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Firefox 17

1saintly1saintly Posts: 4,197
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in PC & Mac Hardware and Software #1
Check out "What’s New" and "Known Issues" for this version of Firefox.

http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/17.0/releasenotes/

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTIzMjM

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    googlekinggoogleking Posts: 15,006
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    #2
    Tab Mix Plus, one of the most popular add-ons, doesn't work properly with FF17

    And the TMP developers aren't planning to do much about it until next January.

    There's a "fix" involving installing the developer build of TMP, but in my opinion that's not a wise fix, expecting "ordinary" users to start going off release tracks and installing dev builds.

    The death knell for this browser I think; the model of the too-frequent updates to the core browser and then the popular add-ons getting unpredictably locked out, for months rather than days, is just unworkable for ordinary users and especially corporates with strict version control going on in their desktop platforms.
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    jayzee786jayzee786 Posts: 918
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    #3
    I used to be a die hard user of FF but ever since version four and the constant updates every few weeks and add ons breaking I've changed to chrome and haven't looked back. Shame it used to be a awesome web browser.
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    barky99barky99 Posts: 3,921
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    #4
    jayzee786 wrote: »
    I used to be a die hard user of FF but ever since version four and the constant updates every few weeks and add ons breaking I've changed to chrome and haven't looked back. Shame it used to be a awesome web browser.
    there's a compatibility addon to prevent most of the other addons misbehaving ... chrome seems to auto-update just as often as firefox .... don't use the standard versions of either myself --- use Dragon in place of google chrome & IceDragon instead of firefox
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    omnidirectionalomnidirectional Posts: 18,822
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    #5
    jayzee786 wrote: »
    I used to be a die hard user of FF but ever since version four and the constant updates every few weeks and add ons breaking I've changed to chrome and haven't looked back. Shame it used to be a awesome web browser.

    I used Firefox right from the start when it was known as Firebird, but also started to loose faith in it from version 4 onwards and eventually switched to Chrome.

    I believe Firefox now updates silently in the background like Chrome, rather than asking to download updates every few weeks so that's one annoyance sorted.
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    googlekinggoogleking Posts: 15,006
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    #6
    omnidirectional wrote: »
    I believe Firefox now updates silently in the background like Chrome, rather than asking to download updates every few weeks so that's one annoyance sorted.

    Not when it does it and causes your favourite addons to be disabled! Epic fail.
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    barky99barky99 Posts: 3,921
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    #7
    just disable the compatibility check and this hurdle vanishes unless some addons you use are ancient or no longer developed
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    TadpoleTadpole Posts: 1,646
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    #8
    jayzee786 wrote: »
    I used to be a die hard user of FF but ever since version four and the constant updates every few weeks and add ons breaking I've changed to chrome and haven't looked back. Shame it used to be a awesome web browser.

    Firefox ESR will update every 10 months rather than every 6 weeks. Uses upstream versions 10 ... 17 ... 24 ... 31 , ie every 7th main version. After release, Firefox ESR will then only receive security and bug fixes but no new features until the next major landmark is released 10 months later.

    I also think Firefox versions 4-11 were disappointing, but with 13 onwards they seem to have got their act together again.

    Firefox 10 ESR was released in Jan 2012
    Firefox 17 ESR was released in Nov 2012 and will be supported for about a year
    Firefox 24 ESR is due out in Sept 2013
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    googlekinggoogleking Posts: 15,006
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    #9
    barky99 wrote: »
    just disable the compatibility check and this hurdle vanishes unless some addons you use are ancient or no longer developed

    Yes, yes, that's not the point though. Especially if looking at it from the company / multi-PC deployment point of view rather than the individual at home only using one or two laptops/machines. Why should someone have to employ workarounds all the time, just to get reliable / expected functionality?
    Tadpole wrote: »
    Firefox ESR will update every 10 months rather than every 6 weeks. Uses upstream versions 10 ... 17 ... 24 ... 31 , ie every 7th main version. After release, Firefox ESR will then only receive security and bug fixes but no new features until the next major landmark is released 10 months later.

    I also think Firefox versions 4-11 were disappointing, but with 13 onwards they seem to have got their act together again.

    Firefox 10 ESR was released in Jan 2012
    Firefox 17 ESR was released in Nov 2012 and will be supported for about a year
    Firefox 24 ESR is due out in Sept 2013

    That's a start towards getting FF considered viable for company use again, but still looks like a sticking plaster applied on top of a totally bonkers version numbering and management strategy.
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    TadpoleTadpole Posts: 1,646
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    #10
    Looks like Firefox 10 ESR is still being supported, 10.0.11 was released last Tuesday.

    I think Google Chrome started the version numbering Olympics. Two years ago if you said you'd soon be benchmarking Firefox 17 against Chrome 23 people would think you were bonkers. Makes IE10 and Opera 12.11 numbering system look almost sane.
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    NewWorldManNewWorldMan Posts: 4,909
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    #11
    omnidirectional wrote: »
    I believe Firefox now updates silently in the background like Chrome, rather than asking to download updates every few weeks so that's one annoyance sorted.

    This doesn't yet work in Windows 7 when running as standard user.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,900
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    #12
    I moved on from Firefox a while back now. I found Firefox was becoming slower and more buggy with every release.

    I now use a variation of the Chrome browser - It's called Comodo Dragon. It's the same layout as chrome but with lots of added security and privacy features. It's fast too!

    http://download.cnet.com/Comodo-Dragon/3000-2356_4-75119680.html
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    stud u likestud u like Posts: 42,100
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    #13
    jayzee786 wrote: »
    I used to be a die hard user of FF but ever since version four and the constant updates every few weeks and add ons breaking I've changed to chrome and haven't looked back. Shame it used to be a awesome web browser.

    Quite a few people have made the switch to chrome.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,900
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    #14
    jayzee786 wrote: »
    I used to be a die hard user of FF but ever since version four and the constant updates every few weeks and add ons breaking I've changed to chrome and haven't looked back. Shame it used to be a awesome web browser.

    same here. whenever I have to use FF now it seems so dated and behind with the times. it needs a complete overhaul.
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    TrueCardTrueCard Posts: 680
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    #15
    Still a Firefox user here, the adblock addon is better and with NoScript I don't have to have facebook, twitter and google following me everywhere I go!
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    barky99barky99 Posts: 3,921
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    #16
    dezire wrote: »
    whenever I have to use FF now it seems so dated and behind with the times. it needs a complete overhaul.
    this view puzzles me ... what might reasons be? ... have loads of browsers installed -- always stick with a flavour of firefox as main browser due to functionality & addons
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    PencilBreathPencilBreath Posts: 3,643
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    #17
    I still love ff. Used it for a decade or so now.
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