Firefox 2.0 Out!
Firefox 2.0 has been released by the good folks at the Mozilla Foundation. The update is definitely worthwhile in most senses, as the updated theme is far more polished than the previous one and the various security modifications are definitely good additions to this already excellent browser.
If you use Firefox then I definitely recommend updating to Firefox 2.0. However, if you truly want an excellent upgrading experience then you should rename (or backup via any a number of ways and then delete) your existing Firefox installation and profile directory and then install a completely fresh copy of Firefox 2.0. Upon completion, reinstall any extensions you need and copy your old prefs.js in to your newly created Firefox profile directory.
This method ensures that Firefox 2.0 does not have any odd remnants from the previous version and is just good practice when performing an upgrade to a completely new version like this.
Grab Firefox while supplies last.
New 2.0 installed here!! :)
I wouldn’t call this release anything fantastic but it just means that a lot of the top extensions have now had their features incorporated into the main program core. This means a faster Firefox for us without losing any functionality - Superb!
Last night I gave Firefox 2 a shot. My first impressions in the 15 minutes I was using it are incredibly mixed — I’m back on 1.5 for the moment.
The inline spellcheck and feed handling are superb. My main gripe about 1.5 was that it didn’t easily allowed you to add your feeds to software other than Firefox. The new setup does a splendid job. Unfortunately, Thunderbird doesn’t seem to know what to do with it.
I also liked to see that they included the session manager in Firefox 2. While I don’t like it more than the one included in Tab Mix Plus, it’s nice seeing how a community’s work can end up in the product. Finally, I liked the way they redid the search bar, to a certain extent.
Which brings me to the bad and the reasons for my frustrations last night ultimately resulting in a reinstall of 1.5. First, I have a menu setup I wished to keep in Firefox 2. While the new look of the searchbar is nice, its behaviour is incredibly annoying. It has become flexible, meaning it will take up the space between the New Tab Button and the right side of the screen. So, if I wanted to have my search bar be around the same size of what it was, I’d need to insert 20 spacers. Flexible space won’t work, I’m afraid.
However, I can live with that. Do it once, never look back. The main thing I seriously dislike is the new theme. It’s a matter of taste whether it’s better than the one in 1.5. I seriously dislike the icon design to a point I’d call it bad.
Adding the shine to the new icons results in a much less distinguished definition of the different shapes in the icon (downloads and new tab being the better examples). They end up looking vague, blurry or whatever. I haven’t actually tried small icons, but I can’t imagine they’re any better. On top of that, the icon for Content in the Options menu is dark on its own, but when the tab is selected, it seemingly becomes even darker.
Finally, where on earth did they leave the option to disable automatic image resizing?! Yes, yes, I know I can do this through
about:config, but am I the only one that disables that functionality the first time I start the browser? There’s absolutely no reason to remove this.I think I’ll sit here and wait for my extensions to be compatible and give it another shot in a couple of days from now.
I’m using it now. Me likes. Now I just have to wait for my two favourite themes (Smoke and Breeze…though I lean more toward the former, generally) to be updated for 2.0 and I’ll be a happy Shelly.
It took me ages to get things working the way I liked them again. Having the default keyword search use “I’m Feeling Lucky” again, and moving the close tab button to a single button on the far right, were the most annoying. Plus, my favourite theme isn’t supported… and the guy isn’t going to support it any time soon.
Sadness.
Jeroen: I feel your pain. Although I have installed FF2 there are various nuances that I was quite displeased with and ultimately had to fix with tried and true “about:config” method. Like you, I also immediately disable image resizing because I fail to understand its true benefits. Why it was removed from the advanced configuration options is simply beyond me.
I do not use an abundance of extensions though the ones that I do use are all FF2 compatible already. Mainly Greasemonkey, Google Browser Sync, Fission, Flashgot, Video Downloader and a couple semi-insignificant other extensions all seem to be quite functional in FF2 thus far.
Like you, I am really displeased with the theme. It is horrible. I ended up installing a theme called “Saturated,” which is basically the new FF2 theme but with more saturation on the images, so that they are less shiny and easier to see. Grab it from here if it suits your fancy: http://davidnaylor.org/blog/2006/10/new-firefox-theme-saturated.html
I will probably do a more thorough review later in the week, time permitting of course.
Scott, ah, yes, the Saturated team looks better. Still, it doesn’t solve the vagueness of the icons. I’ll install it if I can be bothered to give it another try any time soon :-)
I still don’t really understand why people don’t like the theme for FF2. I think it’s great. The only thing that I’m not really happy about is the disappearance of the image resizing option as I’m sure this was the first think that I and many others change when installing FIrefox.