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striker100 · Mar 24, 2008, 09:24 PM

I just updated Firefox 3 to beta 4 version and I love the new look. Has anyone been using it and how do you find the performance compared to Safari 3.1?

TheIceMan · Mar 24, 2008, 09:48 PM

It takes longer to launch Firefox 3 b4 than Safari 3.1. And it loads just a bit slower than Safari 3.1 but I still use it because of its greater access across the web compared to Safari. For example, GMail still loads in basic HTML instead of standard HTML in Safari 3.1.

zerock · Mar 24, 2008, 10:02 PM

i'm just trying out today. and may actually ditch safari for firefox.. but still trying out how it feels it comparison.. and the extensions i would like, havent been updated yet.. so..

Sarc · Mar 24, 2008, 10:18 PM

Firefox with AdBlock+Filterset ... it just can't be beat.
If Safari where to provide a) proper GMail functionality, and b) powerful Ad blocking features, I would use it gladly as it has a smaller memory and CPU footprint than FF.

Wiskedjak · Mar 24, 2008, 10:32 PM

Originally Posted by Sarc

Firefox with AdBlock+Filterset ... it just can't be beat.
If Safari where to provide a) proper GMail functionality, and b) powerful Ad blocking features, I would use it gladly as it has a smaller memory and CPU footprint than FF.

Apparently, FF3 Beta 4 is resolving the memory footprint issue.

Cold Warrior · Mar 25, 2008, 01:37 AM

The tabs waste too much space, and the app launches very slowly. Otherwise I like it.

I use SafariBlock, which uses the easylist adblockplus list. Works as well as Adblock Plus via FF.

wataru · Mar 25, 2008, 10:10 AM

Originally Posted by Sarc

Firefox with AdBlock+Filterset

If by "Filterset" you mean Filterset.G, you should know that Adblock Plus is the current recommended replacement for both of those extensions (Filterset.G is not recommended for use with Adblock Plus).

I've been using beta 4 for a bit and it's great. I just wish those extension developers would hurry up and update.

hwojtek · Mar 25, 2008, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by Sarc

Firefox with AdBlock+Filterset ... it just can't be beat.
If Safari where to provide a) proper GMail functionality

defaults write com.apple.Safari TargetedClicksCreateTabs -bool true

Originally Posted by Sarc

and b) powerful Ad blocking features

Safariadblock.

Wiskedjak · Mar 25, 2008, 10:39 AM

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior

The tabs waste too much space, and the app launches very slowly. Otherwise I like it.

Ahh, but for the tabs, all you need is a skin with smaller tabs. What makes FF better than IE or Safari in terms of aesthetics is that there are hundreds of aesthetics to choose from, with more appearing every day.

Cold Warrior · Mar 25, 2008, 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by Wiskedjak

Ahh, but for the tabs, all you need is a skin with smaller tabs. What makes FF better than IE or Safari in terms of aesthetics is that there are hundreds of aesthetics to choose from, with more appearing every day.

Can you recommend a couple good skins? Nothing wild, just basic. The more I use the default skin, the less I like it (even though it was hailed as a tremendous step forward for FF on the Mac).

TheMosco · Mar 25, 2008, 11:10 PM

Are we ever going to see pdf support in firefox?

I switched to the safari 3.1betas a while ago and recently decided to switch back to firefox. Tonight I realized why I switched to safari. PDF support! I open a lot of PDFs and safari 3.1 is pretty graceful with PDFs. I might have to switch back.

wataru · Mar 26, 2008, 01:17 AM

Originally Posted by hwojtek

Safariadblock.

Hacks like these will always be inferior to Firefox extensions as long as Apple doesn't provide an official extension API. Note how they break every time Safari is updated.

Originally Posted by TheMosco

Are we ever going to see pdf support in firefox?

This plugin used to do the trick, but it doesn't seem to work anymore.

Cold Warrior · Mar 26, 2008, 01:23 AM

Originally Posted by wataru

Hacks like these will always be inferior to Firefox extensions as long as Apple doesn't provide an official extension API. Note how they break every time Safari is updated.

SafariBlock didn't break. It continues to work perfectly.

haxorjoe · Mar 26, 2008, 01:26 AM

I'm happily running Firefox 3B4 with no problems so far. I used to use Camino since it matched with Aqua but now there's no reason to use it when Firefox is better.

zerock · Mar 26, 2008, 02:20 AM

Originally Posted by wataru

If by "Filterset" you mean Filterset.G, you should know that Adblock Plus is the current recommended replacement for both of those extensions (Filterset.G is not recommended for use with Adblock Plus).

I've been using beta 4 for a bit and it's great. I just wish those extension developers would hurry up and update.

