Hands-on Review: Firefox 2.0 (Released Today!)

Tue Oct 24, 2006 4:03AM EDT

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Why, it seems like only yesterday we got one new browser (Internet Explorer 7), and now we get the full release of Firefox 2.0, hot on its heels. I've been giving the new Firefox a shot (and managing three computers with various combinations of IE6, IE7, Firefox 1.5, and Firefox 2.0 is not something I have enjoyed). And, again, I'm here to give you some opinions on the subject.

Firefox 2.0 is officially set for release on October 24. You can download it here (just wait for the site to update for the 2.0 release). 

I Like It!

  • Real-Time Spell Checker – A godsend. It's worth switching browsers for this feature alone. When filling in web forms or typing up discussion group postings, you get that familiar red dotted line underneath any words you misspell. No more clicking the spell-check button (if the web site even has one). Now you can see at a glance if you've mistyped something. For those of us who work on the web all day, this is a feature of rare awesomeness.
  • Anti-Phishing Features - This works similarly to those in IE7 (though they're even more forceful about warding you away from bad sites in Firefox). Again, no complaints. I haven't sneaked one past the 'Fox yet.
  • Better RSS - Poking around with RSS? You'll find Firefox's version of an integrated RSS reader far more sophisticated than IE's, though inexplicably it defaults to the Google newsreader instead of its own service.
  • Easy Add-On Manager - Firefox power users often add numerous "add-ons" to their browser to customize it. Firefox lets you deactivate these in a central place in the Tools menu. IE makes you do uninstallation via the Control Panel.
  • Quick and Easy Install - The browser's less than 6MB to download. IE7 is much larger and requires Windows validation just to install it.
  • Upgrades Under the Hood - Most of this, like JavaScript 1.7 and SVG text support, you'll never notice.

Indifferent (Or Mostly Unchanged Since Earlier Version)

  • Fancier Icons - The look and feel of Firefox is almost unchanged. In fact, if I had to say anything, I'd say it actually looks more like IE6 than ever before. Now buttons light up when you hover over them, that's about the only change worth mentioning.
  • Suggestions During Search - A lot like most search toolbars, Firefox now offers "suggestions" when you start typing in words in the integrated search bar in the top right of the screen. This can be helpful, but the suggestions are too slow to appear and, in my experience, haven't been all that relevant to anything I've been searching for.
  • Tabs "Improved" - I took heat for disliking tabs in my IE7 review, but I still don't much care for them in Firefox. Firefox 2.0 at leasts make their use (vs. opening a new window) more consistent and easier to turn off.

Not So Hot

  • It's Kinda Crashy - Firefox 2.0 seems a bit on the unstable side. The browser crashes or completely freezes on me about once every couple of hours, and IE7 has been more stable than that. However, Firefox 2.0 is far better at recovering from those crashes, as version 2.0 can restore the windows and tabs you had open, generally pretty close to the way things were when the browser went south, including any text you had typed into a web form. (Note this doesn't always work, so be careful.) So it's a negative with a strong positive tied to it.
  • Microsoft WMV Video Still Unsupported - Pages that stream video using Microsoft's WMV streaming format (Embedded Windows Media) don't work in Firefox out of the box. You can install this plug-in manually (you can't even use the web service to add it), but the process is needlessly complex. Note this doesn't affect most video sites, like YouTube, which use Flash to stream videos.

What's the bottom line? If you're on Firefox 1.5 (or older), upgrade ASAP! The new features far outweigh any stability issues, which will probably be resolved as the software is updated and patched over the next few months. If you're using Internet Explorer, give Firefox 2.0 a try today. The improvements over IE6 are palpable, and while IE7 is more of a contender, Firefox 2.0 handily beats it. Since Firefox can import all your favorites, cookies, passwords, and even your history, there's no reason not to give it a try.

Comments on Hands-on Review: Firefox 2.0 (Released Today!)

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  • 6 Posted by sally_1512 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:01PM EDT Report Abuse

    Hi Chris, I agree on the relative instability of FF2.0 compared to 1.5. However, I will say that the crashes decreased considerably after I disabled some add-ons I had from before the upgrade...even though all add-ons were 'officially' compatible, it seems some ( session saver hack, IE Tab) didn't really approve of 2.0. Try disabling them and the crashes decrease a whole lot. I installed IE7 on my work computer along with FF2.0 and today I uninstalled it...Sorry Microsoft, but Mozilla won this round too

  • 7 Posted by the_pld on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:06PM EDT Report Abuse

    I agree with the stability comment. As I type this, my text is incredibly laggy in actually getting on the screen. At least spell check makes up for it.

