8 ms·

Firefox 7 Live: Download Here

156 points by lforrest 15y ago

gkoberger 15y ago
Desktop highlights: * Drastically improved memory handling for certain use cases * Added a new rendering backend to speed up Canvas operations on Windows systems * Bookmark and password changes now sync almost instantly when using Firefox Sync * The 'http:// http:// URL prefix is now hidden by default * Added support for text-overflow: ellipsis * Added support for the Web Timing specification * Enhanced support for MathML * The WebSocket protocol has been updated from version 7 to version 8 * Added an opt-in system for users to send performance data back to Mozilla to improve future versions of Firefox * Fixed several stability issues * Fixed several security issues http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2011/09/27/mozilla-firefox-significantly-reduces-memory-use-to-make-web-browsing-faster/ http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2011/09/27/mozilla-firefox-sign... -- Android highlights: * Android-style Copy & Paste * Ability to quit * Use Firefox in your language * WebSocket API http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2011/09/27/firefox-for-android-empowers-developers-to-build-seamless-web-experiences/ http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2011/09/27/firefox-for-android-... [Edit] Updated the list of highlights
- jolan 15y ago
  Here's the official release notes: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/7.0/releasenotes/ http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/7.0/releasenotes/
- notatoad 15y ago
  websocket protocol bump to v8? isn't v10 the one with the security issues fixed?
  - gkoberger 15y ago
    Version 8 is the same thing as Draft 10, which is the latest draft. Yes, it's confusing.
- jisaacstone 15y ago
  Man I never knew about text-overflow: ellipsis. I'm gonna have to start using that.
- jimktrains2 15y ago
  >* The 'http:// http:// URL prefix is now hidden by default I hate that:( I hate that they removed the rss button too:(
  - bbrizzi 15y ago
    As said in the other thread, you can change it back by going to about:confing and changing browser.urlbar.trimURLs to false.
  - ck2 15y ago
    RSS urlbar icon https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/rss-icon/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/rss-icon/
    - starwed 15y ago
      That's weird -- the icon is still there, but not default, and it just takes about two clicks to restore it. So what's the purpose of the addon?
      - ck2 15y ago
        You mean the icon in customize? You cannot put that one inside the urlbar.
        starwed 15y ago
        Aha, all is now clear. (I really liked the idea of the RSS button when they added it, but never actually ended up using it...)
  - Dobbs 15y ago
    It is not in the url bar but you can right click on the toolbar select customize and then drag a rss button back onto the toolbar.
rednaught 15y ago
Nice to see Web Timing support make it into this catching up with Chrome and IE.
onedognight 15y ago
I thought the point of Mozilla's new release scheme was that we don't have to download anything anymore. The updates just come to us, as if by magic. https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Updating%20Firefox https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Updating%20Firefox
- T-zex 15y ago
  Go to Help > About Firefox and click Update. It should update automatically after some time anyway.
- gcp 15y ago
  They do. These posts are for those who've never installed it before. All 5 of them :-) Seriously, the release notes and changelog are what we're after.
- CWuestefeld 15y ago
  But extensions are still version dependent. I was just about to update my installation, but it told me that my Roboform extension isn't compatible with v7. If they allow the application to update when it wants, they're going to quickly render me unable to use Firefox, since I won't be able to log into secure web sites.
  - mbrubeck 15y ago
    By the way, Roboform has been updated to support Firefox 7: http://www.roboform.com/support/news http://www.roboform.com/support/news
  - WalterGR 15y ago
    I was just about to update my installation, but it told me that my Roboform extension isn't compatible with v7. How do you get to that information prior to the upgrade? I've only realized extensions were incompatible after updating, because Firefox disables them.
    - mbrubeck 15y ago
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
codecaine 15y ago
After Firefox 4 came out I had to install so many extensions to make it feel like 3.6 that it became unstable and incredibly slow. Because Firefox apparently tries to be more like Chrome I decided to switch to the original and I haven't looked back yet. I only fire up Firefox when Chromes built-in developer tools lack functionality compared to Firebug, which is rarely the case. The way Firefox decided to take makes me really sad, as I was a big Firefox supporter, until they screwed me over with the new UI. I hope this is not too off topic, but I never got the chance to comment on the changes.
- lfx 15y ago
  What fundamental new is for new UI comparing with 3.6? I use Firefox for some way, only for firebug mostly. I think its just evolution of person, now I use what is most serves my needs.
