Firefox trade up?
February 14, 2006 8:45 PM Subscribe
Should I upgrade to Firefox 1.5?
Im toying with the idea of upgrading to Firefox 1.5. What benifits would I gain from this. And also What issues are there? I use a lot of extensions and I dont want to upgrade if I cant use all of them. Thanks in advance.....
Im toying with the idea of upgrading to Firefox 1.5. What benifits would I gain from this. And also What issues are there? I use a lot of extensions and I dont want to upgrade if I cant use all of them. Thanks in advance.....
Bookmarks synchronizer and All Music Guide corrector don't work with 1.5. I don't know about other extensions which don't work with it.
Also Firefox 1.5 has this annoying habit of having the alert on successful download steal focus, which means that if you're typing in the location bar or a submission box, well, suddenly you're not. Which can get very annoying very quickly if you're downloading a lot of things while typing.
posted by Tuwa at 9:05 PM on February 14, 2006
Also Firefox 1.5 has this annoying habit of having the alert on successful download steal focus, which means that if you're typing in the location bar or a submission box, well, suddenly you're not. Which can get very annoying very quickly if you're downloading a lot of things while typing.
posted by Tuwa at 9:05 PM on February 14, 2006
I've never seen the successful download alert steal focus (1.5.0.1/Win32). Is this another platform? How about setting browser.download.manager.showAlertOnComplete to false for now in about:config?
posted by kcm at 9:07 PM on February 14, 2006
posted by kcm at 9:07 PM on February 14, 2006
Response by poster: So you think most extensions will have been updated by now? Exellent. They fixed the memory leak too? Lovely!
Does any one elso know any extensions thT DONT work with Firefox 1.5??
posted by gergtreble at 9:13 PM on February 14, 2006
Does any one elso know any extensions thT DONT work with Firefox 1.5??
posted by gergtreble at 9:13 PM on February 14, 2006
Response by poster: Also...
WTF is "Bumping the Maxversion"?
I apologise but I dont speak computereese.
posted by gergtreble at 9:16 PM on February 14, 2006
WTF is "Bumping the Maxversion"?
I apologise but I dont speak computereese.
posted by gergtreble at 9:16 PM on February 14, 2006
Look at the Extension Manager, visit each extension's website, see if it's compatible. Some, like having draggable tabs in MiniT, are rolled into 1.5+, so you may not need them.
posted by kcm at 9:18 PM on February 14, 2006
posted by kcm at 9:18 PM on February 14, 2006
WTF is "Bumping the Maxversion"?
Firefox won't permit the installation of an extension whose "MaxVersion" setting is less than the version number of Firefox in which it's being installed (even though the extension may otherwise be compatible). There are workarounds that involve opening the archive file that is the extension package and increasing (i.e. bumping) the MaxVersion setting then rearchiving and installing. It isn't difficult but it isn't just a couple of mouse clicks either. There are also extensions that will force the install of extensions whose MaxVersions are too low (MR Tech's Local Install does this. There are others.)
However, I'd recommend staying away from extensions that aren't explicitly compatible unless you know that a lot of people have had success using it in 1.5
posted by TimeFactor at 9:35 PM on February 14, 2006
Firefox won't permit the installation of an extension whose "MaxVersion" setting is less than the version number of Firefox in which it's being installed (even though the extension may otherwise be compatible). There are workarounds that involve opening the archive file that is the extension package and increasing (i.e. bumping) the MaxVersion setting then rearchiving and installing. It isn't difficult but it isn't just a couple of mouse clicks either. There are also extensions that will force the install of extensions whose MaxVersions are too low (MR Tech's Local Install does this. There are others.)
However, I'd recommend staying away from extensions that aren't explicitly compatible unless you know that a lot of people have had success using it in 1.5
posted by TimeFactor at 9:35 PM on February 14, 2006
kcm, thanks, but it didn't work. It didn't show the alert but it still bumped me out of this box I was typing in. win2000, for whatever that's worth.
Poking around mozilla.org a bit shows there's a bug report on it already, with no one working on it (?). ... Maybe something else in about:config can solve this.
Aside from the steal-focus thing, I like FF 1.5. I notice, though, that it's still what I'd call a memory hog--I currently have 8 tabs open and it's using 77MB. Fortunately it's not causing any performance issues, but on computers with less RAM it might.
posted by Tuwa at 9:40 PM on February 14, 2006
Poking around mozilla.org a bit shows there's a bug report on it already, with no one working on it (?). ... Maybe something else in about:config can solve this.
Aside from the steal-focus thing, I like FF 1.5. I notice, though, that it's still what I'd call a memory hog--I currently have 8 tabs open and it's using 77MB. Fortunately it's not causing any performance issues, but on computers with less RAM it might.
posted by Tuwa at 9:40 PM on February 14, 2006
Try this for the memory "leak" still in 1.5. I set it to 5 (I have 1GB RAM) and it seemed to help a bit.
posted by kcm at 9:42 PM on February 14, 2006
posted by kcm at 9:42 PM on February 14, 2006
All Music Guide corrector
you don't need this if you use MP3.com, which has the same content (and is nicer-looking).
posted by kirkaracha at 10:14 PM on February 14, 2006
Tuwa writes "Aside from the steal-focus thing, I like FF 1.5. I notice, though, that it's still what I'd call a memory hog--I currently have 8 tabs open and it's using 77MB. Fortunately it's not causing any performance issues, but on computers with less RAM it might."
