Rob Gonda's Blog - Browsers

Firefox 3 launch a success: 8 million downloads in 24 hours

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:01:00 -0400

The first 24 hours are over, but the downloads continue to pour in. At press time, the official counter shows that the current rate is approximately 5,500 downloads per minute, and the total number of downloads is roughly 8.8 million. [ars technica]

Firefox 3 now available

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:19:00 -0400

After more than 18 months of development and a slew of releases (including five alphas, five betas and three Release Candidates), the wait for Mozilla's Firefox 3 is over.

The Firefox 3 release aims to improve the Web experience for the browser's 170 million users while expanding market share even further, coming as it does months ahead of the next major release from Microsoft, Internet Explorer 8 (IE). Tons of tabbing, bookmarking, memory, security, and well, 15,000 improvements...

Mozilla conducted an application-specific test that compared relative performance on Google's Gmail service. Beltzner said Firefox 3 proved to be four times faster than Firefox 2 and seven times quicker than IE 7.

Memory usage also improved substantially in Firefox 3. Many users had complained about Firefox 2's memory-hogging tendencies, especially when multiple tabs remained open throughout the course of a day.

With today's release, Mozilla isn't just aiming to change its browser. It's also aiming to enter the Guinness Book of Records. Mozzilla is aiming for 5 million downloads, though there is some controversy here as the Adobe Flash Player has exceeded 10 million daily downloads in many occasions.

Firebug Security Update

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 10:29:00 -0400

If you're a web developer, you should use Firefox. If you use Firefox, you should use Firebug. If you use Firebug, you should install the latest security update. You can read more at the official site, or simply update your plugins through the Firefox interface.

Web Developer 1.1 for Firefox

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 23:23:00 -0400

Web Developer, ironically, it's probably one my favorite Firefox extensions... it's up there right next to Firebug. They released a new version (1.1), which contains tons of nice features... one that I've been wanting for a while is collapsable JavaScript files view. Here's a list of the new features with this release.

Add a status icon that indicates whether there are CSS errors on the page
Add close buttons to all the extension toolbars
Add support for displaying the compressed and uncompressed file sizes in 'View Document Size'
Add support for entering the ruler dimensions for the 'Display Ruler' feature
Add support for explaining why certain features are unavailable
Add support for saving the viewport resizing option
Add support for the 'ping' attribute to 'Display Link Details'
Add support for using multiple Web Developer sidebars at the same time
Add the features
- Disable Proxy
- Disable Strict JavaScript Warnings
- Display Abbreviations
- Display Page Magnifier
- Display Page Validation
- Outline Images With Oversized Dimensions
- Outline Links With Ping Attributes
- Outline Table Captions
- Validate Local Accessibility
Change the JavaScript status icon when JavaScript is disabled
Improve the 'Edit CSS' feature
- Add Mozilla/Seamonkey support
- Add search functionality
Improve the 'Edit HTML' feature
- Add Mozilla/Seamonkey support
- Add search functionality
Improve the 'View Cookie Information' feature
- Add support for deleting cookies
- Add support for editing cookies
Improve the 'View Style Information' feature
- Add support for syntax highlighting
- Allow the path to the highlighted element to be copied
Improve the design of the output of the features
Tons of Bug Fixes.

Firefox 2 new features

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0400

For those of you wondering what improved on Firefox 2, you can check out this link for complete details. They mentioned Improved Tabbed Browsing, Spell Checking, Search Suggestions, Session Restore, Web Feeds (RSS), Live Titles, Integrated Search, Live Bookmarks, Pop-up Blocker, Streamlined Interface, Accessibility, Phishing Protection, Open Source, More Secure, Automated Update, Protection from Spyware, Clear Private Data, An Add-on for Everyone, Add-ons Manager for Extensions and Themes, and Search Engine Manager.

So btw, I was wrong on my last post where I mentioned Tab Mix Plus does not work with FF2; it doesn't indeed, but all the functionality is now part of the core distribution, including session management.

Firefox 2.0 leaked thanks to digg

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 21:00:00 -0400

As I blogged the other day, Firefox was supposed to release the 2.0 version tomorrow, however thanks to digg thousands of users downloaded it today.