  - codecaine 15y ago
    what bothers me most is that they made the whole top part (including title, menu bar etc if you choose to enable it) transparent. I personally just find that horrible. Screenshot: http://0.tqn.com/d/browsers/1/0/Z/c/-/-/firefox-5-show-menu-bar-1.png http://0.tqn.com/d/browsers/1/0/Z/c/-/-/firefox-5-show-menu-... Here is a screenshot comparing FF 3.5 to 4: http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/500x_firefox4.jpg http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/500x_firefox... (3.5 is right)
    - gcp 15y ago
      Arguably, having the menu visible is not the default setup, is it? The default fold-out "Firefox" menu simply doesn't have that issue and is not transparent. I agree it's a problem in Thunderbird, which has a menu by default. I think that if you try to tweak Firefox 4+ to look like 3.6 you're going to run into suboptimalities. It evolved. I think that if you get used to the changes, they're actually changes for the better (new menu giving more vertical room, tabs-on-top, etc).
      - 15y ago
Urgo 15y ago
* Drastically improved memory handling for certain use cases ^^ apparently not the use cases I use. FF7's been running for about 12 hours on my win7 box and is using over a gig of ram just like normal... It started off good but then just kept growing over the hours. Nothing really improved here. :(
- gcp 15y ago
  Be sure to enable this: * Added an opt-in system for users to send performance data back to Mozilla to improve future versions of Firefox Some of these issues are very hard to reproduce for the developers. If users like you turn it on, there's hope of actually getting it fixed.
- nailer 15y ago
  > FF7's been running for about 12 hours on my win7 box and is using over a gig of ram just like normal... Are you looking at resident set size (aka real memory), versus virtual set size (aka virtual memory)? The memory VMs in both Windows and Linux kernels will happily let an app malloc all they want until they hit the userspace address limit, with no affect on performance. It's only when those apps use the memory that there's a perf hit.
- grimoire 15y ago
  Is this memory that is needed for some other application you are running? Is your system running low on virtual memory? If not, what is the problem with FF using it? From what I've seen (at least with FF6), when system memory gets low FF will start to release memory back. I'd rather have FF use the memory for cache to speed up performance than to have it sit unused.
- gkoberger 15y ago
  What add-ons are you using? 95% of the time, problems with Firefox (speed, crashing, oddities) can be blamed on a slow add-on.
- kinetik 15y ago
  Open about:memory and see where the memory is going. And if you think the use is excessive, please file a bug including the about:memory data and any details you know that would aid in reproducing the problem.
gcp 15y ago
IMHO quite importantly, this version also includes a list of Microsoft fonts that don't render well with DirectWrite, and will switch back to GDI font rendering for those. On my machine, this fixes the "fuzzy fonts" issue that existed since Firefox 4 if you enabled hardware acceleration.
- demetris 15y ago
  Thanks for the information! I first noticed the improvement in Aurora and Nightly builds, and was wondering what they did to fix the problem. Here is some more information I just found for anyone interested: Main bug report: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=661471 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=661471 The two new preferences: gfx.font_rendering.cleartype_params.force_gdi_classic_for_families gfx.font_rendering.cleartype_params.force_gdi_classic_max_size And a post talking in detail about the issue: http://blog.mozilla.com/nattokirai/2011/08/11/directwrite-text-rendering-in-firefox-6/ http://blog.mozilla.com/nattokirai/2011/08/11/directwrite-te...
danso 15y ago
The designer sitting next to me is most excited about this: >* Added support for text-overflow: ellipsis
- allertonm 15y ago
  This one drove me nuts. Many developers were achieving the same result in firefox 3.6 and earlier using an XUL hack - but in FF4, the ability to do that XUL hack was removed for (valid) security reasons - but without addressing the text-overflow: ellipsis issue for which they'd had an open bug tracker entry for about 5 years. There were many complaints about this months before FF4 was released but they went ahead anyway.
- notatoad 15y ago
  i'm pretty excited about that one too. i was just cursing firefox last week for that.
StuffMaster 15y ago
>The 'http:// http:// URL prefix is now hidden by default This can be changed back with browser.urlbar.trimURLs in about:config. They should've provided an option for it.
- sambe 15y ago
  No, they really shouldn't. If you care, you already know about about:prefs.
  - nitrogen 15y ago
    This is one example of a devastatingly common category of assumptions. Never assume that the set of people who care about something is the same as the set of people who know how to fix it. Similarly, distrust statements of the form, "Anyone who is/does/has X already knows about Y." I myself have been bitten by this assumption when I discovered a new subject for study (e.g. math, entity formation, physics, a new programming language, etc.), but found most of the web pages related to the subject assumed that all those interested in the subject were already fully knowledgeable about it.
