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Topic: Browser

New features headed for Firefox 5 ... but do we need them?

Summary: A whole raft of new features are headed to Firefox 5 ... but are they features that hardcore Firefox users actually want?

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

By for Hardware 2.0 |

A whole raft of new features are headed to Firefox 5 ... but are they features that hardcore Firefox users actually want?

ConceivablyTech has an extensive rundown of the new features.

  • Tab multi-select
  • A new tab page
  • Add-ons will get standardized toolbar support
  • File upload indicator
  • Home button will be replaced with a Home app tab
  • In-browser preview for files such as PDF or MP3
  • Taskbar web apps
  • Identity manager
  • Easy access to social media accounts for services such as Facebook and Twitter

Now, I know that some people will love having new features to play with and explore. But others will claim that Mozilla are baking too much bloatware into the browser and moving too far away from the core principals of speed, security and simplicity (I'm still hearing about terrible memory leaks in Firefox ...). In particular, I can see features such as built-in PDF/MP3 support and baking in support for commercial sites such as Facebook and Twitter being especially controversial.

What do you think? Are you a believer in 'more the merrier' or do you think that Mozilla should concentrate on the basics?

Topic: Browser

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66 comments
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  • RE: New features headed for Firefox 5 ... but do we need them?

    whatever...
    oldtechdudze
    Reply Vote

    • They'd better fix the existing problems first

      ... before adding new features. 4.0 is faster but still sux when it comes to reliability. Running Firefox reminds me of the old days of running Windows XP w/o service packs: At first it's fast, then it gets slower, slower and eventually unbearable with each new tab or flash video. You check it in the taskmgr only to see FireFox is eating 1G memory while it's plugin program doing 2G. You have no choice but to restart the browser to restore its speed.
      LBiege
      Reply Vote

      • RE: New features headed for Firefox 5 ... but do we need them?

        @LBiege <br><br>With all due respect, I would think it's an "end user" problem. I've had none of the issues you're alluding to. In my experience, when people complain about Firefox, it's the plugins they're using that tend to be the culprit. Unfortunately these same users don't know how to discriminate genuine Firefox issues and the plugins they use. My 2 cents...

        Note: I'm not a fanboy of any browser. I have all the major browsers installed on my system. Hell, IE9 is actually decent, the first browser from MS worth using in a decade. Particularly on slower systems where its use of GPU acceleration is quite noticeable in terms of making the experience snappier.
        betelgeuse68
        Reply Vote

      • RE: New features headed for Firefox 5 ... but do we need them?

        @LBiege That is exactlly why I stopped using Chrome.
        anto31
        Reply Vote

      • RE: New features headed for Firefox 5 ... but do we need them?

        I'm running FF4 and I've had no issues with it. In fact I had more problems with 3.5.x and 3.6.x than I have had so far with 4.0.x <br><br>It really is a matter of plugins and how you use the browser itself. Most of the plugins I use are devoted to SLIMMING DOWN what the browser has to render. I block advertisements, I use NoScript to clamp down on unnecessary 3rd party scripts and elements and I keep my experience trim by not bloating the browser with unneeded addons. The problem lies in the end user allowing programs they install on their computer to add toolbars and unnecessarily integrate with Firefox. I HATE IT WHEN PROGRAMS DO THAT! I'm careful though. I don't let programs install that extra crap that inevitably slows browsers down, and leaks data about you.

        I have 18 tabs open on FF4 now, and it's running on ~700MB of RAM. You can't expect the internet of today to run on ~200-300MB of RAM, it's much too rich in content. Half of people's problem with Firefox is that they expect unrealistic things from it.
        ZazieLavender
        Reply Vote

      • RE: New features headed for Firefox 5 ... but do we need them?

        @LBiege That's why I stopped using Chrome.It has the same problem,but worse.
        anto31
        Reply Vote

      • RE: New features headed for Firefox 5 ... but do we need them?

        @LBiege Not hardly. I have 10 tabs open at the moment, and am only using 225-229 megs. at that rate, I would have to have like 45-50 tabs open to use 1 gig of ram. 2 plug-in containers using a total of 82 megs. You got some screwy numbers there.
        A. Noid
        Reply Vote

      • RE: New features headed for Firefox 5 ... but do we need them?

        @LBiege agree - my FF4 on Win7 (2Gb RAM) does the same, runs slower and slower and slower as the day progresses...

        @betelgeuse68 plugins are not the cause of the problem - the only plug-in that I run is the Google Toolbar...
        zdnet@...
        Reply Vote

      • RE: New features headed for Firefox 5 ... but do we need them?

        @ betelgeuse68: You can only blame extensions so much. You can bloat out Chrome with extensions too, they don't prevent it from loading quickly or being slick though.

        Firefox is a bloated resource hog. When people say "I've had none of those problems" or "it's always worked for me", they talking nonsense. It's just people have grown to not spot them or put up with it.
        bradavon
        Reply Vote

      • RE: New features headed for Firefox 5 ... but do we need them?

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        Karston1234
        Reply Vote

      • RE: New features headed for Firefox 5 ... but do we need them?

        New products have more and more features but I don't believe that all are necesary to us. And they are eating a lot of resources too. http://www.handyortungkostenlos.eu/Prepaid-Handy-Orten | http://www.handyortungkostenlos.eu/Handyortung-gratis
        Ibiossa
        Reply Vote

      • RE: New features headed for Firefox 5 ... but do we need them?

        Your very right. That's my opinion too. Reliability sucks. I have alot of speed problems which they did not solve for the moment. So back to work for them. http://www.handyortungkostenlos.eu/Handyortung-gratis | http://www.handyortungkostenlos.eu/Kostenlos-Handy-orten
        Ibiossa
        Reply Vote

    • RE: New features headed for Firefox 5 ... but do we need them?

      It still sucks. always has always will.
      rparker009
      Reply Vote

    • RE: New features headed for Firefox 5 ... but do we need them?

      @oldtechdudze

      I can understand Mac users wanting a browser if they're stuck with Safari, but they can always use Chrome as well. Windows users have no need for FF especially with IE9 available.

      I'm afraid FF will be joining Netscape very soon.
      tonymcs@...
      Reply Vote

      • RE: New features headed for Firefox 5 ... but do we need them?

        @tonymcs@... lol, thats why FF4 TRIPLED IE9's download rate in the 1st 24 hours, and even more so after a few days. Wake up.
        A. Noid
        Reply Vote

    • RE: New features headed for Firefox 5 ... but do we need them?

      You check it in the taskmgr only to see FireFox is eating 1G memory while it's plugin program doing 2G. You have no choice but to restart the browser to restore its speed. <a href="http://www.degreediscussion.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7922&p=59701">Woodfield High School</a> | <a href="http://www.articlezones.com/society/education/woodfield-university-changes-in-prior-learning-sector.html">Woodfield University</a>
      alanhawk
      Reply Vote

  • Boring

    That hardly makes up a whole new "Version 5" ... Maybe 4.1
    Yensi717
    Reply Vote

    • But that is how Chrome all of sudden grew to v10

      @Yensi717: Mozilla is just slower with such marketing/PR.
      DDERSSS
      Reply Vote

  • RE: New features headed for Firefox 5 ... but do we need them?

    @Gill Bates I say 3.x was compleate thru but 2.0 was good if leaky as hell on ram.
    dragonstar125
    Reply Vote

  • RE: New features headed for Firefox 5 ... but do we need them?

    @Gill Bates
    I agree. I don't want FF to become the new Netscape with integrated "everything". I use FF as a basic browser. I just want a fast, stable browser.
    Restricted_access
    Reply Vote
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