takes one download and then it is distributed throughout the organization by deployment tools. From the other side, Firefox users are likely (at this point) to be more early-adopter oriented people, and if (as I suspect, but do not claim) the Firefox demographic has less corporate representation, these people are far more likely to download Firefox on a user by user basis.

    I still think it is great to see such demand, but I don't think the statistics mentioned can conclusively show anything at all other than that there is good demand for Firefox. Comparisons to IE cannot be realistic without considering more factors.

  93. Firefox Brain Game version 1.0 by cogno64 · · Score: 1

    Firefox users think faster? find out

  94. Firefox - Been around a while by kilodelta · · Score: 1

    I've been using Firefox since v1.0.4

    Prior to that I'd used IE 6.0 and before that I was a Netscape fan. But Firefox rocks, the only complaint I have about all versions is memory usage. When I first installed v2.0 I was hoping for a memory usage reduction. No such luck.

    I do love Shift-Ctrl-T though.

  95. GTK does not handle OOM by roca · · Score: 1

    Part of the problem is that GTK, which Firefox relies on on Linux, is designed to abort on memory allocation failure. It's hard to build something more reliable on top of that.

    1. Re:GTK does not handle OOM by bit01 · · Score: 1

      Part of the problem is that GTK, which Firefox relies on on Linux, is designed to abort on memory allocation failure. It's hard to build something more reliable on top of that.

      No it isn't. Put a wrapper around the allocator that GTK users. Preallocate some memory at program startup. If the true allocator fails return some of the pre-allocated memory instead and set a flag variable to tell the top level loop that memory allocation is approaching failure. If the allocation failure is larger than the pre-allocated memory then it's likely to be a wild allocation due to corrupted memory; exit gracefully with the error routine using preallocated memory as needed.

      ---

      Don't be a programmer-bureaucrat; someone who substitutes marketing buzzwords and software bloat for verifiable improvements.

    2. Re:GTK does not handle OOM by bradbury · · Score: 1

      Are you sure this is true in the latest releases? I'm using almost the most recent libraries from Xorg & assoc as well as the 4.1.1 gcc libstdc++. With libstdc++ compiled properly I can get programs to throw a "bad_alloc" exception (with it not compiled properly it calls abort()). I've looked at the Firefox code and there are uses of catch(...) but I'm unsure yet whether they are in the right places to catch the failures I am seeing.

      Now, when I push 1.5.0.7 up to the point where the heap is right around 1GB one starts getting (on the console output from Firefox) Gtk-CRITICAL, Gdk-CRITICAL and GLib-GObject-WARNING assertion failure messages. As they frequently seem to describe NULL objects I suspect that these libraries may now tolerate memory failures (and simply warn you about them). I have yet to confirmed this in the source code. When these happen Firefox doesn't crash but does get a bit "strange". Tabs which seem to auto-refresh (dynamic HTML?) will get opened in new "untitled" windows. If you are careful to close the tab the window closes and Firfox continues normally. If you close the untitled window Firefox crashes. Not the best behavior but something one can tolerate and you know how to handle it gracefully.

      What I can't figure out is whether the problem is happening due to some 1GB memory limit in GTK or X or whether I'm actually hitting the Firefox virtual memory limit (which I typically set at 1.3-1.4 GB) and it is catching the memory allocation failures and handling them strangely.

      But it goes without saying that these seem to be areas where the developers haven't run robust unit tests.

  96. Re:The one feature that makes it worth the downloa by jollup · · Score: 1

    "In UK English "misspelt" is an acceptable variant." Surely you mean 'proper' English as in the Queen's?

  97. plus distributions by alfino · · Score: 1

    Don't forget, Debian, Ubuntu, and other distros offer Firefox 2.0, and their users don't generally have to go to getfirefox.com to get the browser. So you can add a 1 with a couple of zeroes to the first day users of the new browser...

    (of course, magazines provide CDs etc, both with IE7 and FF2.0, so stats are moot anyway)

    --
    echo mailto: !#^."<*>"|tr "<*> mailto:" net@madduck
  98. Or it shows something else by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    but it's interesting to see that the demand for Firefox is currently outstripping IE."

    Or it could just mean that Firefox users are more enthusiastic, passionate, and probably desperate people than the average IE users, who are more relaxed and less desperate.

  99. Re:The one feature that makes it worth the downloa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    KDE have it all system wide for all KDE applications too so shut the fuck up Mac luser.
    Yes, we don't have it in non-KDE apps, just like there's some Mac OSX compatible apps that don't use the system wide settings.