- irq 15y ago
  Note that if you copy/paste the contents of the URL box, the pasted text includes http:// http:// or https:// https:// or whatever was relevant.
  - dave1010uk 15y ago
    I've had problems with this using the X buffer copy / paste on Ubuntu. It also makes copying just parts on the URL less intuitive. Personally I don't see the benefit of removing the "http:// http://. If this trend continues we may end up with something similar to AOL Keywords.
- thebigshane 15y ago
  I don't want to install FF7 to test this, but how can a user switch from a http to https version of a site? Can a user still type the URL prefix to override what is hidden?
allertonm 15y ago
Great. So now I have to be two versions behind if I need to use GWT hosted mode. (Grrr... yet more evidence of G's gradual sunsetting of GWT.)
- techdmn 15y ago
  I came here to see if anyone had anything to say about this. Hadn't heard rumblings about sunsetting GWT, but the conspiracy portion of my brain wondered if Google not trying too hard to keep the plugin up to date was a subtle push for GWT dev's to move to Chrome. :) Last I checked the plugin for FF6 can be found here: http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=https://dl.google.com/dl/gwt/plugins/firefox/1.0.10582/gwt-dev-plugin.xpi&usg=AFQjCNE1fEGhqK6BxLJNcYAlYMlPYN6Jhg http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=https://dl.google.com/d... More discussion here: http://groups.google.com/group/google-web-toolkit/browse_thread/thread/48d34a9fb54af7e6/bfc299c964a61172 http://groups.google.com/group/google-web-toolkit/browse_thr...
  - allertonm 15y ago
    Well, the main evidence for me can be found in the leaked "Dart/Dash" memo, where GWT is referenced a few times: "The JSPrime effort was begun to unify and be a (single!) successor to GWT and Closure/JSCompiler" "What is the future of the JSCompiler and GWT? JSCompiler and GWT were already on a merger path. This effort gives us a direction for that unification around the Dash language. We will actively support teams for a long time on the current generation of JSCompiler and GWT and provide fantastic co-existence and migration tools to Dash." See: http://markmail.org/message/uro3jtoitlmq6x7t http://markmail.org/message/uro3jtoitlmq6x7t (My emphasis added. I read that as "maintenance mode".) (Edit: thanks for the heads-up on the FF6 version of the plugin - but I guess I have now missed the two-week window where both FF6 and the compatible version of the plugin where available to download!)
    - DenisM 15y ago
      Whoa! I had no idea, thanks for sharing. This needs its own submission, so that more people can see it.
AshleysBrain 15y ago
Great! Love the new canvas renderer. Anyone know when they're planning to add generational GC or other improvements to the GC? It's making some HTML5 games choppy as far as I can tell.
- gcp 15y ago
  Smooth animation would require shorter GC pauses, i.e. incremental GC. https://wiki.mozilla.org/Platform/Features/Incremental_GC https://wiki.mozilla.org/Platform/Features/Incremental_GC The implementation seems to be in active progress, which means it's going to take at least a few more versions to make it to stable.
- azakai 15y ago
  Incremental GC is mostly done, so it might make it to trunk soon (so maybe in FF10 - 4 months from now). Generational GC and other improvements are also in the works but will take longer.
Maro 15y ago
I upgraded, but Fast Dial is broken on 7.0, so I downgraded to 6.0.2. Hopefully it'll get fixed soon.
beefman 15y ago
Still no 64-bit version? I can't find a clear page on the status of Mozilla's x64 stuff.
- ozten 15y ago
  Firefox reflects the general state of x64 adoption: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefox#64-bit_builds http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefox#64-bit_builds
code_duck 15y ago
Why would I go there to download a new version of Firefox? I went to 'About Firefox', it downloaded a 10 MB update, restarted, and here's Firefox 7.
- Lagged2Death 15y ago
  That's not working for me. Help->About offers an update, downloads it, installs it, then informs me that the update it's just installed (6.02) is old, and I should go to the website to download v7.
- Qz 15y ago
  Consider the case of not having Firefox already installed.
  - diminish 15y ago
    As a user of Firefox since 0.x versions, I am happy FF still keeps up with nice updates in 2011 and onwards.
- bbrizzi 15y ago
  I did this to check which version I was running. It started downloading FF7 automatically, I just had to hit 'Apply update'. Awesome.
  - AgentConundrum 15y ago