  • 8 Posted by markosians on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:08PM EDT Report Abuse

    Hmmm, I must be the lucky one then. I am having no issues with crashing or lagging. I opened 11 windows yesterday after talking to Chris and the one I used with 6 tabs and no problems encountered. I too have IE Tab extension but do not have session saver hack extension on this computer. Nick

  • 9 Posted by jgon_9 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:34PM EDT Report Abuse

    Firefox is the way to go. I gave up Internet Explorer when the Firebird beta was out. I loved the beta and I found it more stable and faster than IE. I just love this spell checking feature Mozilla added.

  • 10 Posted by darktruth06 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:36PM EDT Report Abuse

    Has Firefox 2.0 fixed the memory leak? I've tried everything, and even though this problem plagues my system (I've tried everything I know), FF offers so much more to me than IE.

  • 11 Posted by corey.ward on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:29PM EDT Report Abuse

    Firefox has been and still is prone to crashes. Yahoo is the primary culprit for making this happen, but it happens all over the place. I think I had about 10 crashes yesterday alone...though I was browsing all day.

  • 12 Posted by azani_s on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:00PM EDT Report Abuse

    FF is great. No Genuine tag. FREE of coz.. heheh.... Thanks to FF developer.

  • 13 Posted by netdrone99 on Sat Oct 28, 2006 2:36AM EDT Report Abuse

    I've had no trouble with Firefox 2 whatsoever. Since switching to Firefox back in the day I will never go back to Internet Explorer.

  • 14 Posted by sstusick on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:39PM EDT Report Abuse

    Haven't had any problems with Firefox 2.0 at all. I think the source of some of your problems is the internet connection. Firefox is more stable than IE even on IE's good day. All the years I've used Firefox, I'd say it has crashed about 5 times...and the years that I used IE...I'd say IE crashed countless times. IE will always be a copycat of other browsers...it has no original ideas of it's own. When you have a great browser like Firefox, you'd be a fool to want to use a browser like IE.

  • 15 Posted by sstusick on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:39PM EDT Report Abuse

    Haven't had any problems with Firefox 2.0 at all. I think the source of some of your problems is the internet connection. Firefox is more stable than IE even on IE's good day. All the years I've used Firefox, I'd say it has crashed about 5 times...and the years that I used IE...I'd say IE crashed countless times. IE will always be a copycat of other browsers...it has no original ideas of it's own. When you have a great browser like Firefox, you'd be a fool to want to use a browser like IE.

  • 16 Posted by m3mchugh on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:01PM EDT Report Abuse

    I can't use FF 2.0. Slowly comes up and crashes. Windows ME

  • 17 Posted by zurn1 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 11:02PM EDT Report Abuse

    To make the most of tabs: set "open in new tab" to the middle mouse button. This also lets you middle click on the "Home" button (set to Google for me) when I want a new "blank" tab.

  • 18 Posted by bommer209 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:11PM EDT Report Abuse

    Ihave used both IE7 and FF2.0 and I just dumped the IE off my system, I had all kinds of problems withit crashing and loading windows in tab mode, I feel that FireFox is the best browser you can have on your system.

  • 19 Posted by tfvrs on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:02PM EDT Report Abuse

    Hi Chris! I love your articles and they have been so helpful to me! I need have IE 6, but do not want to remove IE7. Can you tell me how to run both of these browsers on the same computer?

  • 20 Posted by sward1971 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:50PM EDT Report Abuse

    I primarily use Firefox instead of IE. However, some sites will not work with FF and I'll get a message that I need to view the site using IE. But if I have to use IE, I use Maxthon instead. I like FF, but one thing I have noticed is that FF uses a lot more memory than Maxthon does. I'm using FF 1.5.0.8 right now. Does FF 2.0 use even more memory than the earlier version? Just curious.

  • 21 Posted by thomas_ward on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:08PM EDT Report Abuse

    Another odd - and very annoying - negative of Firefox vs. IE is that when one pastes a URL into the body of a Yahoo! email it does not appear as a link when using Firefox. One must manually highlight the pasted link, click a link button, then copy the link into that. A real waste of time.

  • 22 Posted by anguskongyi on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:55PM EDT Report Abuse

    After I used Firefox,I wanted to uninstall it at once. But now I think Firefox 2.0 is better than any other browsers.It runs so fast!

  • 23 Posted by ralegas on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:27PM EDT Report Abuse

    Tried FF and of course IE is bundled with most all pc's but as a netscape loaylist neither FF or IE offered the feature set of Netscape Suite. Netscape, as we knew it and loved it, is no more but then I found SeaMonkey and it is Netscape Suite reborn with manners. All of the features most useful are included, the Composer always put Frontpage to shame for editing html and the email client combines ease of use along with the editing and word processing of Compoeser. It's a wonder SeaMonkey doesn't get the acclaim it deserves but no other browser compares thus far.

  • 24 Posted by k3nt91 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:45PM EDT Report Abuse

    yes. firefox is much better

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