Loading ...Firefox 3 Beta 5 is here, and reviewed
Tabbed Browsing
On tabbed browsing, Firefox will not only warn you when closing several tabs and windows at once but will prompt if you want to save the currently open tab set: a good catch and a good way to introduce this helpful feature to new users.
You can duplicate and move tabs (including its history and current status). To clone, press Ctrl while dragging a tab, or just drag them across windows to move. A very helpful addition!
Web experience
Firefox can save site specific preferences. For example you could allow just some pages to use AJAX, set a specific spell checker language, images, etc. Firefox 3 will remember the zoom level you have applied for a certain site and will zoom automatically the next time you visit it.
Net protocols (like irc, news, webcal and mailto) and certain documents handling can be passed to web services. For example, Yahoo Mail or Gmail may become your default application for mailto: links. For this, the previous web feeds page has been extended to the Options window for all content and protocols. Firefox 3 recognizes podcasts and video podcast feeds from regular ones so you can specify a different application for each.
Media feeds are displayed with a link to the media file in feed preview mode.
In Beta 5, the whitelist of sites authorized to move or resize windows (below) introduced in Beta 4, has been removed.
Instead the option to allow third party cookies has been restored as it was in Firefox 1.5 and previous.
Search engines
The search engine manager lets you set and change keywords for search engines. With keywords, if you associate the w keyword with Wikipedia (now a default search engine), you could enter w hawaii in the locationbar and search Wikipedia for Hawaii.
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April 2nd, 2008 at 2:27 pm
We would have enabled PGO for b5 if we were going to ship with it, so it’s just win32 this time round.
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April 2nd, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Firefox 3 beta 5 crashes on this site. Too funny. (posting from Safari 3.1 / Win)
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April 2nd, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Firefox 3 had me with it’s incomparably better memory behavior. I would have sacrificed anything else for that including extensions. All of them. Gladly.
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April 2nd, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Interestingly, this page is making Firefox 3 crash when Firebug is running.
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April 2nd, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I guess this beta didn’t really bring me anything… except the annoying home button.
…. but Firefox is really the program that I care about, more than any other program.. (fair enough?)
But why is everybody leaving?
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April 2nd, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Hey! You have an endless loop in Others.js, line 39. It’s causing Firebug to crash FF 3 Beta 5. Plsfxkthxbye.
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April 2nd, 2008 at 5:42 pm
@John, thanks very much for the tip. I deactivated the WordPress plugin that was using the code and now it seems to be OK.
Sorry all for the inconvenience.
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April 2nd, 2008 at 6:11 pm
I must say that I really love v3 :) I’m using it and it’s wonderful. My recommendation to everyone! Regards!
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April 2nd, 2008 at 7:44 pm
“Mac OS X users get Proto, a new Safari-like theme introduced with Beta 2.”
Oh really? I’m using FF3b5 right now and it still looks like the beta 4 version. (Yes — I’ve switched between large and small icons and restarted the browser a few time). Mind you — I kind of LIKE the Proto version as seen in beta 4(!) — big keyhole and all.
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April 2nd, 2008 at 8:31 pm
is it possible to know more concerning the decision to keep or not the home button in toolbar ?
i remember that mike beltzner is in charge of that
could we see the discussions about that ?
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April 2nd, 2008 at 9:30 pm
@Sprocket999, you could have skipped to the green text sections: new in Beta 5.
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April 3rd, 2008 at 7:53 am
Nice, informative review!
Btw, your microsummary (live title) doesn’t work any longer… :(
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April 3rd, 2008 at 9:49 am
I was annoyed the home button was GONE before though you can modify so doesn’t matter much, does it? I use it constantly.
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April 3rd, 2008 at 10:02 am
@Percy Cabello: “@Sprocket999, you could have skipped to the green text sections: new in Beta 5.”
Well, I did and all I got was this note as I previously posted — “Mac OS X users get Proto, a new Safari-like theme introduced with Beta 2.” — which indicates to me that the beta 5 Mac theming has ‘reverted back’ to the lovely theme offered in beta 2. It actually was quite a unique blend of the familiar Safari 3x squarish-buttons with the round-ended url and search bars. Perhaps you didn’t give beta 2 a try?
I’m running beta 5 and I don’t see anything like that at all. Same as beta 4.
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April 3rd, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Running happily on Win32. I’m happy that that the forward/backward icons in the drop down list are no longer blue as in Beta 4, but white so I can actually SEE them.
Hooray for polish!
Too bad PGO is only for Win32. Maybe a Firefox 3.1 in early 2009 will have it turned on for Linux and Mac OS X if it doesn’t make it for the Final Release.
Also, I’d like a special note for replacing the spellchecker. Hunspell in Fx 3 is so much better it hurts my feelings to go back to Fx 2.0.0.x because of the way I type.
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April 3rd, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Tools > Customize > Restore Default Set
This should get your home button back and possibly the proto icons for mac users. Seems to me that someone messed up with part of the code and doesn’t quite implement the beta 5 default icon placements for installs where a firefox profile already exists.
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April 3rd, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Love to see the Home page Icon back into the Navigation Toolbar. Thanks!
I loved the idea of being able to add new bookmark links to the bookmarks toolbar.
It would be very useful to open the default homepage when the a new tab (Ctrl+T) is opened.
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April 3rd, 2008 at 8:41 pm
I really like the Mac OS X look, but it still has its flaws. The jellybean button (the thing on the top right) behavior is fixed in the main window (although a gradient should still be present in the minimized header). However, it is still present in the downloads window, the about window, and the update window, and serves no purpose there, and, in both add-ons and preferences, when clicked, it doesn’t provide a divider between the header and the window contents…
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April 3rd, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Another issue: For some reason, I can’t customize the toolbar… Every time I try to drag a button on, it doesn’t work, and every time I try to drag one off, it is pushed, but not dragged…
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April 3rd, 2008 at 9:22 pm
For some reason, my FF3b5 shows two sets of “Back/Forward” buttons. Very odd.
