October 24, 2006 2:10 PM PDT
With Firefox 2, Mozilla touts security and speed
Last modified: October 24, 2006 2:26 PM PDT
Firefox 2 was made available for free download at 2:15 p.m. PDT. Mozilla has set up two download sites for the udpate, which it said it has optimized for the expected high volume of traffic, at Getfirefox.com and Mozilla.com/firefox. (Firefox 2 is also available for free via CNET Download.com.)
"The key focus in Firefox 2 is making sure that what we are focusing on is tightness and efficiency--with the ability of turning that browser into exactly what one needs, focusing on security, stability and speed," said Mike Beltzner, who Mozilla describes as its "phenomenologist."
The revamped Firefox includes a new interface theme and more security protection such as built-in phishing protection. It also has session memory, which, when the browser is re-opened, brings back the set of Web pages that were in use when it was last closed. Changes have also been made in the technology to import RSS feeds, which now offers a feed list view with title and first lines. (Click here for the CNET Review.)
Mozilla unleashes Firefox 2
The camp in favor of having a "close" button on each tab has won over the majority who argued against them, Beltzner said. Previously, there was one "close" button at the right of the bar. Clicking on this closed only the one last viewed--but it could be difficult to work out which one this was.
"Google did usability studies with eye-tracking tools and determined that people actually look to the tab first, and it would take longer to determine if they had the right tab and were ready to close it," Beltzner said. "NASA Ames recently did cognitive modeling for us on tabs. Not only was the 'close' button on a tab quicker, but people would be more accurate. They also gave us good data on how wide tabs had to be before people clicked on the wrong one."
The NASA results also convinced Mozilla developers that people will inevitably close the wrong tab at some point, no matter what. That led to the creation of an "undo close tab" feature. "It will reopen the tab you just closed, and if you had written anything into a form on the site with that Web tab, it will restore that info as well," Beltzner said.
The new theme for the Firefox 2 interface has a cleaner look, resembling Opera 9, with similar Web feed features, rounded buttons and more opalescence.
The Firefox 2 launch comes just days after Microsoft released Internet Explorer 7, the first update to its browser in almost five years.
"We see the release of IE7 as a great thing. It was in maintenance mode for several years. Our browser and others made people think that the Web browser could do something more for them, and that spurred on new (developments and interest in Web browsers)," Beltzner said.
Unlike IE7, Mozilla's Firefox 2 is available for Windows, Mac and Linux machines.
Early buzz
Buzz surrounding rumors of early access to the final version of Firefox 2 via an FTP to a Mozilla directory link went round the Internet on Monday and Tuesday, as fans and bloggers hoped to get an early look at the free software.
Mozilla earlier asked people not to attempt to download the update from a direct file link, saying that it would not guarantee "that any set of files currently found within its Web site or elsewhere will be the final release."
Mozilla asked that users be kind to the people who donated servers for the launch and wait until the release Tuesday afternoon.
"No, we have. Not. Released. Firefox. 2. Yet," Paul Reid posted on his Mozilla blog on Monday evening and pointed to a list of problems with obtaining an FTP link copy of Firefox 2.
"Digg and Reddit posts linking to direct FTP mirrors could be costing the operators of those mirrors hundreds to thousands of dollars in bandwidth bills, or may cause them to crash by linking directly to them," Reid wrote. "This could cause them to 'un-volunteer' their services as a mirror, making it even harder to obtain Firefox on release days."
"We are asking this as a favor. We are very flattered that people are so excited about Firefox 2, but we don't want to crash machines," Beltzner said.
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www.FirefoxMyths.com
If I want a browser that is flexible, uses themes and extensions, I would use Firefox.
If I want to just quickly show someone a webpage, I use IE.
When I'm on a mac, I use Safari.
It really doesn't matter which browser you use, they all connect to the same internet and if you're happy with the performance of your browser, why switch? Keep your browser and enjoy.
- Firefox 2.0 feels faster than 1.5 and is noticeably faster than IE 6.
- Firefox 1.5 had some holes in its pop-up blocking which have been fixed in 2.0.
- Image blocking worked like a charm in Firefox 1.5 and works even better in 2.0.
- The upgrade process was quick and seamless (as expected).
- It's very nice to see the developers focusing on performance, privacy and security. As a user that's exactly what I want. <rant>What kind of lunatic thinks it's a good idea to integrate a web browser into the OS? That's an approach that's practically guaranteed to lead to security issues. And I want to keep the Internet in my browser, I do not want it spilling over into my desktop environment.</rant>
- And hey! There's a built-in spell checker in Firefox 2.0 text fields. Note my typo-free post.
Compared to IE7, Firefox 2.0 has a clunky, old fashioned, interface.
Lots of other reasons too...
I'm not sure who CNET is supposedly biased against when they seem to believe all the new generation of browsers have serious issues and they aren't all that pleased by any of them.
I used to think that CNET was MS biased, but Apple is one of their largest advertiser (just check out all those Mac video ads), so I'm not sure on that count.
Is it possible they are actually trying to be indifferent and unbiased instead? Treating everyone the same way?
Curious.
http://cognitivelabs.com/firefox_promo_game.htm
http://cognitivelabs.com/firefox_promo_game.htm
- Its Time, Dr Schmidt
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by Sumatra-Bosch
October 28, 2006 6:32 PM PDT
- Make FF the default browser for Google.
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Reply to this comment
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See all 45 Comments >>Break the searches that come in on IE.
Direct users to download Firefox and instruct them that searches through IE will no longer be supported.
Do it, Dr Schmidt, do it now!
Hand magilla his Dresden and light your first cigar of the morning on an empire in flames.