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Comments on: Firefox 3.5: Excellent for fans, but competition getting tougher

New release brings the second-most popular browser up to speed with current browsing technology and trends, and perhaps nudges it ahead of the competition.

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by FF2009 June 30, 2009 4:13 PM PDT

hands down the best Browser in the market is the Fox. It's a shame IE8 has the larger share, when in fact IE8 is the worst browser to date.

Like this Reply to this comment


by cr8nkenstein July 3, 2009 11:11 AM PDT: IE 8 is the best and always has been.... why do you think they have the biggest market share? Let me guess, "because Microsoft forces it on users"... yeah, right! IE is the most widely used because it's the fastest, and most secure ;); Like this


by Coonie1 July 3, 2009 12:43 PM PDT: cr8nkenstein, its the most widely used because most people don't know any better. Most non-tech savvy people don't even know there are other browsers to use. Dumb comment.; Like this


by The User July 3, 2009 8:12 PM PDT: cr8nkenstein,

Most users employ IE because it comes pre-installed on their machines and they are not aware of anything else. That is 50%. The remaining 20% are the corporate users who are forced to use IE because their corporate tools were designed in 1998 and were never ported to be viewed in newer browsers.; Like this


by jedmmj11 July 4, 2009 3:15 AM PDT: (unrelated to above comment)
as far as i know internet explorer cant 'tear' of tabs. or is this feature only avalible with aero?; Like this


by cham4 July 5, 2009 1:53 AM PDT: ver 3.5 is buggy, slow to start, renders gmail incorrectly etc etc. see what mozilla's own mods have to say about it:

http://support.mozilla.com/tiki-view_forum_thread.php?locale=en-US&comments_parentId=381674&forumId=1

that is only the tip of the iceberg; Like this


by Heebee Jeebies July 6, 2009 9:26 AM PDT: IE 8 has the market share that is has because it comes with Windows which is a very big advantage. Also most people are either too lazy or to stupid to know that IE 8 is as bad as it is. People would rather use mediocre than to be bothers to look for and download something better even if it is free.

It is also this reason why having icons preinstalled on computers for the various browsers aren't going to do much for anyone. People will just look at them and either get confused and call technical support for help or get confused and then stick with what they know. None of them will say "Wow I have several to choose from I think I need to find out which one is best." Most will just stick with what they have been using. Microsoft has the market share only because people are stupid and lazy and because they were able to get the browser included with the OS early on. Had it been Firefox or Opera that people started with they would have the upper hand for the same reason.; Like this


by mr.sms July 15, 2009 12:45 AM PDT: IE8 doesn't have the larger share, IE has the larger share. it's {B}robably IE6 because all Enterprises and collages and most public industries/companies and facilities kept IE6 not for security reasons but because they are familiar with it and because they don't bother upgrading and doing all server LAN network settings again.

this is of course a stupid attitude but these are the facts.

when you combine IE8+7+6 shares you get the largest share, it's not justified because most IE share is IE6 and those people are morons!! therefore they shouldn't be taken seriously.

I suggest you take out IE7and6 out of the statistics and then you get the real picture.

btw I'm using Chrome for everyday and IE8 for ActiveX sites (Battlefield Heroes)

Chrome has all the features I Want and need in a browser:

Slim design=max viewable area.
Speed
Design (again LOL)
Slim Bookmark bar
Security
Auto Updates
Search from address bar without needing to press the "down" arrow
ripping tabs (faster than any other cheap mimicking from the competition that you need to wait for literally 2 damn sec after ripping a tab)

many more (I need to breath); Like this

by pabloburgos June 30, 2009 4:31 PM PDT

I have installed the new Firefox. Not impressed. The best browser continues to be K-Meleon, no questions asked.

Like this Reply to this comment


by pcdude2143 June 30, 2009 4:42 PM PDT: How so? Correct me if I'm wrong, but K-Meleon doesn't have support for extensions, does it?