Adblock Plus works with beta 4.. just in case you meant that.

hwojtek · Mar 26, 2008, 04:40 AM

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior

SafariBlock didn't break. It continues to work perfectly.

Exactly. It's just an additional prefpane of Safari.

EndlessMac · Mar 26, 2008, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior

The tabs waste too much space, and the app launches very slowly.

I agree that the tabs are rather larger than necessary but once you fill up the screen and then add more tabs the tabs actually shrink in width so it becomes less of an issue unless it's more of an aesthetics complaint you have. I do understand what you are talking about though because it would be nice if the tabs were as small as Camino's. Also since it's still in beta versions many skins aren't compatible with it as of yet so we can't change the look.

Originally Posted by striker100

I just updated Firefox 3 to beta 4 version and I love the new look. Has anyone been using it and how do you find the performance compared to Safari 3.1?

I've used the nightly builds since beta 2 versions and I do like the new Firefox. Firefox is still more compatible for some websites compared to Safari 3.1 and the speeds between the two are pretty close. Safari does seem to be a little faster but not anything to brag about. I would rather have accurate displaying and working websites rather than a slighter faster loading speed.

It still is a beta so there are still some bugs that needs to be worked out but the recent Firefox betas have been usable for most daily web browsing.

Cold Warrior · Mar 26, 2008, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by hwojtek

Exactly. It's just an additional prefpane of Safari.

It has an InputManagers folder with files that goes with the pref pane.

wataru · Mar 27, 2008, 06:47 AM

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior

It has an InputManagers folder with files that goes with the pref pane.

Right. Which makes it a hack.

Originally Posted by zerock

Adblock Plus works with beta 4.. just in case you meant that.

Sorry, what I wrote was confusing. Yes, I'm aware that Adblock Plus works. There are a couple others I use that aren't ready yet.

hwojtek · Mar 27, 2008, 07:53 AM

Originally Posted by wataru

Right. Which makes it a hack.

Right. And since it doesn't break when Safari is updated, it's a legitimate solution to a problem.

Mithras · Mar 27, 2008, 08:02 AM

Originally Posted by wataru

Hacks like these will always be inferior to Firefox extensions as long as Apple doesn't provide an official extension API. Note how they break every time Safari is updated.

Yeah, 'cause Firefox extensions always work with the newest betas

wataru · Mar 27, 2008, 08:33 PM

Originally Posted by hwojtek

Right. And since it doesn't break when Safari is updated, it's a legitimate solution to a problem.

No, it is a hack and you got lucky. You may not get lucky next time. This is in the same class as APE, which is known to cause all sorts of problems. If you're into that thing, then fine, enjoy. But don't whine when it inevitably breaks.

Originally Posted by Mithras

Yeah, 'cause Firefox extensions always work with the newest betas

Those are betas, not production releases. Any actively-maintained plugins are usually updated by the time the official release comes out. And if you want to live dangerously there are ways to force extensions to load on versions that are not officially supported.

On the other hand, InputManager hacks are unsupported in any situation, and often do break with any kind of update.

hwojtek · Mar 28, 2008, 12:02 PM

"Inevitably", "often", or "not yet" (as in: "SafariAdBlock"?) ;-)

TheMosco · Mar 30, 2008, 04:08 PM

So i understand that by using nightlies, that they will probably have some issues but ouch...

This is just with normal browsing.

wataru · Mar 30, 2008, 07:21 PM

I've been running b4 for days and my RSIZE as reported by Activity Monitor is 140.58MB.

blacksmith_tb · Mar 31, 2008, 05:53 PM

No need to wait for extensions to be updated - just disable extension verification. Though some of the most important (Adblock plus, Noscript) have already been updated. But for Firebug, Download statusbar, and a few others, this is working nicely for me.

Sprocket · Mar 31, 2008, 08:03 PM

I've been using the beta 2/3 and now 4 version of this browser and really like it No major issues. For sh!ts and giggles I've been using the Theme GrApple Yummy (blue) which gives this browser a more decided Mac-look. Regardless, I'm finished with Safari now -- I don't like the fact that often the browser updates are bundled in with an OS update that may-or-may-not have built in issues. No hassles like that from Firefox -- just a browser update.

wataru · Mar 31, 2008, 11:24 PM

Originally Posted by blacksmith_tb

No need to wait for extensions to be updated - just disable extension verification. Though some of the most important (Adblock plus, Noscript) have already been updated. But for Firebug, Download statusbar, and a few others, this is working nicely for me.

Firebug also has a compatible beta out.

One that I use is the Google Bookmarks Sync extension, and given all the changes made to how bookmarks are handled in FF3, I don't think that's a safe one to manually enable.

Brien · Mar 31, 2008, 11:37 PM

Oh wow, looks nice.