    It's awesome, but it's still not nearly as frictionless as Chrome. My understanding of Chromes upgrader - as a user who only occasionally uses the browser since firefox is still my main - is that the browser auto-upgrades the first time you load it after the new version comes out. Now, I thought this was how the new Firefox worked, but since I did it manually today even after rebooting once for a plugin issue (Netflix doesn't fullscreen properly after you load it a few times - apparently it's an issue with the firefox plug-in container and/or silverlight), now I'm not so sure. Either way, Chrome installs cleanly without the user even having to know it happened. Firefox, OTOH, causes the UAC in Win7 to halt everything for the upgrade. It's not as transparent as maybe it could be.
asymmetric 15y ago
why is the channels[1] page never up-to-date? the 'download beta' link still sends 7.0 - if they don't want to confuse people, they should try to be more consisten across their site (which is in general not very well thought-out in my opinion) [1]: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/channel/ http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/channel/
- mbrubeck 15y ago
  The Aurora and Beta channel updates are released a few days after the stable channel update. See the text on https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease/Calendar https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease/Calendar - or for even more details see http://blog.mozilla.com/channels/2011/05/11/merge-dates-vs-release-dates/ http://blog.mozilla.com/channels/2011/05/11/merge-dates-vs-r...
  - asymmetric 15y ago
    "Code is not always released to users on the same day as the branch migration. The release to users may be a few days later, to allow for manual testing and sign-off." I think this is confusing. Either you synch the switch (i.e. when you release the "release" version to users you release the "beta" too), or it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
itswindy 15y ago
I like this BUT addons need to catch up and for many it's impossible due to such frequent changes.
- AaronMT 15y ago
  99% of the add-ons that are hosted on http://addons.mozilla.org http://addons.mozilla.org are compatible and had been automatically updated to be compatible. Can you list which ones you use that are not?
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - itswindy 15y ago
    My most important one, roboform is coming as 'will be disabled.'
    - simcop2387 15y ago
      This may be because roboform proper isn't hosted on addons.mozilla.org, so they can't vouch for it or bump the version for you. The Roboform Lite that is on addons.mozilla.org is properly marked. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/roboform-online-password-manag/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/roboform-onli...
  - starwed 15y ago
    Earlier, I read a pretty interesting mozilla post about the problem with non-AMO addons. > it was quite eye-opening when I learned that only 25% of the 600 million add-ons in use every day in Firefox 4 and later are active on AMO. http://blog.fligtar.com/2011/09/26/add-on-compatibility-progress-plans/ http://blog.fligtar.com/2011/09/26/add-on-compatibility-prog...
artursapek 15y ago
Looking at the features, it looks like they're fashioning the UI after Chrome's. The reload/stop button and tabs on top are new, and what is an "Awesome Bar" but an omnibar?
- spwert 15y ago
  An omnibar that predates the omnibar.
dekz 15y ago
Anyone know a reason the auto updater goes from 5.0 -> 6.0.2 -> 7.0?
- mbrubeck 15y ago
  It looks like some of the old configurations on the update server have not been updated to reflect the latest release; some details at http://bugzil.la/689004 http://bugzil.la/689004
davemo 15y ago
If you're looking for an updated version of Firequery (http://firequery.binaryage.com/ http://firequery.binaryage.com/) I patched and submitted a pull request: https://github.com/davemo/firequery/tree/firefox7 https://github.com/davemo/firequery/tree/firefox7 Until it's officially accepted you can fork, build it with rake and have yourself a working copy for Firefox 7 :)
twodayslate 15y ago
I have been having terrible freeze issues with 6.x so hopefully this update fixes it.
- twodayslate 15y ago
  It is still happening with 7. I am using Vista with the following: http://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/hbqag/my_firefox_4_setup/ http://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/hbqag/my_firefox_4_... (I disabled Firebug)
- starwed 15y ago
  Just read this and thought of your comment... http://blog.bonardo.net/2011/09/30/is-your-firefor-freezing-at-regular-intervals http://blog.bonardo.net/2011/09/30/is-your-firefor-freezing-...
- asadotzler 15y ago
  what OS? what extensions do you have installed? I'm very interested in your freezes. can you say more?
  - xuhu 15y ago
    I've had these as well. Firefox 6 on win7-32, with latest Adblock-Plus, Firebug(usually disabled), Flashblock, Greasemonkey, Noscript(in allow-everything mode), Foxit plugin, latest Flash, no antivirus, no other media plugins.
    - starwed 15y ago
      Just read this and thought of your comment... http://blog.bonardo.net/2011/09/30/is-your-firefor-freezing-at-regular-intervals http://blog.bonardo.net/2011/09/30/is-your-firefor-freezing-...
      - twodayslate 15y ago
        That sounds like my bug. Hopefully this fixes it! Thanks!
pshirishreddy 15y ago
how many more builds are we going to see ? Isn't it more appropriate to release interim builds ? And FF you still hang on 64bit win7.