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April 4th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Mirek2: “Another issue: For some reason, I can’t customize the toolbar… Every time I try to drag a button on, it doesn’t work, and every time I try to drag one off, it is pushed, but not dragged…”
I’ve run into that too from time to time. Never had this happen in beta 3 or 4. My workaround is to quit FF and restart. Oh yes, this is on the Mac — I can’t speak to Windows.
Personally, I hope they keep the Home button an option of being on the Toolbar OR the Bookmark Bar, as I’ve gotten quite used to having the Home button on the Bookmark Bar. Keeps the other area cleaner, IMPO.
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April 4th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Is there a way to organize files into different folders while downloading using download manager? By default it goes to one folder.
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April 4th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
The one thing about bookmarks that has persistently infuriated me, and still isn’t fixed, is the fact that there is no “Folders at the top” option when sorting bookmarks.
It’s simply ridiculous that this still doesn’t exist…
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April 5th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
One of my only issues is that there is still no “Add New Tab” button on the interface. Netscape / Mozilla Suite always had a small button to the left of the tab bar to open a new tab. This has disappeared in Firefox. IE7 has a “New Tab Button” right next to the last tab at all times. Even Netscape Navigator 9 gave you a “New Tab Button” on the toolbar. There is no such thing by default in Firefox, nor is there a way to show/hide the Sidebar easily. Those are my only two issues with this release.
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April 5th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Rajesh Pradhan: “Is there a way to organize files into different folders while downloading using download manager? By default it goes to one folder.”
On Windows, go to “Tools”, on Macs, go to “Firefox”, and select “Preferences.” Under “Main”, choose “Always ask me where to save files.”
Sprocket999: ““Mac OS X users get Proto, a new Safari-like theme introduced with Beta 2.”
Oh really? I’m using FF3b5 right now and it still looks like the beta 4 version. (Yes — I’ve switched between large and small icons and restarted the browser a few time). Mind you — I kind of LIKE the Proto version as seen in beta 4(!) — big keyhole and all.”
The theme was INTRODUCED in Beta 2. It underwent changes from then on (so what you see in Beta 4 and Beta 5 is stll Proto). This is not news for one following the FF3 process closely, but it might be for a newbie who just began to look into FF3…
Sprocket999: “I’ve run into that too from time to time. Never had this happen in beta 3 or 4. My workaround is to quit FF and restart. Oh yes, this is on the Mac — I can’t speak to Windows.”
That works. Thanks.
Sprocket999: “Personally, I hope they keep the Home button an option of being on the Toolbar OR the Bookmark Bar, as I’ve gotten quite used to having the Home button on the Bookmark Bar. Keeps the other area cleaner, IMPO.”
Me too…
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April 6th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Another bug: When you take the Acid2 test, zoom in too close, and then reset the page to its original size, the page is no longer viewed correctly. I understand that zoomed-in pages don’t pass the Acid2 test, but a page reset to its original should pass it…
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April 6th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
@ Mirek2
Works perfect for me… Anyway, acid tests aren’t meant to be taken in modified browsers. They are meant for default not modified browsers with standard configuration.
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April 7th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
I have multiple back/forward arrows across my screen / don’t see this noted anywhere. ALSO - all of a sudden - favorites are not taking - they are there but if I close out and re-open Firefox, they are then gone.
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April 9th, 2008 at 1:58 am
Rajesh Pradhan April 4, 2008 5:04 pm
Is there a way to organize files into different folders while downloading using download manager? By default it goes to one folder.
dear rajesh
its simple as email, go to the different directory of selection
ok
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April 9th, 2008 at 8:14 am
@JimP, repeat keyholes along the navigation toolbar is a bug I haven’t seen but has been already reported and fixed in recent nightlies. Should be available for RC1.
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April 9th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
In case it hasn’t been said already, thank you for marking the changes from the previous Beta. It makes finding the minor deltas much easier.
Thank you.
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April 10th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Well i dont see much diferent in the memory use for now :\
For me the best diference is “The Location Bar”, its very cool the fact that now FF go to bookmark look and showing the icons of the websites is very cool and much more easy ;)
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April 13th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
I’ve been beta testing your Firefox 3 and I love it! Every major update makes the browser even better. Keep up the great work, I look forward to the end of the testing. You guys always make great browsers.
Randy.
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April 20th, 2008 at 10:24 am
And what about the GO button??? I want the GO button Back…
I still can’t duplicate current page whit one click… :((((
Maybe middle click on the site icon could do this… it would be great… :s
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April 20th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
I hope this function will be added to firefox..
1. the Options>Application .. can be save to specific folder
like… mp3 file to save to my music.. jpg to my picture..
2. The bookmark has a shortcut..exAMple ctrl + 1 to open new layer of myspace.com..
thx
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May 19th, 2008 at 8:38 am
Is there a way to modify it to get the go button again?
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May 21st, 2008 at 2:43 am
I refuse to pay for any more M$ OS’s, Windows ver. that still use 98se until I get to know FreeBSD. I
was wondering if some time in the near future that you make FF3 available for 98?
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July 19th, 2008 at 4:27 am
Is there a way to organize files into different folders while downloading using download manager? By default it goes to one folder.
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RajeshJuly 23rd, 2008 at 3:21 pm
There is option in the browser to ask for the folder to save the file in. Not sure if thats what you are looking for.
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September 17th, 2008 at 4:19 am
I think that Many plug-in is the main reason users use Firefox.
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