Firefox 4 has a slicker look and tab bar is at the top by default. Some new features are Firefox settings synchronization, tabs organizer, and new add-on manager that opens in tab.

A major improvement in Firefox 4 Beta is the huge performance enhancements (few times better than Firefox 3.x).

Refer to the chart below:

I downloaded the Firefox 4 beta 10 for Mac OS X version. In order to test Firefox 4 beta in production, I have set Firefox as my default browser (I was using Google Chrome as default web browser).

In my test, loading Facebook.com is about 1 second faster than Google Chrome. The memory usage is well kept under 300MB, while Google Chrome is a memory monster!

In a nutshell, I like Firefox 4 and I will try it for a longer time to see if Firefox will return to be my permanent default browser or not.

Have you installed Firefox 4? What do you like/dislike about it?

Download Firefox 4 Beta Now. It is FAST! is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

Happy 6th birthday, Firefox! Firefox 1.0 was released at November 9, 2004. Firefox has been downloaded over 1 billion times (2009) in the past years!

Many people have switched to Firefox from Internet Explorer because the latter sucks. I was one of the hundred millions Firefox user till… this year. I have switched to Google Chrome web browser this year because it is lighter and faster than Firefox.

Anyhow, I appreciate the great browsing experience given by Firefox. I might try Firefox 4 when the final version is released.

Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome? Please take a second to vote the poll below.

“Happy 6th Birthday, Firefox!”, from a Google Chrome Switcher is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

Tip: Click here to scan for Windows Registry Errors and Optimize PC performance

Mozilla Firefox 3.6 final has been released. Why should you install update?

1. Fastest Firefox (20% faster than Firefox 3.5). Faster startup time. Better JavaScript performance e.g. load Facebook faster!
2. Get your Firefox in your language (available in more than 70 languages).
3. Support for new Personas theme which allows you to change Firefox theme instantly.
4. Automatic protects you from out-of-date plugins
5. Can display video in full screen
6. Support for HTML5 (watch Firefox HTML5 videos here, no Flash player needed)
7. Fewer crashes caused by 3rd party software
8. You are using Firefox!

Click here to download the latest Firefox.

8 Reasons Why You Should Update to Firefox 3.6 is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

Mozilla Firefox 3.6 Release Candidate (RC1) is now available for download.

Firefox 3.6 is build on the Gecko 1.9.2 platform (3.5 uses Gecko 1.9.1) with the following new features:

• Users can change the browser’s appearance with a single click using Personas.
• Firefox 3.6 alerts users about out of date plugins to keep them safe.
• Changes to how third-party software integrates with Firefox to increase stability.
• Improved automatic form fill provides better options from your form history.
• Open, native video can now be displayed full screen, and supports poster frames.
• Support for the WOFF font format.
• Improved JavaScript performance, overall browser responsiveness and startup time.
• The ability to run scripts asynchronously to speed up page load times.
• Support for the HTML5 File API
• Support for new CSS, DOM and HTML5 web technologies.

I installed Firefox 3.6 RC1 and “feel” (no serious testing done) that it is much faster than Firefox 3.5.7. The loading speed of Facebook homepage, which use A LOT of Javascript, is improved quite significant.

All the Firefox add-ons that I am using (20+ of them) are either support or compatible with Firefox 3.6 RC1. Great!

Have you installed Firefox 3.6 RC1 yet? Download it here.

Download Firefox 3.6 RC1 is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

This is certainly not a good news for Mozilla.

According to Cenzic, Firefox accounted for 44 percent of all browser vulnerabilities reported in the first half of 2009. In contrast, Apple’s Safari had 35 percent of all reported browser vulnerability, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer was third at 15 percent and Opera had just six percent share.

Does it make Firefox a dangerous web browser?

The Firefox plug-ins are one of the main reasons of the vulnerabilities. Mozilla launched a plug-in checker in Oct 2009 to address the problem.

Ironically, while Firefox has the most vulnerabilities, Cenzic themselves use Mozilla technology within its own solutions.

[via InternetNews.com]

Tip: Install NoScript addon to make your Firefox safer.

5 Year Old Mozilla Firefox Tops Vulnerability List is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

The front of the tee features Firefox 3.5 tag cloud; back features Firefox logo and wordmark. The price is USD$ 19.15, exclude shipping.

The shipping fee for single shirt to Malaysia is USD$ 14.55 (registered mail). That’s expensive. Threadless only ask for USD$9 for shipping.

I would need to pay more than RM120 to get a Firefox 3.5 t-shirt…

Any Malaysian wants to buy the Firefox 3.5 tee? Maybe we can do a bulk order.

P.S. 24 millions (and counting) copies of Firefox 3.5 has been downloaded since released.

Firefox 3.5 T-shirt, anyone? is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

According to Mozilla, Firefox 3.5 is based on the Gecko 1.9.1 rendering platform, which has been under development for the past years. Firefox 3.5 offers many changes over the previous version, supporting new web technologies, improving performance and ease of use.