156 points by lforrest 15y ago

Desktop highlights: * Drastically improved memory handling for certain use cases * Added a new rendering backend to speed up Canvas operations on Windows systems * Bookmark and password changes now sync almost instantly when using Firefox Sync * The 'http:// http:// URL prefix is now hidden by default * Added support for text-overflow: ellipsis * Added support for the Web Timing specification * Enhanced support for MathML * The WebSocket protocol has been updated from version 7 to version 8 * Added an opt-in system for users to send performance data back to Mozilla to improve future versions of Firefox * Fixed several stability issues * Fixed several security issues http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2011/09/27/mozilla-firefox-significantly-reduces-memory-use-to-make-web-browsing-faster/ http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2011/09/27/mozilla-firefox-sign... -- Android highlights: * Android-style Copy & Paste * Ability to quit * Use Firefox in your language * WebSocket API http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2011/09/27/firefox-for-android-empowers-developers-to-build-seamless-web-experiences/ http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2011/09/27/firefox-for-android-... [Edit] Updated the list of highlights

jolan 15y ago
Here's the official release notes: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/7.0/releasenotes/ http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/7.0/releasenotes/
notatoad 15y ago
websocket protocol bump to v8? isn't v10 the one with the security issues fixed?
- gkoberger 15y ago
  Version 8 is the same thing as Draft 10, which is the latest draft. Yes, it's confusing.
jisaacstone 15y ago
Man I never knew about text-overflow: ellipsis. I'm gonna have to start using that.
jimktrains2 15y ago
>* The 'http:// http:// URL prefix is now hidden by default I hate that:( I hate that they removed the rss button too:(
- bbrizzi 15y ago
  As said in the other thread, you can change it back by going to about:confing and changing browser.urlbar.trimURLs to false.
- ck2 15y ago
  RSS urlbar icon https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/rss-icon/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/rss-icon/
  - starwed 15y ago
    That's weird -- the icon is still there, but not default, and it just takes about two clicks to restore it. So what's the purpose of the addon?
    - ck2 15y ago
      You mean the icon in customize? You cannot put that one inside the urlbar.
      - starwed 15y ago
        Aha, all is now clear. (I really liked the idea of the RSS button when they added it, but never actually ended up using it...)
- Dobbs 15y ago
  It is not in the url bar but you can right click on the toolbar select customize and then drag a rss button back onto the toolbar.

rednaught 15y ago

Nice to see Web Timing support make it into this catching up with Chrome and IE.

onedognight 15y ago

I thought the point of Mozilla's new release scheme was that we don't have to download anything anymore. The updates just come to us, as if by magic. https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Updating%20Firefox https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Updating%20Firefox

T-zex 15y ago
Go to Help > About Firefox and click Update. It should update automatically after some time anyway.
gcp 15y ago
They do. These posts are for those who've never installed it before. All 5 of them :-) Seriously, the release notes and changelog are what we're after.
CWuestefeld 15y ago
But extensions are still version dependent. I was just about to update my installation, but it told me that my Roboform extension isn't compatible with v7. If they allow the application to update when it wants, they're going to quickly render me unable to use Firefox, since I won't be able to log into secure web sites.
- mbrubeck 15y ago
  By the way, Roboform has been updated to support Firefox 7: http://www.roboform.com/support/news http://www.roboform.com/support/news
- WalterGR 15y ago
  I was just about to update my installation, but it told me that my Roboform extension isn't compatible with v7. How do you get to that information prior to the upgrade? I've only realized extensions were incompatible after updating, because Firefox disables them.
  - mbrubeck 15y ago

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

codecaine 15y ago

After Firefox 4 came out I had to install so many extensions to make it feel like 3.6 that it became unstable and incredibly slow. Because Firefox apparently tries to be more like Chrome I decided to switch to the original and I haven't looked back yet. I only fire up Firefox when Chromes built-in developer tools lack functionality compared to Firebug, which is rarely the case. The way Firefox decided to take makes me really sad, as I was a big Firefox supporter, until they screwed me over with the new UI. I hope this is not too off topic, but I never got the chance to comment on the changes.