Sure they both use the same rendering engine, but other than that, they are different browsers. K-Meleon is lightweight; Firefox is flexible.; Like this


by AppleProLeo June 30, 2009 6:39 PM PDT: I don't know K-Meleon but Add ons are what makes FireFox ****. It slows Firefox down and make's it buggy.; Like this


by rogerpack2005 July 2, 2009 8:30 AM PDT: Though it feels a bit more speedy, Chrome starts up much faster, so sticking with it for now.; Like this

by NinjaCowboy June 30, 2009 4:37 PM PDT

I like Firefox. But still don't understand why i cant right click and "save as" like i can in IE? A small gripe maybe, but still a pain to deal with sometimes.

Like this Reply to this comment


by pcdude2143 June 30, 2009 4:47 PM PDT: When you right-click on the page, you get "Save Page As...". That saves the page. When you right-click on a link, you get "Save Link As...". When you right-click an image, you get "Save Image As...". If it's not working similar to IE, maybe there's something wrong with it.; Like this


by GKrynen June 30, 2009 4:48 PM PDT: Right click and save as works in FireFox on images, the page itself, background images, file download links, etc. Pictures right click, Save Image As. Page, right click Save Page As. Etcetera; Like this


by doubleprime June 30, 2009 4:49 PM PDT: I'm assuming that you mean saving the targets of links. It's just differently worded. Right click and go to "Save Link As..." If it's images, right click and go to "Save Image As..."; Like this


by Chanc2g July 1, 2009 10:24 AM PDT: I have the same problem...right-click = NOTHING The typical right-click menu doesn't show up. I've reinstalled the 3.0x

It seems that right click works for some...but not sure why it doesn't work for me (or you). I'm still searching for insights.; Like this


by Chanc2g July 1, 2009 10:40 AM PDT: Found the problem! Start in "SAFE MODE" and disable plugins...one of them is conflicting with the right-click function. You can enable the plugins one at a time to find the culprit. I don't know which of mine was the problem, as I've only enabled a few for now. It was probably a NORTON add-on...but I'm not enabling them for now.; Like this


by Goremaster July 3, 2009 7:21 PM PDT: You probably don't have your mouse setup to rightclick properly when using Firefox. Sometimes with other browsers with odd drivers like my Logitech I need to go in and setup what buttons do what. Same for my Wacom.; Like this


by jackassity July 6, 2009 7:48 PM PDT: uninstall yahoo toolbar. i didn't even know i had it, and it wasn't active. i removed it, restarted f'fox, right click is back.; Like this

by Burrens June 30, 2009 4:51 PM PDT

"I've personalized my browser to eliminate the search bar, and now I use the location bar for all my searching." How do you do this?

Like this Reply to this comment


by Freedomstarfox June 30, 2009 5:18 PM PDT: Go to Manage Search Engines in the search bar menu. Then assign a keyword to each engine, like g for Google. Then go to the URL bar and type in g followed by your search term. Then right click on your menu bar and click Customize. Drag the search bar away.

Alternatively, you can install the Omnibar add-on or Peers add-on which will allow you to get search suggestions in the URL bar as well.; Like this

by paulbee1958 June 30, 2009 4:57 PM PDT

I too want Save As.

My biggest all time gripe with firefox is its insistence on using Quicktime for playing certain mutimedia, yet it can't or won't automatically install a Quicktime Plug-in. You have to go to Apple's site yourself, and install the entire Quicktime program.

While I use Firefox almost exclusively, I prefer Windows Media Player for Video and I have difficulty understanding the slavish devotion to Quicktime.

Like this Reply to this comment


by AppleProLeo June 30, 2009 6:35 PM PDT: Difficult to understand the 'slavish devotion to QuickTime' as opposed to what? Slavish devotion to Windows Media Player?