An article on Slashdot yesterday explains why this happens and gives the settings to override it.
posted by orthogonality at 11:59 PM on February 14, 2006
An article on Slashdot yesterday explains why this happens and gives the settings to override it.
posted by orthogonality at 11:59 PM on February 14, 2006
Aardvark, EditCSS and Fangs Screenreader Emulator are all incompatible with Firefox 1.5.1 in WinXP Pro.
posted by ceri richard at 12:29 AM on February 15, 2006
posted by ceri richard at 12:29 AM on February 15, 2006
Nightly tester tools is an easy way to force compatibility, and has worked fine for the couple of extension I've needed to use it on.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:48 AM on February 15, 2006
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:48 AM on February 15, 2006
I second the vote for the Nightly test tools. Spellbound stopped working with FF 1.5.0.1 but I was easily able to re-install it using that tool and it works fine.
The big thing that I love about 1.5 is the tab management. You can move tabs around by dropping and dragging.
posted by octothorpe at 5:02 AM on February 15, 2006
The big thing that I love about 1.5 is the tab management. You can move tabs around by dropping and dragging.
posted by octothorpe at 5:02 AM on February 15, 2006
You can use the Download Statusbar extension instead of the normal firefox downloads window, and it shouldn't steal focus (unless I'm misunderstanding what you're talking about).
The Magpie extension still does not work with 1.5, even if you force the version.
For instructions on "forcing the maxversion," see here, down below the list of extensions that I use (yes, it's my little-used blog). If you look at the extension page for a specific extension that hasn't yet been upgraded for 1.5, you can usually tell from the comments whether or not this trick will work.
Overall the upgrade to 1.5 has been very nice, with a few nice new features now built in.
posted by Who_Am_I at 5:07 AM on February 15, 2006
The Magpie extension still does not work with 1.5, even if you force the version.
For instructions on "forcing the maxversion," see here, down below the list of extensions that I use (yes, it's my little-used blog). If you look at the extension page for a specific extension that hasn't yet been upgraded for 1.5, you can usually tell from the comments whether or not this trick will work.
Overall the upgrade to 1.5 has been very nice, with a few nice new features now built in.
posted by Who_Am_I at 5:07 AM on February 15, 2006
Download Manager Tweak doesn't work with 1.5.0.1 under WinXP Pro, but could probably be made to work by "bumpin' the maxversion," as mentioned above.
posted by ding3r at 6:48 AM on February 15, 2006
posted by ding3r at 6:48 AM on February 15, 2006
Aardvark, EditCSS and Fangs Screenreader Emulator are all incompatible with Firefox 1.5.1 in WinXP Pro.
posted by ceri richard at 3:29 AM EST on February 15 [!]
EditCSS works beautifully in my copy of of Firefox 1.5.1 in WinXP Pro, even though it said it wouldn't.
posted by juiceCake at 7:06 AM on February 15, 2006
posted by ceri richard at 3:29 AM EST on February 15 [!]
EditCSS works beautifully in my copy of of Firefox 1.5.1 in WinXP Pro, even though it said it wouldn't.
posted by juiceCake at 7:06 AM on February 15, 2006
And I'm wrong, I'm confusing Web Developer with EditCSS. Apologies.
posted by juiceCake at 7:08 AM on February 15, 2006
posted by juiceCake at 7:08 AM on February 15, 2006
If I can derail a little bit, I have 1.5.0.1, but when I try to update my extensions nothing happens. The extension screen will show that there are updates, but when I click on install, nothing happens (although if I try and close Firefox it will ask if I want to cancel my downloads). I have checked my settings to make sure that websites can install software, but I don't know what else to do.
posted by bove at 8:52 AM on February 15, 2006
posted by bove at 8:52 AM on February 15, 2006
I've bumped the maxversion on Download Manager Tweak and Super DragAndGo, and both work just fine in 1.5.0.1
posted by rxrfrx at 9:50 AM on February 15, 2006
posted by rxrfrx at 9:50 AM on February 15, 2006
Aardvark has been updated for 1.5.0.1.. Thanks Tubes, I've read that but still can't get it to work (and damn I miss it!). Will have another try tonight.
posted by ceri richard at 11:52 AM on February 15, 2006
posted by ceri richard at 11:52 AM on February 15, 2006
Nightly Tester Tools saved me from worrying. Most things don't work because they contain the wrong version number, not because they physically won't work with FF 1.5.
posted by caution live frogs at 1:39 PM on February 15, 2006
posted by caution live frogs at 1:39 PM on February 15, 2006
I can confirm that if you use download statusbar you will not lose focus on FF 1.501.
By the way bove, it's possible that if you click the update button 2x it your extensions will update. Try it.
posted by sic at 2:39 PM on February 15, 2006
By the way bove, it's possible that if you click the update button 2x it your extensions will update. Try it.
posted by sic at 2:39 PM on February 15, 2006
sic: I tried your tip and it still didn't work. Now when I try to exit Firefox, it just tells me that I will be cancelling more downloads. (Although no matter how long I wait, they never seem to actually download).
posted by bove at 2:42 PM on February 15, 2006
posted by bove at 2:42 PM on February 15, 2006
There's also a good altruistic reason to use Firefox 1.5: to encourage the progress of the internet. Deer Park supports SVG, and some new CSS stuff, so if you want to help solve the chicken-or-the-egg problem of the adoption of new (better) standards for the web (and if you want to support open standards), its helpful to let site owners see that their users are using the latest software.
posted by gsteff at 9:55 PM on February 15, 2006
posted by gsteff at 9:55 PM on February 15, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
Here, see for yourself.
You can even use an optimized build from vector64.com.
posted by kcm at 8:57 PM on February 14, 2006