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Mozilla Exec: Firefox 4 Will Arrive in February

26 points by ssclafani 16y ago

roxstar 16y ago
I think I would be more likely to move back to firefox if they changed to a release cycle more like chromes where small features are added in pretty quickly through silent updates, rather than big changes over large amounts of time. Probably a little offtopic but I was looking forward to trying the new firefox as my main browser when it was supposed to release about now.
- queensnake 16y ago
  There's always this: http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/ http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/lates... You'll get daily updates - but it'll /nag/ you until you do :)
- mishmash 16y ago
  Agreed. Although the constantly running Google Updater makes a little paranoid, I love starting up Chrome and always having the latest stuff.
- melling 16y ago
  I have both Chrome and Firefox installed on my Mac. I take turns switching between them and Safari. I don't want the "there can be only one" browser limitation to ever happen again. They're all free, and they're trying to implement open standards. Let's spend a little time with each of them.
  - roxstar 16y ago
    Thing is I like to customize some things and sometimes I do that by writing an extension and adding such and such so using other browsers at the same time becomes harder. I use chrome now because it starts up fast and I have all the things I like, if firefox started up faster and had similar window freedom (last I checked linux wasn't as lucky as windows) I would switch back. The update thing was just a nitpick that if I could see changes happening over time rather than one huge update it would entice me back.
  - Jach 16y ago
    Totally agree on using multiple browsers. (Plus ever since Google started enforcing that "one gmail session open per browser" rule I've been forced to use both Firefox and Chrome when I want my personal and work emails open.) I think my time with Chrome also helps me look past Firefox's deficiencies, if only because I'm not constantly frustrated with them.
- gkanai 16y ago
  That is the new release plan post-Firefox 4. (I work for Mozilla.)
- cookiecaper 16y ago
  This distribution method is the only way to ensure some kind of control over the web experience and stop the IE6's of the future, imo.
yesimahuman 16y ago
One big issue I've been having with the current FF 4 builds are extremely blurry fonts (supposedly due to hardware rendering). There are a number of work arounds but I'm concerned that it doesn't work right out of the box. If it's still just as blurry in February it won't be usable for me.
- cookiecaper 16y ago
  I haven't experienced this. What platform are you on? Are you using betas or nightlies? You may want to report the bug if there isn't a report already.
- ootachi 16y ago
  Install IE9 (yes, seriously; it comes with patches for the drivers). Failing that, turn DirectWrite off: go to about:config and switch gfx.font_rendering.directwrite.enabled to false.
- sid0 16y ago
  If you're on Windows 7, an update was just released over Windows Update which should fix this and a couple of other issues. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2454826 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2454826

26 points by ssclafani 16y ago

I think I would be more likely to move back to firefox if they changed to a release cycle more like chromes where small features are added in pretty quickly through silent updates, rather than big changes over large amounts of time. Probably a little offtopic but I was looking forward to trying the new firefox as my main browser when it was supposed to release about now.

queensnake 16y ago
There's always this: http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/ http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/lates... You'll get daily updates - but it'll /nag/ you until you do :)
mishmash 16y ago
Agreed. Although the constantly running Google Updater makes a little paranoid, I love starting up Chrome and always having the latest stuff.
melling 16y ago
I have both Chrome and Firefox installed on my Mac. I take turns switching between them and Safari. I don't want the "there can be only one" browser limitation to ever happen again. They're all free, and they're trying to implement open standards. Let's spend a little time with each of them.
- roxstar 16y ago
  Thing is I like to customize some things and sometimes I do that by writing an extension and adding such and such so using other browsers at the same time becomes harder. I use chrome now because it starts up fast and I have all the things I like, if firefox started up faster and had similar window freedom (last I checked linux wasn't as lucky as windows) I would switch back. The update thing was just a nitpick that if I could see changes happening over time rather than one huge update it would entice me back.
- Jach 16y ago
  Totally agree on using multiple browsers. (Plus ever since Google started enforcing that "one gmail session open per browser" rule I've been forced to use both Firefox and Chrome when I want my personal and work emails open.) I think my time with Chrome also helps me look past Firefox's deficiencies, if only because I'm not constantly frustrated with them.
gkanai 16y ago
That is the new release plan post-Firefox 4. (I work for Mozilla.)
cookiecaper 16y ago
This distribution method is the only way to ensure some kind of control over the web experience and stop the IE6's of the future, imo.

yesimahuman 16y ago

One big issue I've been having with the current FF 4 builds are extremely blurry fonts (supposedly due to hardware rendering). There are a number of work arounds but I'm concerned that it doesn't work right out of the box. If it's still just as blurry in February it won't be usable for me.

cookiecaper 16y ago
I haven't experienced this. What platform are you on? Are you using betas or nightlies? You may want to report the bug if there isn't a report already.
ootachi 16y ago
Install IE9 (yes, seriously; it comes with patches for the drivers). Failing that, turn DirectWrite off: go to about:config and switch gfx.font_rendering.directwrite.enabled to false.
sid0 16y ago
If you're on Windows 7, an update was just released over Windows Update which should fix this and a couple of other issues. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2454826 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2454826