Good one!; Like this


by gertruded June 30, 2009 7:10 PM PDT: Windows media player is so heavily DRMed that I will not use it. There are much better alternatives available. This draconian DRM stuff of MS is totally unnecessary.; Like this


by kelmon June 30, 2009 11:53 PM PDT: Personally, I'd go with QuickTime since the H.264 codec used these days seems to produce smaller file sizes but with higher image quality than the WMV format. However, I will cede that QuickTime on Windows isn't very good so I can understand why people don't like it.; Like this


by jpap93 July 1, 2009 9:41 AM PDT: Ues VLC plugin then.; Like this


by AJ North July 1, 2009 8:37 PM PDT: You might also investigate the GOM Media Player - http://download.cnet.com/GOM-Media-Player/3000-13632_4-10551786.html

It displaced VLC as my default player.; Like this


by drbyte July 3, 2009 10:56 PM PDT: Smplayer, when properly tweaked, works nice and just like VLC it plays everything. Very nice over networks too.; Like this

by pcdude2143 June 30, 2009 4:59 PM PDT

One thing I noticed with open-source apps/OSes is that the upgrade is seamless. Sometimes when you open Firefox, it says "Firefox is installing an update". Wait a few seconds, and boom, new Firefox installed. That probably explains why Firefox 2.0 dropped from 18% to 5% in three months. Now it's down to less than 2%.

Like this Reply to this comment


by mmagliaro June 30, 2009 10:45 PM PDT: This may be convenient for some, but I find it obnoxious. I don't want software updating itself without my say-so.
Yes, you can turn this automatic feature off, but it's default state is "on", and you have to find the place in the control panels to stop it.; Like this


by jake3373 July 15, 2009 8:57 PM PDT: Disabling auto updates isn't that hard.
And it is on by default because this is used to patch security flaws and other things... stuff normal users wouldn't think to check for.; Like this


by myles taylor June 30, 2009 5:10 PM PDT: It's nice to see some of the features that make Safari my primary browser brought into Firefox. I find it interesting though that my favorite feature in Safari, the way it does search, has no been implemented in any browser...and is failed to be mentioned in reviews. I hate searching for something and then having to search the page to find the highlighted word. Safari's search feature, that also works on other popular OS X apps like Text Edit, dims the page, circles each instance of the word and highlights the first one, making it easy to spot. Firefox comes in a close second with it's search feature, but could still use some improvement.

That said, I use Firefox and Safari. Bookmarks are synced across them and I use each browser for different things. On all my instances of Windows and Linux, I use Firefox. I love it and wouldn't really say Safari is better. I just use Safari more. The rip a tab off feature is something I'm really glad to see in FF.; Like this Reply to this comment

by ks2problema June 30, 2009 5:57 PM PDT

FF3.5 does seem somewhat faster -- than the uninmpressive FF3 -- but it doesn't necessarily feel as fast as Chrome. In all fairness, Chrome does not have the features or extendability of FF.

But what is SLOW BEYOND BELIEF is the initial load time of FF3.5.

FF3 was bad, taking as much as 20-25 seconds to load on my machine -- while Chrome loads in less than TWO seconds...

But FF3.5 is the SLOWEST LOADING APP on my machine, taking over FORTY SECONDS to load after a fresh boot.

I've tried uninstalling all my add-ons and disabling all the plug ins and I can shave maybe 10 seconds off that at times.

But it is simply ABSURDLY SLOW loading if it isn't already in system cache.

I have heavy duty multimedia and web and database development tools that load in a tenth the time it takes FF to load...

And that just doesn't make any sense to me at all.

Like this Reply to this comment


by FF2009 June 30, 2009 6:14 PM PDT: Maybe it has something to do with your Windows box? I am on Ubuntu and my Firefox loaded up with 15 tabs in less than 8 seconds....I literally counted them :); Like this


by DamonDMEC June 30, 2009 6:19 PM PDT: Interesting. My machine loads FF (3 or 3.5) in less than 3000ms on average. My PC is 5 years old. P4, 2.4GHz, 768MB, nothing particularly awesome, but works just fine.; Like this


by ks2problema June 30, 2009 6:42 PM PDT: Wow. Are you sure that's FF's first load after booting?

I mean, if I close FF and then reopen it, sure, it snaps back open in a couple seconds. But that's not the same thing.

