Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Firefox 8.0 Beta Available

Posted by Soulskill on from the another-day-another-version dept.

An anonymous reader tips news that Mozilla has released the beta version of Firefox 8, only a few days after going live with the final version of Firefox 7. According to the announcement, the big changes this time around include the ability to use Twitter as a default search engine, more versatility in restoring tabs on startup, and improved user control over add-ons. "Users will receive a one-time notification to review and confirm third party add-ons they want to keep, disable or delete. When Firefox starts and finds that a third-party program has installed an add-on, Firefox will disable the add-on until the user has explicitly opted in, giving users better control over their Web experience."

5 of 305 comments (clear)

  1. Why is this news? by loftwyr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    With Firefox releasing betas/alphas and new releases every few weeks, why are we covering this? Can't we just have the ever six week release story and maybe another one if they do something innovative?

    Chrome is on version 15 but I don't see a story here every number change.

    1. Re:Why is this news? by Baloroth · · Score: 4, Informative

      This was my reaction too. This isn't even a release, it's a beta. AFAIK Firefox constantly has a beta out, it shouldn't be news to anyone on this site.

      --
      "None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
  2. Re:___ firefox by ackthpt · · Score: 4, Funny

    Um, the rapid release schedule is what gives Firefox its stability and confidence.

    We'll know for sure, when they release 9.0 Beta next week.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  3. What third-party addons? by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The addons I want to keep? Sorry, I've never had this experience. It's more like, "the addons I want to permanently disable as they won't be updated to the latest version because the creator finished his project and moved on with his life". Seriously, a browser whose entire idea is 'you can extend it' combined with constant compatibility-breaking updates?

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  4. Re:are you kidding me? by RogueyWon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The really sad thing? The other week, the latest release of Firefox 6 decided that it wanted to intermittently crash my Nvidia drivers. Until I figured out I could fix this by disabling the hardware acceleration option (which has absolutely zero impact on performance anyway), I was coming to the conclusion that rather than Opera or Chrome, if I was going to switch, it would be to IE. Having not used it for years, I was pretty shocked at how much it had improved in the interim.

    That said, I think there's some deep part of me that would just find it hard to trust IE.

    But yes, Firefox has long since passed the point where a new version meant "oooh, new features" and reached the point where it means "oh god, what have they broken or ruined this time?"