I installed it as well and nothing much changes; they added a few features previously provided by extensions, which by the way are called add-on now. A few extensions do not work, such as Fasterfox, LiveHttpHeaders, Tab Mix Plus, Roboform, just to name a few. Thus if you're a developer that depends on those, do not upgrade yet. Web Developer, Firebug, and a few dozens that I have installed work perfectly.

IE7 Official Extensions Site

Sun, 22 Oct 2006 11:04:00 -0400

If you downloaded IE7, you would notice similarities with Firefox... Tabbed browsing, anti-phishing security, and you can even install extensions. I don't expect them to be as successful as FF's, mainly because FF is open source. Nevertheless, there are many useful addons which could make IE a much nicer browser to use.

Firefox 2.0 coming your way on Tuesday

Sun, 22 Oct 2006 10:34:00 -0400

The world's second most used Web browser is set to unleash the final build of its new version on Tuesday. Firefox 2.0, from the not for profit open source Mozilla Foundation, will be available for download from the Firefox website at getfirefox.com.

The user interface has not changes much from Firefox 1.5. There have been some improvements with the tabs feature, such as enabling users to close and reopen individual tabs more easily and a history list of previous tabs that have been opened, all of which we already had with the Tab Mix Plus extension. Mozilla also improved the anti-phishing security feature of Firefox 2.0, which warns users in advance when they look like they might be visiting a malicious web page. IE7, released last week, also has a similar feature.

IE7 Released

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 00:10:00 -0400

If you have not been playing with an early release to test your sites, it's go time. IE 7 has been released and you can download it here. There are major changes in CSS rendering, added support for PNG's alpha layers, native XMLHttpRequest for your Ajax sites, tab browsing -- finally -- and more. IE7 will be distributes as a Windows Update, so propagation should be rather fast.

Update: more information @ ie7.com

Smaller URLs made easy

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 09:33:00 -0400

I just found out about wapurl, a service that allows to take a long URL and convert it into a very short one using their API. WapURL is trying to target the mobile world, making a good point about sending long URL's through SMS.

Their service is nothing new, I know; TinyURL has been doing this for the longest time... TinyURL provides a way to integrate with IE, but since I'm a Firefox user it's no good :)

WapURL provides a Firefox extension that allows to simply right click in any page and select their API from the context menu ... and voila, a tiny url is provided on the fly. I am not really sure how much will I use this, but it is handy for sending mapped addresses, or anything with an obnoxiously long query string.

10 Must have Firefox extensions

Mon, 02 Jan 2006 01:25:00 -0400

Firefox is a great browser, and even better, when it comes to plug-ins or extensions. I use countless extensions in a day-to-day basis, so I'll mention the ones that I like the most for development, or personal use. Please comment and recommend others, because I'm sure that there are many out there that are great and I'm missing out.

Live HTTP Headers (sniff http traffic, great for AJAX)
I use this extension every single day, it monitors every single http packet and it's extremely easy to use. I can see banner calls, JavaScript loading, Ajax calls, you name it. It is not as complete as Ethereal, but it's much simpler and therefore more useful for an everyday basis.
http://livehttpheaders.mozdev.org/

Web Developer (most tools web developers need)
The name is self-explanatory, it has every single utility that a web developer needs. Web Developer just released version 1.0, after a full year of development. I will not even name everything because it does a lot. The functions I use everyday are viewing CSS, JavaScript, and response headers, but again, there will be something in there for you; I guaranty it.
http://chrispederick.com/work/webdeveloper/

RoboForm (fill up forms, save passwords)
I use this to store my unlimited passwords for hundreds of sites I use. It is also extremely useful when you're developing forms and need to test out data… or even if you're just browsing and this one site requires you to fill up a bunch of unnecessary fields, just click one button and RoboForm will do it for you. It also has a built-in password generator that I use sometimes, and protected notepads… I only wish there was a way to synchronize my profile at home and at work.
http://www.roboform.com/