I dunno. Like I said, even stripped all the way down, FF3.5 takes well over 30 seconds. (I tried uninstalling all the add-ins, disabling all the plugs AND deleting all my bookmarks. That shaves about 10 seconds or so. Otherwise, it's over 40 seconds -- the

While Chrome takes under two on the same machine.; Like this


by Plonkely July 1, 2009 3:19 AM PDT: There were definitely issues caused by this update. On one of my PCs it takes minutes to load up, on my XP machine I have to wait about 30/40 seconds, on my laptop it's about 15. Other people having the same/similar issues: http://support.mozilla.com/tiki-view_forum_thread.php?forumId=1&comments_parentId=378535 and http://support.mozilla.com/tiki-view_forum_thread.php?locale=de&forumId=1&comments_parentId=378414; Like this


by duffybloom July 1, 2009 9:26 AM PDT: I'm with ks2problema: 50+ seconds on my XP box, 30-to-40+ seconds on my Vista laptop. First post-boot load. Worse than FF 3.X; Like this


by udins9 July 1, 2009 10:06 AM PDT: How many FF Add-on did you install? If you having to many add-on you might causing the browser to load slower like mine.; Like this


by warspartan July 1, 2009 12:46 PM PDT: Runs beautifully for me. Actually runs faster than FF3 for me. Perhaps you just think your computer is done booting while there are actually other program in the background loading, hmm?; Like this


by theaffordablewebguy July 1, 2009 1:19 PM PDT: Ks2: I'm right there with you dude. It's like you wrote my review. I have ONE add-on loading and a decent machine running (not brand new, but 4 gigs of RAM and so on and so on). It's so slow--it might be a deal breaker. I'm a long-time fan that's quite annoyed and frustrated.; Like this


by quirK July 2, 2009 6:48 AM PDT: http://support.mozilla.com/tiki-view_forum_thread.php?locale=tr&comments_parentId=371784&forumId=1

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=6797415&sid=162fcb13e4a706fbdbad9f87bdca9620#p6797415

Use Disk Cleanup and CCleaner and other utilities to dispose of as many temporary files as you can from all the various TEMP folders on your Windows installation.; Like this


by monster_eater123 July 3, 2009 3:25 PM PDT: I have Windows XP Pro with Object Dock running all the time and Firefox 3.5 loads pretty fast on my machine. I don't have any issues. Maybe you have a corrupt add-on? or bad registry file? do you defragment? run the disk clean-up wizard? these are things to consider. maybe try reinstalling Firefox 3.5 and all add-ons from scratch?; Like this

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by republofascist June 30, 2009 6:00 PM PDT

Until other browsers get the equivalent of Adblock Plus, I won't even consider using them. Firefox rules.

Like this Reply to this comment


by AppleProLeo June 30, 2009 6:36 PM PDT: It's those ad's that make the most of the internet FREE.; Like this


by gertruded June 30, 2009 7:15 PM PDT: Safari has an adblock. It works great. MS programs for the corporations not the people and they don't want you to be able to stop the stupid ads.; Like this


by brienza1975 June 30, 2009 7:24 PM PDT: Right..but it's also those pesky ads that slow down loading a page. Especially if the ad takes up three quarters of the page.; Like this


by AppleProLeo June 30, 2009 7:58 PM PDT: @brienza1975

Ad's slowing down page loading? How old is your computer? Or you still using dial-up? Come on the extra load time for ad's are nonsensical.

Nevertheless it's those milli-seconds of load time that makes most of the internet FREE! So stop your ********. I don't understand this 'Right to ALL' mentality of todays society. You want everything to be free but you want Ad's aka alternative revenue for the companies to provide you with this free service.

And it's almost always the 'Tree-hugging-Pirate Bay-FireFox-Hippy-GIMP' crowd.; Like this


by brienza1975 June 30, 2009 8:24 PM PDT: @CrappleProLeo
Actually it is only 2 years old and I have High Speed Cable Connection!!!!; Like this


by mmagliaro June 30, 2009 10:50 PM PDT: I agree. Web advertising has become so oppressive that I avoid even using the web for things I used to.
Even on very recent Core 2 Duo machines, common pages in Google or Yahoo, news feeds, eBay,
you name it --- they drag and drag and drag. It's not the computer and it's not a slow connection.