lfx 15y ago
What fundamental new is for new UI comparing with 3.6? I use Firefox for some way, only for firebug mostly. I think its just evolution of person, now I use what is most serves my needs.
- codecaine 15y ago
  what bothers me most is that they made the whole top part (including title, menu bar etc if you choose to enable it) transparent. I personally just find that horrible. Screenshot: http://0.tqn.com/d/browsers/1/0/Z/c/-/-/firefox-5-show-menu-bar-1.png http://0.tqn.com/d/browsers/1/0/Z/c/-/-/firefox-5-show-menu-... Here is a screenshot comparing FF 3.5 to 4: http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/500x_firefox4.jpg http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2009/12/500x_firefox... (3.5 is right)
  - gcp 15y ago
    Arguably, having the menu visible is not the default setup, is it? The default fold-out "Firefox" menu simply doesn't have that issue and is not transparent. I agree it's a problem in Thunderbird, which has a menu by default. I think that if you try to tweak Firefox 4+ to look like 3.6 you're going to run into suboptimalities. It evolved. I think that if you get used to the changes, they're actually changes for the better (new menu giving more vertical room, tabs-on-top, etc).
    - 15y ago

Urgo 15y ago

* Drastically improved memory handling for certain use cases ^^ apparently not the use cases I use. FF7's been running for about 12 hours on my win7 box and is using over a gig of ram just like normal... It started off good but then just kept growing over the hours. Nothing really improved here. :(

gcp 15y ago
Be sure to enable this: * Added an opt-in system for users to send performance data back to Mozilla to improve future versions of Firefox Some of these issues are very hard to reproduce for the developers. If users like you turn it on, there's hope of actually getting it fixed.
nailer 15y ago
> FF7's been running for about 12 hours on my win7 box and is using over a gig of ram just like normal... Are you looking at resident set size (aka real memory), versus virtual set size (aka virtual memory)? The memory VMs in both Windows and Linux kernels will happily let an app malloc all they want until they hit the userspace address limit, with no affect on performance. It's only when those apps use the memory that there's a perf hit.
grimoire 15y ago
Is this memory that is needed for some other application you are running? Is your system running low on virtual memory? If not, what is the problem with FF using it? From what I've seen (at least with FF6), when system memory gets low FF will start to release memory back. I'd rather have FF use the memory for cache to speed up performance than to have it sit unused.
gkoberger 15y ago
What add-ons are you using? 95% of the time, problems with Firefox (speed, crashing, oddities) can be blamed on a slow add-on.
kinetik 15y ago
Open about:memory and see where the memory is going. And if you think the use is excessive, please file a bug including the about:memory data and any details you know that would aid in reproducing the problem.

gcp 15y ago

IMHO quite importantly, this version also includes a list of Microsoft fonts that don't render well with DirectWrite, and will switch back to GDI font rendering for those. On my machine, this fixes the "fuzzy fonts" issue that existed since Firefox 4 if you enabled hardware acceleration.

demetris 15y ago
Thanks for the information! I first noticed the improvement in Aurora and Nightly builds, and was wondering what they did to fix the problem. Here is some more information I just found for anyone interested: Main bug report: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=661471 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=661471 The two new preferences: gfx.font_rendering.cleartype_params.force_gdi_classic_for_families gfx.font_rendering.cleartype_params.force_gdi_classic_max_size And a post talking in detail about the issue: http://blog.mozilla.com/nattokirai/2011/08/11/directwrite-text-rendering-in-firefox-6/ http://blog.mozilla.com/nattokirai/2011/08/11/directwrite-te...

danso 15y ago

The designer sitting next to me is most excited about this: >* Added support for text-overflow: ellipsis

allertonm 15y ago
This one drove me nuts. Many developers were achieving the same result in firefox 3.6 and earlier using an XUL hack - but in FF4, the ability to do that XUL hack was removed for (valid) security reasons - but without addressing the text-overflow: ellipsis issue for which they'd had an open bug tracker entry for about 5 years. There were many complaints about this months before FF4 was released but they went ahead anyway.
notatoad 15y ago
i'm pretty excited about that one too. i was just cursing firefox last week for that.

StuffMaster 15y ago

>The 'http:// http:// URL prefix is now hidden by default This can be changed back with browser.urlbar.trimURLs in about:config. They should've provided an option for it.

sambe 15y ago
No, they really shouldn't. If you care, you already know about about:prefs.
- nitrogen 15y ago
  This is one example of a devastatingly common category of assumptions. Never assume that the set of people who care about something is the same as the set of people who know how to fix it. Similarly, distrust statements of the form, "Anyone who is/does/has X already knows about Y." I myself have been bitten by this assumption when I discovered a new subject for study (e.g. math, entity formation, physics, a new programming language, etc.), but found most of the web pages related to the subject assumed that all those interested in the subject were already fully knowledgeable about it.
irq 15y ago
Note that if you copy/paste the contents of the URL box, the pasted text includes http:// http:// or https:// https:// or whatever was relevant.
- dave1010uk 15y ago
  I've had problems with this using the X buffer copy / paste on Ubuntu. It also makes copying just parts on the URL less intuitive. Personally I don't see the benefit of removing the "http:// http://. If this trend continues we may end up with something similar to AOL Keywords.
thebigshane 15y ago
I don't want to install FF7 to test this, but how can a user switch from a http to https version of a site? Can a user still type the URL prefix to override what is hidden?

