Firefox 4 Beta 1 Now Available for Download

[Supertrek32]

Get rid of the ugly orange button! Follow this link to make it MUCH prettier.
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/07/06/remove-stuck-firefox-4-orange-menu-button-css/

You can also add the following to the same file to make the bookmark bar much more friendly (more space between links).
[citation][nom]Code[/nom]
#personal-bookmarks toolbarbutton {
padding: 0px 6px 0px 6px !important;
}[/citation]

 

[twoplanker]

Opera 10.60 is a very good. I like this browser war. Can't wait to see Firefox 4.0 as a final. My two favorite browsers

 

[shin0bi272]

I initially liked the look of the new interface... one button to rule them all... then I tried to minimize the window. Fail! Cant close minimize or maximize quickly means the new interface is a waste of time. Plus go to add ons manager and check the themes... mine says "default 4.01b Incompatible with firefox 4.01b" PHAIL!!

 

[anamaniac]

You can set the tab bar to below the address bar (that feature was on the nightlies a week or two ago).

 

[eddieroolz]

Been using this for two days now; it's quite stable and functional for a beta. Shame only Adblock and Noscript works though.

 

[JOSHSKORN]

You forgot the Firefox girl. 🙁 I guess you wanted me to read the article for a change.

 

[Tamz_msc]

Tested it using SunSpider and compared it with Chrome 6 DEV.Chrome is 1.87 times faster than FF 4 beta 1 which is in turn 1.37 times faster than FF 3.6.6.It does start up way faster than 3.6.6 which is the browser that I currently use.

 

[dEAne]

My firefox is sluggish, Would you mine showing the firefox chick again - Please.

 

[mitch074]

@most whiners: if, for any reason, your Firefox version crashes heavily, you should consider cleaning it up a little:
- backup your bookmarks
- backup your certificates
- backup your recorded passwords
- delete your Firefox profile (uninstalling Firefox isn't needed)
- restore your data.
That will make most generated settings in about:config to be reset to sane values, clean up your caches and histories, force latest plugin versions to install without their past cruft etc.

In my case, with the same profile running since the Firefox 1.5 days, it solved all crash problems; plugin protection now actually works.

Since the process is named in a 'good' way, if I see that plugins spiral out of control, I can kill the process and Firefox stays up and running.

Not mentioned because it's not yet enabled by default (due to a couple blocker bugs and incomplete Layer patch), is complete hardware acceleration on Direct2D (like future IE 9) - which puts Chrome to shame (what's the use of having a fast JS engine if the best the browser can draw is a couple refreshes a second?).

Another feature planned (might land for 4.0, if not, on the next release) is Electrolysis: like other browsers, separate processes for tabs (+1 for plugins) and chrome.

 

[nukemaster]

Could I lose my bookmarks if I instruct my Mac to replace Firefox 3.6 with Firefox 4 ?

Click bookmarks then organize bookmarks. from there you click import and backup and make a backup copy of those. then if it does erase them, you can just re import them.

 

[Bolbi]

[citation][nom]mitch074[/nom]Not mentioned because it's not yet enabled by default (due to a couple blocker bugs and incomplete Layer patch), is complete hardware acceleration on Direct2D (like future IE 9) - which puts Chrome to shame (what's the use of having a fast JS engine if the best the browser can draw is a couple refreshes a second?).Another feature planned (might land for 4.0, if not, on the next release) is Electrolysis: like other browsers, separate processes for tabs (+1 for plugins) and chrome.[/citation]
You're right on target. I manually enabled Direct2D and DirectWrite through about:config, and the browser really screams (especially on my desktop w/Radeon HD 5670; not so much on my integrated Radeon HD 4200 laptop). Another not-yet-enabled feature is WebGL support, OpenGL-based 3D acceleration within the browser. Again, you can use about:config to enable this feature. It worked perfectly with all the demos I tested on this page.

 

[triplebug]

benchmark pls

 

[TunaSoda]

Death to tabs!!!

 

[xco]

i love da fox

 

[jimkiler]

will this beta work with HTML 5 websites that sites like youtube are testing?

 

[gm0n3y]

I'm looking forward to the improved startup times. The current agonizingly slow startup and the memory problems are the reason I switched mostly to Chrome. Of course now that I'm used to Chrome's speed, FF had better improve that too.

 

[Niva]

Well... I actually like the new look/layout. I will wait until it's out though to try it.

Frankly I'm also really interested in IE9, from what I understand based on benchmarking right now IE9 and FF4 are tied in terms of performance. Either Microsoft did something right with their browser (finally) or FF took 5 steps back.

Still since I use linux mostly these days I'd like to keep my browser consistent between platforms so FF is probably going to continue to be it.

 

[WyomingKnott]

[citation][nom]atdhe[/nom]OMG, a firefox article without the firefox chick? WTF!?!?[/citation]
In this case, WTF stands for "Where's the fox?"

 

[Guest]

I like Firefox, but I love Chromium (Chrome's brother; Chrome doesn't have a package for Arch Linux) for its sheer speed. But Firefox has a lot of cool add-ons and features.

 

[jacobdrj]

Chrome does feel a lot less heavy than Firefox, but Chrome still has serious rendering problems vs Firefox, so Firefox has a place on my hard drive, despite recent instability during the last point release.

FF needs to works on streamlining and optimizing the code. I am happy with FF's features as it was pre-3.5. My only problem is its stability and speed. If FF can get even CLOSE to Chrome's speed and stability, while maintaining FF's superior rendering engine and add-on library, they will be tough to beat.

 

[Guest]

if it works more bloated, I don't want it!

I want a fast, and compatible browser, not a bloated color page full of gadgets.

 

[asiaprime]

[citation][nom]flightmare[/nom]A dev said it will be possible to use the old fashioned interface.[/citation]
I hope so. I always recommend it to people as an IE killer, especially for older folks. with newer browsers being drastically different, it's hard for older folks to adapt to the minimalistic interface.

 

[twoplanker]

Firefox 4b1 is nice and in real world browsing rather descent. On peacekeeper Opera 10.60 is 48% faster than Firefox. I'm liking the new browser wars