Frankly, I'm sick and tired of hearing "get a faster computer". The web was snappy and very usable years ago on much slower computers on much slower connections. The bloat is killing it.

As for the ads paying for the free web, yep, true. Well, what did they do 3 years ago? Or 5? We still had ads,
we still had free internet content, and the pages loaded quick. No --- it is the fact that the advertisers insist on becoming more and more intrusive into the pages.

So any browser that can thwart them gets my vote.; Like this


by bobbyphoenix July 1, 2009 9:43 AM PDT: The internet is NOT free, or do you not pay for your ISP? I pay Brighthouse monthly for my Road Runner High Speed internet service, so I know the internet is not free for me. As far as ads in web pages go for me I don't mind them if they are small and subtle, but it's those ones that are half the page on the top that blink different colors. They are the ones we don't need.; Like this


by warspartan July 1, 2009 12:54 PM PDT: @AppleProLeo,

You obviously don't understand the difference between pirates and hackers. Pirates, crackers and their ilk are not to be mixed up with the Open Source crowd you misunderstood bigot! Until you know what you're talking about, I recommend not saying anything.

BTW: I am not a tree hugging hippy pirate. I am an FLOSS GNU/Linux using Computer Nerd, can't deal with it? Tough.; Like this


by SJ2571 July 3, 2009 4:50 PM PDT: "It's those ad's that make the most of the internet FREE" -- The internet was DESIGNED to be free, and now everyone wants everybody to pay for it. Sorry, it just doesn't work that way, which is why great tools like AdBlock were written: to reclaim the original free design. Besides, for every paid site, there's a free equivalent. Go to GameSpy to download a file and you need to register to download. Pfft! Just do a search for the same file and you'll find it elsewhere as a direct download link -- just the way the internet was designed. Making people register or pay or view ads is the most immoral and unethical thing about the internet.; Like this


by AppleProLeo July 3, 2009 6:57 PM PDT: @warspartan (aka tree hugging hippy)

I do know the difference, not that my comment was anything to do the difference between the two. Wanting and using ad blockers doesn't make you a Cracker or a Hacker nor is it anything to do with either. My point was about the 'Right to everything' attitude of all you poor tree hugging hippies. Get and ***<ing job.

@SJ251 (aka another tree hugging hippy)

"...Making people register or pay or view ads is the most immoral and unethical thing about the internet..."

Immoral....err Buhhahahahah.... .....HAHAHAHAAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA; Like this

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by eadrian75 June 30, 2009 8:06 PM PDT

For all users (non web designers/developers) let me tell you this....If you want the best that the web has to offer then use Fire Fox. The average user only sees the front end and doesn't understand what it takes to develop a website. I am a web designer/developer and FireFox is ahead of the curve. This browser supports all/most of the latest that web design/development technologies have to offer.

We can design without limits. On the other hand IE is the black sheep in the web design/development community. Next time you are a book store pick up ANY web design/development book and I assure you there will be at least one chapter on IE buggs and how to hack/get around them.

Get the most from your web browsing experience with FireFox.

--- Sincerely, Pro Web designer/developer

Like this Reply to this comment


by artistjoh June 30, 2009 10:29 PM PDT: Really?
I also design for the web and all I can say is that I don't like it, it is visually unappealing and I much prefer Safari or Chrome. The days when I came across sites that would not work with any browser other than IE or Firefox seem to be past. Safari and Chrome both seem to have realized that the optimum browser experience comes from speed and navigation. The extensions philosophy of Firefox takes away any speed advantage but without the extensions Firefox has little to offer that makes it special to use anymore other than video playback.

