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Firefox 2.0 Beta Set To Launch This Week
sci-tech-today.com ^ | July 11, 2006 9:20AM | Gwendolyn Mariano

Posted on 07/11/2006 10:52:00 AM PDT by martin_fierro

Firefox 2.0 Beta Set To Launch This Week

By Gwendolyn Mariano

July 11, 2006 9:20AM

Samir Bhavnani, director of research at Current Analysis, downplayed the new features in Firefox 2.0, saying users might not see a whole lot of difference between 2.0 and earlier versions of the browser. "A lot of changes are background changes, which are security in nature," he said.

Get ready for a new round in the ongoing fight among Internet browsers. Mozilla is set to release the first beta of Firefox 2.0, a highly anticipated follow-up to the increasingly popular browser that many say will steal the thunder from Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft's next-generation browser that is slated to be released later this summer.

Although Mozilla already has made a test version of the beta available for download by way of FTP, the company will not formally launch Firefox 2.0 Beta until later this week, "until all testing has been complete," said Alex Guerra, a spokesperson for Mozilla.

"Possibly Wednesday or Thursday," he noted.

Firefox Features

New features in Firefox 2.0 include improved performance, new tabbed browsing controls, an antiphishing tool, and an integrated spell checker.

Samir Bhavnani, director of research at Current Analysis, pointed out that although Firefox has been able to garner a lot of positive publicity, Microsoft's Internet Explorer still has "a lion's share" of the browser market.

Bhavnani downplayed the new features in Firefox 2.0, saying users might not see a whole lot of difference between 2.0 and earlier versions of the browser.

"A lot of changes are background changes, which are security in nature," he said.

Browser Share

In related news, Amsterdam-based OneStat, a company that monitors Internet statistics, released a report on Sunday revealing that Firefox has a total global usage share of 12.93 percent, a figure that increased by 1.14 points since May.

By way of comparison, the total global usage share of Internet Explorer is 83.05 percent, which represents a 2.21 percent decrease since May.

OneStat's report found that, in the U.S., the most popular browsers as of July are: Microsoft Internet Explorer at 79.78 percent, Firefox at 15.82 percent, Apple's Safari at 3.28 percent, Opera at 0.81 percent, and Netscape at 0.20 percent.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Computers/Internet; Hobbies
KEYWORDS: firefox
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To: bwteim

When some people get bored, they eat. Me? I go look at extensions. I really do use the ones I have, though. My son would tease me unmercifully if he saw how many I have.


41 posted on 07/11/2006 2:29:53 PM PDT by Clara Lou (A conservative is a liberal who has been mugged by reality. --I. Kristol)
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To: bwteim

yea i noticed that with snapper, in the preferences... im using snapper 1.3 with linux works fine. :)


42 posted on 07/11/2006 2:31:32 PM PDT by Echo Talon
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To: martin_fierro

bflr


43 posted on 07/11/2006 2:44:40 PM PDT by CFC__VRWC (AIDS, abortion, euthanasia - Don't liberals just kill ya?)
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To: Echo Talon

I rarely have crashes with Firefox...even with 20+tabs open. I can't remember the last time it caused me any trouble. Meanwhile, I can't even get IE to open a link in a new window without locking it up.

I have no idea what Firefox you run or what you're running it on, but mine has been a phenomenal improvement over IE in speed and reliability, on every platform I've used it on (XP, 2000, and ME--yes, even ME!). I won't ever go back to IE as my primary browser, and now, I only use IE when I am forced to by websites that are too dumb to consider that 10% of the market and adapt their sites to it.

I am curious about your crashing situation, seriously. Is there something program wise or hardware wise you've been running on that would make your system more volatile, at least in regards to Firefox?


44 posted on 07/11/2006 5:07:52 PM PDT by LibertarianInExile ('Is' and 'amnesty' both have clear, plain meanings. Are Billy Jeff, Pence, McQueeg & Bush related?)
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To: Echo Talon

"FF in windows VERY VERY RARELY CRASHES(but more than IE), it crashes in linux quite often(at least once during a 3 hour session) and I have tried MANY MANY different versions of linux with the same results...."

Sounds to me like your problem isn't with FF but with whatever Linux build you're running. I'll say again that I've had fewer problems with FF than I did with IE on any of my Windows machines, and leave it at that.


45 posted on 07/11/2006 5:10:49 PM PDT by LibertarianInExile ('Is' and 'amnesty' both have clear, plain meanings. Are Billy Jeff, Pence, McQueeg & Bush related?)
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To: LibertarianInExile
oh dont get me wrong, I like Firefox better then IE for functionality... the new IE with tabbed browsing is ok. FF on Windows is ok but i really dont think its as fast as IE, its nice and the features are great just dont think its as fast.
FF on linux crashes pretty frequently(the browser doesn't crash so much but when you open a new browser sometimes its funky) this has happened with a few different versions of linux.
46 posted on 07/11/2006 5:13:48 PM PDT by Echo Talon
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To: martin_fierro
"and an integrated spell checker."

Wewt!

47 posted on 07/11/2006 5:15:24 PM PDT by KoRn
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To: Echo Talon

Freaky--FF on my windows computer is WAAAAAY faster than IE.

I am at a complete loss as to why the makers of FF would not want it to be even BETTER with Linux than it is with Windows, but hey, if you say so. The only time I've ever had problems with FF was using a Linux-based disk to surf from the CD drive instead of the hard drive, and that was I think primarily because of slow drive speed and low RAM, not FF or Linux. But I don't have Linux experience yet. I'll take your word for it that it's glitchy with Linux and MS on your 'puter.


48 posted on 07/11/2006 5:33:19 PM PDT by LibertarianInExile ('Is' and 'amnesty' both have clear, plain meanings. Are Billy Jeff, Pence, McQueeg & Bush related?)
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To: martin_fierro

Netscape with two tenths of one percent of the browser market. Now that's why I call a total thrashing. Whatever happened to the cocky Mark Andresson anyhow?


49 posted on 07/11/2006 5:37:06 PM PDT by SamAdams76 (I think Randy Travis must be paying his bills on home computer by now)
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To: LibertarianInExile
FF, is better in windows than with linux IMHO.. its pretty much perfect in windows... every once in while in windows it will crash... hell i guess thats not bad for as much as i use it.. I dont really get that many *hard crashes* with FF in linux just strange behavior sometimes when FF starts in linux, like sometimes for some reason 2 firefox browsers will open instead of just one and the second one will just have an hour glass then it will just disappear after a minute or so... you know weird stuff like that... once FF in linux is up and running i rarely have a problem.. im using it right now on linux as a matter of fact. :D Mepis 6 RC2
50 posted on 07/11/2006 5:57:06 PM PDT by Echo Talon
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To: martin_fierro; bwteim; Clara Lou; Echo Talon
I'm suprised none of you mentioned Xinha Here!

It makes posting well-formatted posts on FR a breeze.

51 posted on 07/11/2006 8:52:51 PM PDT by zeugma (I reject your reality and substitute my own in its place.)
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To: zeugma

Kewl -- trying it out now.


52 posted on 07/11/2006 9:02:44 PM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: zeugma
oh wow
53 posted on 07/11/2006 11:19:27 PM PDT by Echo Talon
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To: zeugma

I'll check it out later, thanks for the tip.


54 posted on 07/12/2006 6:21:30 AM PDT by bwteim (Stop in at the FReepathon --- Loosen your Wallet --- Not All of the Best Things in Life are Free)
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