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Mozilla Unleashes Firefox 6
Datamation ^ | 16 August 2011 | Sean Michael Kerner

Posted on 08/17/2011 4:46:57 AM PDT by ShadowAce

At Mozilla the trains run on time. The open source group is out with its second rapid release browser today, providing users with improved functionality and performance.

Firefox 6, which is being officially released by Mozilla today, follows Firefox 5, which debuted in July. Both Firefox 5 and 6 are part of Mozilla's new rapid release cycle, which aims to deliver more browser updates with incremental features. Previously Mozilla had released major browser update on a less predictable cycle with long with development cycles of a year or longer in between releases.

While the new rapid release cycle does not present the same volume of new features as the longer release cycles, Mozilla is confident that the process is working.

"We’re refining our own process constantly and are seeing dividends with smooth transitions as a release moves from Aurora to Beta to release," a Mozilla spokesperson told InternetNews.com

The Aurora channel is Mozilla's development release for Mozilla and is followed by the beta and then finally the release. Work is often done in parallel on Aurora and Beta channels as part of the rapid release cycle methodology.

One of the key improvements in Firefox 6, which will further be expanded upon in Firefox 7 and 8, is performance improvements.

"With Firefox for Windows, Mac and Linux, Panorama users will enjoy faster start-up times because tab groups are only loaded when selected," Mozilla's spokesperson said.

Panorama is a feature that debuted in Firefox 4, enabling users to group tabs. The Panorama feature began its life as a Mozilla Labs project known as Tab Candy.

Firefox 6 is also being released for Android users. The new Android release offers faster zooming, crisp text and reduced pixelation due to enhanced image rendering.

"There are even more improvements coming in Firefox Beta and Firefox Aurora," Mozilla's spokesperson said.

For developers, Mozilla is including a new tool called Scratchpad that is intended to make it simple to quickly enter, execute, test and refine JavaScript snippets in Firefox without needing to work in a one-line console.

"Scratchpad is a simple tool, and we want it to stay that way," Mozilla's spokesperson said. "We’re planning a handful of improvements to Scratchpad that will show up in Firefox over the coming months, but the simple text editor that runs JavaScript core will remain."

Firefox 6 will also support the Event/Source specification that is an emerging standard at the W3C.

"This specification defines an API for opening an HTTP connection for receiving push notifications from a server in the form of DOM events," the W3C specification draft states. "The API is designed such that it can be extended to work with other push notification schemes such as Push SMS."

Mozilla isn't the first browser to implement Event/Source. Both Chrome and Opera already support the draft specification.


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: browser; firefox; firefox6; mozilla
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To: ShadowAce

I never trusted Gill Bates and Gal Dore!

I do have IE on my PCs; but I don’t use it, mainly because so many pseudo-aMericans insist bad things will happen if I attempt to remove it...?????


21 posted on 08/17/2011 5:36:22 AM PDT by gunnyg ("A Constitution changed from Freedom, can never be restored; Liberty, once lost, is lost forever...)
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To: GreenAccord

I’ve got my own issues with Google. But is Microsoft any better? Certainly Facebook isn’t, though they’re not really relevant here.


22 posted on 08/17/2011 5:37:20 AM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: KarlInOhio
That's what I was thinking. Seems they are being taken over my marketing driods... "Got to have a major revision number update! That gives the users the impression there are big new things..." While delivering only incremental changes?
23 posted on 08/17/2011 5:45:26 AM PDT by ThunderSleeps (Stop obama now! Stop the hussein - insane agenda!)
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To: 9YearLurker

Adblock, mouse gestures - might be some other features that it has that the regular Chrome doesn’t that I’ve forgotten.

I did not spend a lot of time analyzing the difference between Chrome and Chromeplus. I found Chromeplus, tried it, liked it, decided it was a more comfortable fit than Firefox and so adopted it. Browsers are not a big deal to me.


24 posted on 08/17/2011 5:46:32 AM PDT by expat1000
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To: ShadowAce

I’ve had nothing but trouble with FF5 - it would hang. Will 6 make it better or worse? I had to switch to IE and believe me, I want OUT. I have a new machine with 12 gigs of RAM, quad processors, and Win7 Professional.


25 posted on 08/17/2011 5:50:50 AM PDT by Bookwoman ("...and I am unanimous in this...")
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To: expat1000
Oh, those c-r-a-z-y mouse gestures...heh!
26 posted on 08/17/2011 5:50:56 AM PDT by hummingbird
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To: 9YearLurker; ShadowAce

This concern of ShadowAce - I got tired of that with Firefox.I guess I would say that Chromeplus fills all my needs out of the box. I haven’t added any add-ons at all. I was forever messing around with them with Firefox.

“I lost a few extensions/add-ons when I upgraded from 3.6 to 5. How many might I lose upgrading to 6”


27 posted on 08/17/2011 5:53:51 AM PDT by expat1000
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To: Bookwoman
Will 6 make it better or worse?

I don't know--I'm still on 5.