Of course FF is in my bad books now because of a buggy installation process that would not allow me to upgrade as it told me I did not have privileges yet did not ask for my administrator password. The only way I could install 3.5 was by trashing the older version first and thereby losing my bookmarks. I have to admit, however, to rarely using FF in the past and see little reason to use it for anything other than testing in the future; Like this


by DemonRob June 30, 2009 11:03 PM PDT: really/ you design for the web and you like FF because you can design without limits? Rubbish - if thats the case you design for FF. If you design for the web you design for IE and FF and Safari .; Like this


by eadrian75 July 1, 2009 12:22 AM PDT: @ DemonRob

That is the point!!! If all browsers supported advances in CSS, Javascript, and (X)HTML the same way that FF does then we would all be designing without limits. Until then, of course I will continue to design and hack my way to achieve a consistent layout otherwise I wouldn't have a job.; Like this


by elbertgeorge July 1, 2009 2:51 AM PDT: Agreed that IE is the pimple in the armpit of the net. You can design to standards and be fairly sure it'll display in Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera. Then you start trying to get IE5.5 working. Then IE6. Then IE7. Then IE8. Of course, different things break in each version of IE, and what might fix one would break the other. So you basically have to test first for "the world" vs IE, and then 4 versions of IE. Its insane. Totally insane.

The other thing I love about Firefox is the developer plugins. There is no better development environment than firebug and the web dev toolbar.; Like this


by zanzzz July 1, 2009 8:12 PM PDT: @ artistjoh-
You claim to design for the web yet clearly lack understanding of few basics of browsing. To lose your bookmarks is laughable! Try Xmarks, problem solved. To deride FF for having little to offer other than its extensions shows a narrow-minded vision of what a browser is used for. Sure a stripped-down Chrome is faster. So is an Indy 500 car. I like smooth suspension, a radio, AC, comfortable seats but these all slow my ride down. I think having them is a worthwhile compromise. So while you can render a page microseconds faster I don't have to manually adjust font size to every page because I have an extension- NoSquint. Just one example of the many advantages FF offers.
It's not all about speed, it's arriving in style!; Like this

by eSWasim June 30, 2009 9:40 PM PDT

I used safari 4 on mac os x , i used firefox on mac os x , i used Google Chrome on Windows 7 , i used IE7 on windows 7 , hmm what i am using now is Safari on OSX 10.5.7 , On Windows 7 i love Google Chrome it is a super browser and trust me you don't need any extensions for that , it is perfect , on OSX i use Safari 4 only becoz we dont have Google Chrome yet for mac, Firefox has lost its way , Chrome Developers have put severe impact on them, IE will always be same without any flair , Safari keeps trying to get better , but they always lack at something or the other, still didn't get Fullscreen in Safari, still the pop up window issue umm lets wait for safari 5 lol

Like this Reply to this comment


by jake3373 July 15, 2009 9:02 PM PDT: Its impossible to use IE7 on Windows 7, it comes with IE8; Like this

by techguy51 June 30, 2009 11:28 PM PDT

FF has once more disappointed me. As with previous versions, FF3.5 on OS X does not diisplay PDF files in the browser. Yes, I know I can install an add-in for this, but it's far from the same--you don't have the tools for managing the PDF. This is a particular irritant when I'm on WebCT or other site trying to display a PDF in a pane. I'm not sure if this is a Firefox problem or an Adobe problem. Safari, Opera, Flock, Shiira, Camino, and OmniWeb all display PDFs in the browser on OS X without add-ons. Firefox, Chrome, IE, Opera, and Safari display them on Windows, without plugins, provided that Acrobat Reader is installed.

So my request to Mozilla and/or Adobe: please integrate PDF viewing into Firefox for OS X.

Like this Reply to this comment


by elbertgeorge July 1, 2009 2:57 AM PDT: Agreed that its not the same. I would never ever want to display PDF files in my browser. Thank God I don't have to! Oh, by the way, no browser can display PDF w/o a plugin. And at least on win9x through winxp, and Linux, I've always been able to display PDFs either way. I wouldn't know about OS X, though. WebCT is, however, really a piece of trash. Last university I taught at used it, and it was awful for the instructors and awful for the students. If blackboard didn't have a patent, any CS dept could easily through together something better in a weekend.; Like this


by mailinatorwffnji July 1, 2009 2:17 AM PDT: I don't feel like I have a responsibility to companies that put up ads even it that profit does relieve me from paying the cost of internet infrastructure. Yeah right, next thing you're going to tell me is that going to the bathroom during commercials is like stealing TV. HAHA. . . Wait someone actually already said that?!