What’s new in Firefox 3.5 for ?

Super Speed — believe it or not, Firefox 3.5 is 2 times faster than the previous version Firefox 3. 10 times faster than Firefox 2!

Private browsing — now you can surf porn privately with Firefox 3.5 new private browsing feature. When it is enabled, you won’t leave a single browsing fingerprint behind for others to discover.

Location-Aware browsing — when you visit a location-aware supported website, Firefox can tell the website about your location, with your permission, so you can find more relevant and more useful information.

Play audio and video without plugin — Firefox 3.5 now support HTML5

Get Firefox

Click here to download free Firefox 3.5. Or click here for Firefox in 70 different languages.

My two cents

I am amazed by the speed of Firefox 3.5, even though I have been using Firefox 3.5 beta and RC versions before the final version. It is so much faster, but not the fastest.

ZDNet did a web browser speed benchmark and showed that Firefox 3.5 is still slower (but close) than Google Chrome and Safari 4.

Speed is not everything. Remember, Firefox has over 6,000 add-ons to make your web surfing experiences better.

I tried to test the location-aware feature but it did not work for me. Anyone got it working on a desktop computer?

The buildt-n support of embedded video is cool. The Ogg video has better quality than H.264 (video format used by YouTube). The problem now is how many websites use the open video/audio format? Not till YouTube make a switch or it as an alternative, I think.

What do you think about Firefox 3.5? Is it your default web browser now?

Update: Firefox 3.5 gets the best score in UA Profiler test. (hat tip: Gen Kanai)

Download Firefox 3.5, the fastest ever Firefox web browser is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

According to my account’s order information, the item has been dispatched on the next day of order (June 18th, 2008). But I received no news of my order until today.

I contacted the related parties, Mozilla Foundation and Merchandize Mania by emails but did not receive any reply!

The Mozilla Store contact page‘s title is “Customer First” and stated that:

At the Mozilla Store the customer always comes first. It is our goal to make your shopping experience easy and pleasant.

Now I have a very unpleasant experience! I love Mozilla Firefox but I will not shopping at Mozilla Store anymore!

By the way, congrats to Mozilla Firefox’s 4th birthday!

Lost of Mozilla Store Order is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

Some of the new features in Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 are:

• Web standards improvements in Gecko layout engine
• Added support for CSS 2.1 and CSS 3 properties
• A new tab-switching shortcut that shows previews of the tab you’re switching to
• Improved control over the Smart Location Bar using special characters to restrict your search
• Support for new web technologies such as the <video> and <audio> elements, the W3C Geolocation API, JavaScript query selectors, web worker threads, SVG transforms and offline applications.

My two cents

I installed Firfox 3.1 beta 1 when it was just released. It works well and no serious problem so far. I don’t feel any noticeable speed improvement. The tab switch preview is nice but I don’t really need that feature. I read my tab by its page title.

If your Firefox addons do not work, you can install Nightly Tester Tools to override all compatibility. It works well for all my installed Firefox 3 addons.

More Information:

• “Firefox For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))” (Blake Ross) listing at Amazon.com
• “Firefox Hacks: Tips & Tools for Next-Generation Web Browsing (Hacks)” (Nigel McFarlane) listing at Amazon.com

Download Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

A month after Firefox 3 beta 1, Mozilla has released Firefox 3 beta 2 and available for download here.

What’s new about Beta 2?

Compared to Beta 1, the Firefox 3 Beta 2 has improved location bar that makea the search result easier to be identified. The results for the location bar are shown in 2 lines: page title and web address, in different colors. The matched keyword is bolded and underlined.

Image: Firefox 3 location bar search

You also notice that the Go button at location bar is hidden until you enter a website address in the location bar.

Firefox 3 beta 2 also has a better search panel that allows you search for history, tags, and bookmarks. You can add as many search rules as you like, and save the search as a dynamic folder, much like Thunderbird’s email search.

For more details, check out Firefox 3 beta 2 review.

Firefox Add-ons on Firefox 3 beta 2

Previously, I complained about the Firefox add-on compatibility on Firefox 3 beta 1. It has been improved on Beta 2. Many popular Firefox add-ons added support to Firefox 3.

For incompatible add-ons, I use Nightly Tester Tool to force them work with Firefox 3 and they work!

Now, I can stick with Firefox 3 beta, instead of switching back to Firefox 2.

Bonus: IE8 is coming!

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer development team has reached a milestone where IE8 renders the “Acid2 Face” correctly. Acid2 tests web browser with different web standards to see if it rendered correctly. IE8 will be the Microsoft’s most web standard compliant web browser.

P.S. I tested Firefox 3 beta 2 on Acid2, and it does NOT render correctly…

IE8, Firefox3, Microsoft, Mozilla

Firefox 3 beta 2 Download Available! is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.