28 posted on 08/17/2011 5:53:57 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: hummingbird

“Oh, those c-r-a-z-y mouse gestures...heh!”

I’m not sure how to take that!(?) But page-back/page-forward gestures which are all I ever use - those are essential to me.


29 posted on 08/17/2011 5:56:36 AM PDT by expat1000
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To: 9YearLurker
My experience with Microsoft Office and such is that over-featured software becomes a real issue, but useful features are, well, useful.

Many software developers think they have to add more to make it better. Thus, their product(s) become glutware.

I have uninstalled many for that very reason. I also get mad when they take out some feature(s), as those are usually the ones I used.

One example: My current XP firewall is about 7 meg. The newest version from the same company is over 35 meg.

I have dropped several virus programs for the same reason -- they become so glutted with unwanted features that they slow the computer to a crawl.

I just recently tried out Avast's version 6 which I had to uninstall. The version 6 has a built-in sandbox program which conflicts with an independent program called Sandboxie. Even turned off, the Avast sandbox causes Sandboxie to not work. I have used Sandboxie for years and would drop Avast before I drop Sandboxie.
30 posted on 08/17/2011 5:58:56 AM PDT by TomGuy
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To: expat1000; 9YearLurker
Losing extensions is a legitimate concern. It's what makes each user's version of firefox theirs--it's what make it usable for them.

I honestly don't know which ones--if any--would be lost in the upgrade. I use several that seem to update themselves fairly quickly with each firefox update.

We'll see.

31 posted on 08/17/2011 5:59:38 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: TomGuy

The other thing is software that’s constantly ‘on’, communicating on the Internet, and taking up too many resources. My Lexmark All-In-One software is like that—never anything else from Lexmark for me!


32 posted on 08/17/2011 6:03:42 AM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: Bookwoman
I’ve had nothing but trouble with FF5

It may be some of the extensions/add-ons/plug-ins you use. I have used FF5 on both XP and Win7 and had no trouble with it hanging up.

I did, however, install it clean -- uninstalled existing FF, then installed my add-ons. FF5 can install OVER the existing FF files, but it does not clean out unused items.


33 posted on 08/17/2011 6:04:16 AM PDT by TomGuy
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To: 9YearLurker
never anything else from Lexmark for me!

Same here. Several years ago, I bought a Lexmark inkjet locally (not many stores in this town of 14k). It had a 30 day warranty. I bought it for home use, so I only printed occasionally. It printed about 20 pages and then the mechanism locked up. Of course, that was a couple of days after the warranty expired. It was nothing but junk. I swore I would never buy anything Lexmark again -- and I haven't.
34 posted on 08/17/2011 6:09:39 AM PDT by TomGuy
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To: Bookwoman
I hear you about FF5. I just upgraded to 6 about a minute ago.

It actually does feel better.

Should you upgrade on the advice of someone using it for a whole minute?

Totally your decision :-)

35 posted on 08/17/2011 6:15:40 AM PDT by Tribune7 (If you demand perfection you will wind up with leftist Democrats)
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To: ShadowAce
FF3.6.x is stable for me but lacks many features.
FF4 was really bad as it would freeze up repeatedly and took 3 times as long to launch as Chrome5 and IE9.
FF5 seemed to resolve those problems as I didn't have problems with it - but it still didn't give me anything useful I didn't already have with IE9 and C5.

I just installed FF6 and it locked up on FR ... not the best first impression but I'll give it a week and decide if it makes my primary or alternate browser (currently IE9[32bit] and FF5 (because my work apps function better on FF5 than Chrome).

36 posted on 08/17/2011 6:22:28 AM PDT by DesertSapper (God, Family, Country . . . . . . . . . . and dead terrorists!!!)
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To: ShadowAce
Do I have to download everything all over again? All my add-ons? Personalities? Etc???

Kinda sucks, even if the improvements are actually improving things...

37 posted on 08/17/2011 6:25:28 AM PDT by Dead Corpse (For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the sheltered will never know.)
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To: 9YearLurker

“The other thing is software that’s constantly ‘on’, communicating on the Internet, and taking up too many resources. My Lexmark All-In-One software is like that—never anything else from Lexmark for me!”

You might want to get a freeware program called Winpatrol. All those programs make registry changes, and this software will not allow that without your approval, and will also help you identify which process is doing it should it get installed, and allow you to easily disable it.

http://www.winpatrol.com/download.html


38 posted on 08/17/2011 6:26:57 AM PDT by expat1000
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To: GreenAccord
I watched an “It gets better” ad sponsored by Google

They ran an ad implicitly admitting that their software sucks but promising to improve it in the future?

39 posted on 08/17/2011 6:29:13 AM PDT by HerbieHoover
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To: ShadowAce
Hope it fixes whatever happened on Monday that screwed up Firefox royally.

Some sort of update was installed, thinking it was for Windows & and Firefox has been upgephuqued ever since.

40 posted on 08/17/2011 6:30:24 AM PDT by N. Theknow (Obama and the Dems - The flash mob raiding the Treasury.)
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