http://lwn.net/Articles/331647/

ps go firefox! (and GIMP and Pirate Bay and Tree-hugging!); Like this Reply to this comment


by toosday July 1, 2009 4:08 AM PDT: I'm testing FF 3.5 on Mac OS 10.5 for the next few days to see how well I like it. I've used Firefox previously, but over the past couple of years I just went with Safari. However, the latest update, Safari 4, has been pretty terrible for me. So far, Firefox is definitely winning the battle for my desktop, but I'll have to test it out for a few days to be sure.

The one thing I'm definitely missing is a built-in dictionary in Firefox On Safari, you simply pressed Command+Control+D to get a dictionary pop-up of the word you are hovering over. In Firefox, you have to use extensions that aren't quite as quick.; Like this Reply to this comment

by Soniclight July 1, 2009 4:18 AM PDT

--- QUESTION on CSS Media Tags ---

Neither a newbie nor power user/IT guy here, but FF3 is my primary browser due to its particular advantages, extensions, etc. But, I find that it won't fire up certain site-coded media players, particularly MSNBC (i.e. Hardball, Rachel Maddow, etc.).

Once in a while, they will work, but most of the time they don't . So I have so far had to use IE for that.

>> Q: Does FF3.5 address this kind of thing with the mentioned under-the-hood improvements, and/or is there some other workaround so I could use FF?

If not, I can hold out for FF4.

Thanks.

Like this Reply to this comment


by Soniclight July 1, 2009 11:51 AM PDT: Hopefully Seth Rosenblatt will respond to this Q since I'm going by what was stated about these 3.5 improvements in this article.

If not, any other FF wizards are most welcomed to share their wizdom :); Like this


by exactlyy July 1, 2009 5:15 AM PDT: great article Seth Rosenblatt , thanks . and good job Firefox team..i am very impressed .; Like this Reply to this comment


by 4score20 July 1, 2009 6:49 AM PDT: When I used FF3.5 on my Vista machine it took quite a while to open but once it did it was fast loading pages,etc.. I'm using Windows 7RC now and Firefox opens incredibly quick. No lag at all. I tried Chrome on my old Vista machine and it was fast but not as fast as FF surprisingly. I think I'll give Chrome a try on Win7 and compare speeds. Safari for Windows has always beat the others in speed, for me, on the Vista box.; Like this Reply to this comment

by ArsFragica July 1, 2009 8:45 AM PDT

Hell, Safari 4 blows away Firefox. It's like comparing a PS3 to a Wii. Lol.

Like this Reply to this comment


by MeepMan July 1, 2009 9:41 AM PDT: That is one of the worst comparisons I have seen in about three years. The PS3 has definite strengths over the Wii, but the Wii has strong motion control as well as the ability to render graphics decently. There is not truly a definite winner, but it is close. If I took your word about S4 vs FF3.5, then that would still be a terrible comparison, but Safari has some of the worst set of features in the browsing world. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say that you are using OSX, since there is no comparison on Windows.; Like this


by jpap93 July 1, 2009 9:43 AM PDT: LOL. Which one is FF?

Cause Safari is still as secure as Macintosh, none at all. Come on, its Javascript engine has had tons of exploits.; Like this


by toosday July 4, 2009 1:28 AM PDT: I guess it depends on your computer. I'm using an extremely new iMac and for the first time in years, I ditched Safari for Firefox. Safari 3 was great on my computer, but the newest Safari (version 4) is absolutely terrible. Others agree; just see the Apple Support Discussions: http://tinyurl.com/nulcdr

I thought the Safari 4.0.1 update would fix it, but I was wrong.; Like this


by Pon666 July 1, 2009 10:00 AM PDT: the new firefox is great. \m/ firefox.; Like this Reply to this comment


by iyagtr July 1, 2009 10:03 AM PDT: I used firefox 3.5 on a mac. I had hard time closing a tab when another tab is loading!; Like this Reply to this comment