FasterFox (improve performance)
FasterFox is awesome. It allows you to customize network performance, although I just set it to max and leave it alone. The other reason that I love this extension is completely unrelated: you can right click the task icon and clear your cache. Although this sounds silly, I found that Firefox always caches your SWFs and there is no other way to refresh than clearing your cache. If you're a Flash Developer, or have to deal with some, this fact alone is worth installing it.
http://fasterfox.mozdev.org/

Console2 (better JavaScript / CSS Console)
Firefox 1.5 modified a little the JavaScript console, yes, now it's the JavaScript / CSS console, and keeps throwing errors that you do not really need to see. It may be useful for someone, but it is a pain for me. Console2 made a good job by allowing you to filter your errors and only display the ones relevant to you.
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=318102

Sage (nice RSS reader)
I am now actually using SharpReader, but until not too long ago, Sage was one of the best and easiest to use RSS readers that I could find. It is already built-in my browser, so I don't have to open any other software, and I really like the way it displays my feeds.
http://sage.mozdev.org/

Customize Google
It adds a bunch of little features, such as the Google suggest, which is working great… I don't know why it's still on Beta. It also adds direct links to Google Images, and remove banners from your gmail.
http://www.customizegoogle.com/

foXpose (Mac-like page split)
I barely use this, but I still think it's great. This extension adds a little icon to the bottom-left corner of your browser, and allows you to see all your tabs simultaneously in a Mac-style view.
http://viamatic.com/firefox/

Session Saver (save current tabs, cookies)
So if you're a web developer, saving your cookies may be a bad idea… but this extension doesn't force you to do it, it allows you to. What I like the most of this, is that if FF ever crashes, or say Windows crashes, you can open FF and all your tabs will still be there.
http://adblock.ethereal.net/alchemy.cgi/SessionSaver

Page Saver (save image of full length web page)
If you need to send screen shots, print-screen will only save the viewable area, and saving to a pdf may not include all the elements of the page… this extension allows you to save exactly what you see to a PNG. When you install it, it is set to save 25% of the viewable resolution by default, which I found crappy. I recommend changing it to 100%, and if you need to scale it down you always can.
http://pearlcrescent.com/products/pagesaver/

browsers anecdote

Fri, 23 Dec 2005 23:01:00 -0400

How can you tell if a site is being viewed mostly by a developers' community? While the normal site has 90%+ I.E. visitors, my site has the following stats:

Google Desktop: 10.8% Views; 39.7% Visits
Firefox: 46.1% Views; 20.9% Visits
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x: Views 27.3%; 9.6% visits

Which means that most of the people added my RSS feed to their Google Desktop that pulls my feed infinite times a day … followed by the typical developer that uses Firefox, and last but not least, the business man that is searching for Web 2.0 and AJAX information that uses I.E.

It is amazing how stats change drastically from one site to another… I have other sites where I.E. is 97%, and some others that are viewed mostly by Ad Agencies where Safari reaches almost 40%.

That is exactly why you need to QA for every single browser out there!

I'm a proud user of FireFox 1.5

Tue, 29 Nov 2005 21:46:00 -0400

I’m a proud user of FireFox 1.5

Firefox 1.5 came out today, and I didn’t think it twice before upgrading. I use plenty of extensions and most of the ones I had worked.

Two of the ones didn’t work are: Roboform, and Live HTTP headers.

I downloaded the latest Roboform extension from http://www.roboform.com/browsers.html and it got it working immediately.

Live HTTP headers is a must and I use it everyday. I also found the latest extension at http://livehttpheaders.mozdev.org/ but site is acting extremely slow and I haven't been able to download it.

Firefox 1.0.6 + Roboform = true

Thu, 28 Jul 2005 12:47:00 -0400

So there’s this huge ticket regarding the Firefox+Roboform problem. Seems like it’s not Firefox, but the roboform adaptor that actually uses some features it shouldn’t be using that were discontinued in version 1.0.5 for security reasons. Anyways, I just downloaded 1.0.6 and of course it broke. But! I upgraded the adaptor and it works. I just can’t live w/o by Roboform.

Firefox 1.0.5 + roboform = NULL

Wed, 13 Jul 2005 20:59:00 -0400

For those who use firefox and roboform, do not upgrade to the latest version (1.0.5) because it will immedialy crash. I just had to installed 1.0.4 back.