Firefox 4

[Tomi]

Beta 1 is now available!

Surprisingly, it's really smooth. Switching tabs doesn't cause it to choke at all, which isn't something I can say about Chrome.

Instead of the normal 400-500MB of memory 3.6 used to use, it seems like this beta only uses about 250MB now, and that's also with extensions. I bet it'll rise up to 350MB soon enough, but that's still not as high as 500MB (I have 3 applications that use that much that I keep running all the time - yay for having 4GB of RAM). Okay, I was being too hopeful. 3 hours later, it's back up at 450MB with about 40 tabs open.

Tabs on top is pretty nice, and if people don't like it, it can be easily switched back to the old method. Sure, people can say it's copying Opera and Chrome, but those browsers don't offer the customization ability that Firefox does.

While most addons are disabled due to compatibility by default, you can use this extension to re-enable them. Greasemonkey currently doesn't work, and Stylish seems to work, but it's missing it's menu. Everything else that I use seems to work.

One bug, though: Personas + hidden menu bar (so you have the orange Firefox button instead) = missing min/max/close buttons. Probably will be fixed by Beta 2, I imagine.

2 awesome features:
- Loading icon on the tab button that shows progress, instead of just a spinning icon
- If you type the name of a website in the location bar which is already open in a different tab, you'll get the option to switch to that tab. Something I'm sure I'll find useful since I tend to have a million tabs open and it'll help me realise "oh! I already have that tab open"

[Hawk]

Please don't make me regret using Chrome.
I am downloading this now. Also, because I love Chrome so much I am going to have a death match between the two browsers and let you know what I think.

EDIT: MAJOR FAIL!

[Tomi]

Try re-downloading it? Chrome must've fucked up the download. ;P

[Hawk]

Try re-downloading it? Chrome must've fucked up the download. ;P

Possibly. I will download it on Mozilla, then let the death match begin.

[Louis]

I have not had any issues with Chrome, but I may check out Firefox 4. I've never had issues with switching tabs, either.

[Tomi]

I have not had any issues with Chrome, but I may check out Firefox 4. I've never had issues with switching tabs, either.

If I leave Chrome sitting around in the background or minimized, and then open it and switch a tab, I get a 2-3 second tab before it renders the page of the new tab. Not really sure why.

edit: Before anyone thinks I'm a Chrome-hate, don't get me wrong, I think Chrome is great, but it's lack of customization is preventing me from switching - there's a certain way I like my toolbar, and if it's going to be clogged with extension icons instead, it's a pain in the ass for me. Hiding the extensions just isn't a viable solution, since there isn't anywhere else to access them from, due to their nature.

[Gloomy Mushroom]

This is interesting because IE is starting to piss me off a lot and I have never been a fan of Firefox. If it takes up less space than the latest Firefox I'll try it.

[Hawk]

Honestly, I prefer Chrome.
Firefox is good, but *re-read first line*.
Internet Explorer, is probably the worst browser.

[Tomi]

This is interesting because IE is starting to piss me off a lot and I have never been a fan of Firefox. If it takes up less space than the latest Firefox I'll try it.

You should try Firefox or Chrome, definitely. IE's always been a bloat. IE9 *might* be worth a chance when it's final, but I have a feeling it'll still be bloated as usual. Chrome's quite a minimal browser, whereas Firefox is very customizable. Or, if you want the kitchen sink, try Opera.

[Hawk]

Currently either use Chrome or Firefox 4 Beta. Chrome is faster than Firefox 3, but 4, I am not sure about compared to Chrome.

[Jesse]

Wow. Firefox 4, already? O.o

If they've got a build for Linux I'll give it a shot cause that's what I'm currently using.

[Hawk]

Apparently Chrome 6 is almost done....

[Louis]

I agree, Firefox is better in terms of customizing your browser. I suppose it depends on what you're into. Chrome suits me just fine. No complaints about Firefox apart from it taking up a lot of space / memory at times.

[Hawk]

Totally agree with Louis.

[Tomi]

Wow. Firefox 4, already? O.o

If they've got a build for Linux I'll give it a shot cause that's what I'm currently using.

Apparently Chrome 6 is almost done....

So, Firefox has been around for 6 years and it's only at 4, and Chrome's only been around for 2 years and it's a 6. I think Google really likes major version numbers where Firefox uses a lot of minor version numbers.

[Jeff]

So, Firefox has been around for 6 years and it's only at 4, and Chrome's only been around for 2 years and it's a 6. I think Google really likes major version numbers where Firefox uses a lot of minor version numbers.

I think Chrome just kicks more ass

[Jesse]

Hmmm. The interface for Firefox 4 is pretty awful on Linux. It's not the same design as the Windows version. I'll stick to 3.6 for now. Also, there is only Remove in the addons and no disable. WTF is up with that shit?

[Hawk]

Yes Jeff, Chrome kicks more ass.

[Tomi]

Hmmm. The interface for Firefox 4 is pretty awful on Linux. It's not the same design as the Windows version. I'll stick to 3.6 for now. Also, there is only Remove in the addons and no disable. WTF is up with that shit?

Being a Linux user and all, they expect you to hack it in yourself. It's fine on Windows.

[Jesse]

Being a Linux user and all, they expect you to hack it in yourself. It's fine on Windows.

Linux & Mac basically have the same design for version 4. I guess they're working on it from what I've seen of the mock up interface images. They actually look pretty spiffy. Also, half my plugins do not work on Firefox 4, I can't "disable" an add-on or a theme, I have to "Remove" it and I guess install it again for later, the thing is though I don't use Firefox for just internet. There's this giant annoying Feedback button. But it IS faster for me, I must admit. It's easy to run, being all in one tarball. Flash doesn't cause me as much trouble. HTML5 and WebM now running much smoother, especially on YouTube. It loads quicker than Chromium, which I can't get the extensions to work on. (I think I may have to manually build the newest developers build to do get them working)

So all in all there is good and there is bad. The interface is just too horrid though. I do expect that they'll have it fixed in another few beta's, which should be quite soon because they're going to be releasing them every two weeks or so. But until then it's mainly 3.++ for me. Or sometimes Opera, Chromium occasionally.

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Edit: turns out there is an "enable" button, after all.