allertonm 15y ago

Great. So now I have to be two versions behind if I need to use GWT hosted mode. (Grrr... yet more evidence of G's gradual sunsetting of GWT.)

techdmn 15y ago
I came here to see if anyone had anything to say about this. Hadn't heard rumblings about sunsetting GWT, but the conspiracy portion of my brain wondered if Google not trying too hard to keep the plugin up to date was a subtle push for GWT dev's to move to Chrome. :) Last I checked the plugin for FF6 can be found here: http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=https://dl.google.com/dl/gwt/plugins/firefox/1.0.10582/gwt-dev-plugin.xpi&usg=AFQjCNE1fEGhqK6BxLJNcYAlYMlPYN6Jhg http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=https://dl.google.com/d... More discussion here: http://groups.google.com/group/google-web-toolkit/browse_thread/thread/48d34a9fb54af7e6/bfc299c964a61172 http://groups.google.com/group/google-web-toolkit/browse_thr...
- allertonm 15y ago
  Well, the main evidence for me can be found in the leaked "Dart/Dash" memo, where GWT is referenced a few times: "The JSPrime effort was begun to unify and be a (single!) successor to GWT and Closure/JSCompiler" "What is the future of the JSCompiler and GWT? JSCompiler and GWT were already on a merger path. This effort gives us a direction for that unification around the Dash language. We will actively support teams for a long time on the current generation of JSCompiler and GWT and provide fantastic co-existence and migration tools to Dash." See: http://markmail.org/message/uro3jtoitlmq6x7t http://markmail.org/message/uro3jtoitlmq6x7t (My emphasis added. I read that as "maintenance mode".) (Edit: thanks for the heads-up on the FF6 version of the plugin - but I guess I have now missed the two-week window where both FF6 and the compatible version of the plugin where available to download!)
  - DenisM 15y ago
    Whoa! I had no idea, thanks for sharing. This needs its own submission, so that more people can see it.

AshleysBrain 15y ago

Great! Love the new canvas renderer. Anyone know when they're planning to add generational GC or other improvements to the GC? It's making some HTML5 games choppy as far as I can tell.

gcp 15y ago
Smooth animation would require shorter GC pauses, i.e. incremental GC. https://wiki.mozilla.org/Platform/Features/Incremental_GC https://wiki.mozilla.org/Platform/Features/Incremental_GC The implementation seems to be in active progress, which means it's going to take at least a few more versions to make it to stable.
azakai 15y ago
Incremental GC is mostly done, so it might make it to trunk soon (so maybe in FF10 - 4 months from now). Generational GC and other improvements are also in the works but will take longer.

Maro 15y ago

I upgraded, but Fast Dial is broken on 7.0, so I downgraded to 6.0.2. Hopefully it'll get fixed soon.

beefman 15y ago

Still no 64-bit version? I can't find a clear page on the status of Mozilla's x64 stuff.

ozten 15y ago
Firefox reflects the general state of x64 adoption: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefox#64-bit_builds http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefox#64-bit_builds

code_duck 15y ago

Why would I go there to download a new version of Firefox? I went to 'About Firefox', it downloaded a 10 MB update, restarted, and here's Firefox 7.

Lagged2Death 15y ago
That's not working for me. Help->About offers an update, downloads it, installs it, then informs me that the update it's just installed (6.02) is old, and I should go to the website to download v7.
Qz 15y ago
Consider the case of not having Firefox already installed.
- diminish 15y ago
  As a user of Firefox since 0.x versions, I am happy FF still keeps up with nice updates in 2011 and onwards.
bbrizzi 15y ago
I did this to check which version I was running. It started downloading FF7 automatically, I just had to hit 'Apply update'. Awesome.
- AgentConundrum 15y ago
  It's awesome, but it's still not nearly as frictionless as Chrome. My understanding of Chromes upgrader - as a user who only occasionally uses the browser since firefox is still my main - is that the browser auto-upgrades the first time you load it after the new version comes out. Now, I thought this was how the new Firefox worked, but since I did it manually today even after rebooting once for a plugin issue (Netflix doesn't fullscreen properly after you load it a few times - apparently it's an issue with the firefox plug-in container and/or silverlight), now I'm not so sure. Either way, Chrome installs cleanly without the user even having to know it happened. Firefox, OTOH, causes the UAC in Win7 to halt everything for the upgrade. It's not as transparent as maybe it could be.

