Firefox 2.0
Category: Tech...
Posted Tuesday, October 24, 2006 at 04:49 PM [GMT-6]

I just downloaded and installed Firefox 2.0 and I like it. This is how all software should be designed.

The first Good Thing it did immediately after installation was to check my suite of installed extensions to see if they were still compatible with the new version. Most of them weren't; the installer gave me the option of immediately checking to see if updated versions were available and if so, downloading and installing them. I was pleased to see that all the most important extensions had already been updated to work with 2.0, including the indispensable Web Developer.

The most immediately recognizable improvements in Firefox are the improved tab controls (including a close button for each individual tab) and an automatic real-time spellchecker (which doesn't like the way I spelled "spellchecker," so I added the word to the dictionary and it no longer nags me). Watch for a rash of posts as bloggers continue to point out "interesting" omissions or quirks in Firefox's spellcheck capabilities. That's just the way we are.

I understand that Firefox now includes a "phish detector" (gee...I figured "phish" would now be in the spellchecker's dictionary [told you]) to warn you when you jump to a potentially fraudulent website, but I haven't yet seen that feature in action. Let me know if the Gazette sets off any alarms on your version, although I doubt that Firefox is set up to detect bloggers with delusions of competence.

I also noted that websites that crashed my old version of Firefox (I was still running 1.0.7) work just fine with 2.0.

Overall, it appears that the good folks at Mozilla have built an incrementally improved version of what was already the best browser on the market.

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Yep, I'm also happy with it. Almost all of my extensions work, and the ones that don't, I can live without for a few days. The new slick graphical look is nice too.

Posted by: Stephen Shores at October 24, 2006 05:05 PM

I'll only use the spell checker if it has a option to change the language. We spell things differently over here and when I spell with an American spell checker - I muck up how we spell it hehe.

Posted by: Rachel at October 24, 2006 06:02 PM

I'll be upgrading on my Windows PC at work tomorrow. Didn't get a chance to do it today.

And, I'll try it on the Mac at home tonight. I've been partial to Safari for the Mac-ness of the UI, but I'm willing to give FF another go. The plugins may well outweigh the prettiness factor.

Posted by: Brian at October 24, 2006 06:07 PM

Rachel, I noticed that you can download an "English - British" version of the browser, which I assume gives you permission to spell words like "organisation" and "specialīsed." ;-) [I had to misspell that to get around my spam filter.]

Brian, I'm all about the functionality...I didn't even noticed the "slick graphical look" Stephen mentioned!

Posted by: Eric at October 24, 2006 06:15 PM

Just installed and using it now. It's purrrty. (heh. I misspelled "purrrty".) (and "heh"!)

We'll leave Safari in the dock for a while and see how this FF2 feels...

Posted by: Brian at October 24, 2006 07:45 PM

Hmmm, my Firefox normally upgrades itself. I'll have to check that tonight to verify.

Posted by: jen at October 25, 2006 08:43 AM

Jen, I'm just guessing at this but I suspect that the automatic upgrade feature of Firefox might not apply to major new releases (those with new numbers on the left side of the decimal point). Those kinds of releases could have different system requirements than the version you currently have running, and an automatic update that proved to be unusable on your machine would be disastrous. Updates within the same version number don't normally have new system requirements.

And if it doesn't work that way...it should. ;-)

Posted by: Eric at October 25, 2006 09:04 AM

One of the few virii i ever got in my career at (big oil) I got this week by downloading Firefox. Somehow it tried to load some Flash thing, and Bingo Bongo Bango, I got the GOBRena virus. Crashed my MS office so bad I had to format and re-install the entire HD. Watach out, be sure your virus check is up to date on Windows.

Posted by: John C at October 26, 2006 08:39 PM

John, you jumped the gun and went to one of those preliminary non-Mozilla download sites that a buddy emailed to you, didn't you? Go ahead, it's OK to admit it. ;-)

That's why the good folks at Moz warn us not to get impatient and to wait on their official mirror sites to provide the new releases.

Of course, if you didn't do it the way I described, well, then, never mind.

Posted by: Eric at October 26, 2006 08:44 PM

Web Developer may just be the greatest browser plugin ever.

Posted by: Nat at October 28, 2006 12:19 PM

It certainly gets my vote. And it just keeps getting better.

Posted by: Eric at October 28, 2006 01:11 PM
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