Mozilla says Firefox 3 beta is ready for prime time, we beg to differ

Filed under: Internet, Blogging, Mozilla, Beta

Mozilla says Firefox 3 beta is ready for prime time, we beg to differ

by Brad Linder Mar 21st 2008

We've been following the development of Firefox 3 pretty closely around here, because we're a software blog, and what else are we going to do? The beta versions of Firefox 3 have added a ton of cool new features like an improved location bar, better bookmark management, full page zoom and better memory management. But it's still beta software. And we're not quite ready to agree with Mozilla VP Mike Schroepfer when he tells Reuters that Firefox 3 beta 4 is ready for the masses.

Don't get us wrong, most of the time Firefox 3 beta 4 works perfectly. But as far as we here at Download Squad are concerned, there's at least one fatal flaw. It's not compatible with Blogsmith, the blogging client we use, which relies on some Flash features that aren't supported by Firefox 3 yet.

Schroepfer may be right when he says that Firefox 3 "is much more stable" than most other browsers. But if there's a web site you need to visit every day that's not supported, stability only takes you so far. What have your experiences with Firefox 3 been like? Anyone else having problems or is it just us? What other features, bug fixes would you like to see in the final version which should be out in a few months?

Tags: firefox, firefox-3, firefox-3-beta, mike-schoepfer

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

tyler said 11:43AM on 3-21-2008

NO Windows Live Email in advanced mode! that is the only thing i use firefox for.

Conor said 11:44AM on 3-21-2008

I agree - this beta is not quite ready for the masses. I've had quite a few "Application quit unexpectedly" errors over the last few weeks.

That being said, it is stable enough for me to be using as my primary browser for work (web development) and is in use all day long.

Now we just need those extension developers to step it up...

Brian said 11:47AM on 3-21-2008

Does it even come close to passing ACID3?

zelet said 12:09PM on 3-21-2008

Safari 3.1 gets to 75% I think.

James said 12:34PM on 3-21-2008

I just tried the Acid3 test on Firefox 3 beta 4. It got 68/100.

LOC said 10:03AM on 3-22-2008

Actually zelet, Safari 3.1 with the newest Webkit nightly build scores 93/100. The shipping 3.1 build obviously uses a rather old (compared to newer versions) build of webkit. I suggest updating your webkit version, and then enjoy the new found speed :)

Chet Kuhn said 11:50AM on 3-21-2008

The only real issues that I've had is that none of my extensions or themes work. Which severely limits the usefulness of this browser.

Stefan Hayden said 11:55AM on 3-21-2008

are you people kidding me? Have you tried past firefox betas?

plugins don't traditionally work with the next version of FF until the official release comes out.

any plugin with a good solid user base will have a quick fix out just days after release. Most times they just have to add a new version number.

Should FF3 really sit in the closet for no one to use untill all your favorite plugins are ready? That just seems greedy. Let the world benefit and you can just wait your plugins out.

TurboFool said 11:57AM on 3-21-2008

I've had no issues with beta 4 beyond a single crash so far. The only other issue is the standard one with every Firefox beta as well as newly-released final version: add-on compatibility. About half of my add-ons haven't yet been updated to be compatible, and I suspect one or two of my favorites never will be, as their developers have moved on. Same dance I did with FF 2.0.

Michael Freeman said 12:00PM on 3-21-2008

Yahoo Mail! fails every time with ff3b4

JohnnyL said 10:39PM on 3-23-2008

Yahoo mail is working perfectly for me with FF3.4. It didn;t with the previous versions but have had no problems with this version. Been using 3.4 since released and not one crash.

cam said 11:12PM on 3-22-2008

The Firebug add-on crashes Yahoo Mail every time.

I only enable firebug for those sites I'm working on.

Calvin said 12:09PM on 3-21-2008

I've been using the beta's since beta 3 and i have to say that it isn't fully ready for the masses yet. It does work stable enough for me to use it as my main browser at home, but it needs a little bit more time to mature. Currently using the beta5pre.

Blog Jones said 12:15PM on 3-21-2008

It's crashed on me a lot, but I'm also running some unsupported extensions.

Rocketboy said 12:28PM on 3-21-2008

" "is much more stable" than most other browsers"

Wha-What?

Opera, or even IE7 crashes, oh, maybe once a month at most, ad that's usually because something else is misbehaving to begin with.

Gerald said 12:35PM on 3-21-2008

Roboform doesn't work with it, despite what they claim, so it's useless to me.

Chris Kottom said 12:38PM on 3-21-2008

Installed FF3b4 about a week ago, and while I'm really pleased with the functionality and the performance improvements, I haven't been able to install most of the plugins I had under FF2 (partially to thank for better performance?) and the thing crashes several times a day. It doesn't really bother me so much though because it's clear that this is a step in the right direction and because I know that I'm using beta software. If they release it to the general public without some improvements in stability, my fear is that it would erode some of the gains they've made in market share over the past few years.

clickwir said 12:52PM on 3-21-2008

Oh boo hoo. Maybe blogsmith needs to update to support FF3, not the other way around. FF3B4 has been flawless for me. Sure there's add-ons not working but it's BETA, I wouldn't expect them all to.

Brad Linder said 12:56PM on 3-21-2008

I don't think it's too much to ask for a new, improved web browser to support all the sites and technologies that its predecessor can handle. As I expected, several readers have experienced problems with other sites as well. I mean, sure Blogsmith is a niche product, but Yahoo! Mail?

Joe B said 10:04AM on 3-22-2008

"I don't think it's too much to ask for a new, improved web browser to support all the sites and technologies that its predecessor can handle."

And yet you cheer that the IE8 beta defaults to a standards-compliant mode and needs a special compatibility mode to properly display pages tailored for its previous versions...

Also I think it's a little backwards for you to say that a web browser hasn't implemented features of a PLUG-IN. Shouldn't it be that the problem isn't that Firefox does support Flash, it's that Flash hasn't been updating to work properly with it yet? (And on a complete tangent, why does Blogsmith need Flash anyway? Strikes me as odd.)

I've been using FF3 for the vast majority of my web browsing since beta 3 and since beta 4 have yet to encounter any issues. Various webmail, banking, and basically anything else I have thrown at it.

| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 20 Comments

Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

I have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

View more Time Wasters