asymmetric 15y ago

why is the channels[1] page never up-to-date? the 'download beta' link still sends 7.0 - if they don't want to confuse people, they should try to be more consisten across their site (which is in general not very well thought-out in my opinion) [1]: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/channel/ http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/channel/

mbrubeck 15y ago
The Aurora and Beta channel updates are released a few days after the stable channel update. See the text on https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease/Calendar https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease/Calendar - or for even more details see http://blog.mozilla.com/channels/2011/05/11/merge-dates-vs-release-dates/ http://blog.mozilla.com/channels/2011/05/11/merge-dates-vs-r...
- asymmetric 15y ago
  "Code is not always released to users on the same day as the branch migration. The release to users may be a few days later, to allow for manual testing and sign-off." I think this is confusing. Either you synch the switch (i.e. when you release the "release" version to users you release the "beta" too), or it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

itswindy 15y ago

I like this BUT addons need to catch up and for many it's impossible due to such frequent changes.

AaronMT 15y ago
99% of the add-ons that are hosted on http://addons.mozilla.org http://addons.mozilla.org are compatible and had been automatically updated to be compatible. Can you list which ones you use that are not?
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- itswindy 15y ago
  My most important one, roboform is coming as 'will be disabled.'
  - simcop2387 15y ago
    This may be because roboform proper isn't hosted on addons.mozilla.org, so they can't vouch for it or bump the version for you. The Roboform Lite that is on addons.mozilla.org is properly marked. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/roboform-online-password-manag/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/roboform-onli...
- starwed 15y ago
  Earlier, I read a pretty interesting mozilla post about the problem with non-AMO addons. > it was quite eye-opening when I learned that only 25% of the 600 million add-ons in use every day in Firefox 4 and later are active on AMO. http://blog.fligtar.com/2011/09/26/add-on-compatibility-progress-plans/ http://blog.fligtar.com/2011/09/26/add-on-compatibility-prog...

artursapek 15y ago

Looking at the features, it looks like they're fashioning the UI after Chrome's. The reload/stop button and tabs on top are new, and what is an "Awesome Bar" but an omnibar?

spwert 15y ago
An omnibar that predates the omnibar.

dekz 15y ago

Anyone know a reason the auto updater goes from 5.0 -> 6.0.2 -> 7.0?

mbrubeck 15y ago
It looks like some of the old configurations on the update server have not been updated to reflect the latest release; some details at http://bugzil.la/689004 http://bugzil.la/689004

davemo 15y ago

If you're looking for an updated version of Firequery (http://firequery.binaryage.com/ http://firequery.binaryage.com/) I patched and submitted a pull request: https://github.com/davemo/firequery/tree/firefox7 https://github.com/davemo/firequery/tree/firefox7 Until it's officially accepted you can fork, build it with rake and have yourself a working copy for Firefox 7 :)

twodayslate 15y ago

I have been having terrible freeze issues with 6.x so hopefully this update fixes it.

twodayslate 15y ago
It is still happening with 7. I am using Vista with the following: http://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/hbqag/my_firefox_4_setup/ http://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/hbqag/my_firefox_4_... (I disabled Firebug)
starwed 15y ago
Just read this and thought of your comment... http://blog.bonardo.net/2011/09/30/is-your-firefor-freezing-at-regular-intervals http://blog.bonardo.net/2011/09/30/is-your-firefor-freezing-...
asadotzler 15y ago
what OS? what extensions do you have installed? I'm very interested in your freezes. can you say more?
- xuhu 15y ago
  I've had these as well. Firefox 6 on win7-32, with latest Adblock-Plus, Firebug(usually disabled), Flashblock, Greasemonkey, Noscript(in allow-everything mode), Foxit plugin, latest Flash, no antivirus, no other media plugins.
  - starwed 15y ago
    Just read this and thought of your comment... http://blog.bonardo.net/2011/09/30/is-your-firefor-freezing-at-regular-intervals http://blog.bonardo.net/2011/09/30/is-your-firefor-freezing-...
    - twodayslate 15y ago
      That sounds like my bug. Hopefully this fixes it! Thanks!

pshirishreddy 15y ago

how many more builds are we going to see ? Isn't it more appropriate to release interim builds ? And FF you still hang on 64bit win7.