A story of Firefox 3 being made available for download was recently dugg.
…also in order of stability: Firefox 1.5.0.x is rock-solid, Firefox 2…
I beg to differ.
Memory issues aside, something needs to be done about the extension integration. I run a Firefox 1.5.0.1 on a PIII 733 Mhz m/c w/ 320 MB RAM and I have faced a queer problem, FF suddenly goes to 100% and then drops off equally sharply on some AJAX pages. Here are the extensions I have on my m/c:
| Extension | Version | Status | Notes | |
| 1 | DOM Inspector | NA | Enabled | Default with Firefox |
| 2 | Talkback | NA | Enabled | Default with Firefox |
| 3 | Searchstatus | 1.15 | Enabled | Alexa & A9 |
| 4 | Greasemonkey | 0.6.4 | Enabled | For UserScripts |
| 5 | Restart Firefox | 0.3 | Enabled | One-Click |
| 6 | Multi Bookmarks Toolbar | 0.9.2 | Disabled | |
| 7 | Stumbleupon | 2.6 | Enabled | Social Browsing |
| 8 | Download Statusbar | 0.9.4 | Enabled | Simpler downloads |
| 9 | gTranslate | 0.2.7 | Enabled | Quick Translations |
| 10 | Define Word | 0.6.0 | Enabled | Highlight & define |
| 11 | Performancing | 1.1.9.7 | Enabled | 1.2 beta |
| 12 | Gmail Space | 0.2 | Enabled | Use Gmail Inbox for storage |
| 13 | Firebug | 0.3.2 | Disabled | Javascript Debugger console |
| 14 | BugMeNot | 1.3 | Enabled | One click login |
| 15 | Zoep | 0.9.2 | Disabled | Free VoIP |
| 16 | Tab Mix Plus | 0.3.0.5 | Enabled | Enhanced Tabbing Features |
| 17 | Attention Recorder | 0.64 | Disabled |
I suspect this will be a perpetual problem with any and every vanilla browser. And with Firefox, this looks like it is going the Windows way.
Windows was touted as the user-friendly OS. And, it was one to some extent. People liked the look and feel, and the point-and-click interface. But, there was still the annoying BSOD. The Windows 9x family was quite unstable. The trade-off was clear and people chose according to their needs.
IE had been used and over-used ever since the Internet came into being. Of course, IE does not render certain JavaScript enabled sites as well as the others, but yet, it was the browser of choice for an entire generation. It was (and still is, to some extent, IMHO) zippy and smooth.
Snap to the new millenium. A new browser comes into the picture and it is touted as a secure alternative to IE.
And now, Firefox is stumbling at the same point as Windows. A great alternative with its own set of problems. Memory & Performance hogging – especially when it comes to extensions. Makes you wonder is open-source really the best way to go? After all, there was, is, and always will be some difference between community and standard product testing.
Mozilla Firefox 3 – the developer's toy – is available for download. Would you choose to go for it? Or would you rather stick with your personal combination of IE and Firefox?
I have both of them, I use both of them. Oh and I have Flock and Maxthon, too. How about you? Don't feign ignorance. I know you guys have more than Firefox on your machine.
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