Firefox 2.0 alpha released
DownloadSquad has noticed that an alpha
release (read: not stable) of Firefox 2.0 is live, available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, and waiting for
your clicks. I'm having a
hard time tracking down any kind of official list of what's new in this next major point release, but after quickly
running it I can tell you it's at least a bit zippier. I've heard reports of a much-updated UI, better bookmark
management and more security options are all on the menu, though I'm sure (and I hope) there is much more planned for
the official release.So check it out if you're interested in what's coming next, but for those of you who can't afford to deal with sketchy software, you might want to keep moving along.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Rich M said 9:01PM on 3-19-2006
Now, if someone would just optimise it for the G4, I'd roll with alpha-sketchyness.
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Mark Evans said 9:16PM on 3-19-2006
if they could figure out a way to migrate extensions, that would be much-appreciated.
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Chris Dolan said 10:24PM on 3-19-2006
No, 2.0 alpha has not yet been released. According to Asa Dotzler (http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/asa/archives/2006/03/releases_1.html) the release has not yet happened. You'll probably see it on Mozillazine (http://www.mozillazine.org/) first when it happens.
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Samual Icky said 10:42PM on 3-19-2006
Get your optimized intel builds here: http://hic2.kazserv.com/~mitchejj/ff-i686-apple-darwin/BonEcho/
Bon Echo is the code name for FF 2.x just like Deer Park is the code name for FF 1.x
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kevin said 10:59PM on 3-19-2006
So I ran ff2.0 alpha and of course, no extensions worked. Back in good old stable 1.5, extensions just don't work anymore either. Not sure if there's an easy way to restore functionality, but users be warned! Backups!
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Dan Riley said 11:24PM on 3-19-2006
Is it still using Quickdraw?
Current versions for OSX do and look pretty bad
versus Safari.
Dan
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Jesse Hogue said 11:40PM on 3-19-2006
Kevin,
You should be able to go and enable your extensions manually. After going from 2.0 Alpha back to 1.5, they are just disabled.
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Richard Zimmer said 12:18AM on 3-20-2006
You need to watch Rocketboom !!! Because on Wednesday, March 15, you would have learned that Firefox will receive a new feature called "AllPeers".
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rom said 1:24AM on 3-20-2006
I just did a quick comparison of Safari, Camino, Firefox 1.5 and Firefox 2.0A. Safari still is fast compared to the 3.
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rom said 1:32AM on 3-20-2006
Oops, forgot to include the link - http://rom.feria.name/blog/?p=666
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David said 5:56AM on 3-20-2006
2.0 will hardly do anything for memory releated issuses since it will be based on old code of Gecko. This means that the shell(Firefox itself) will not go through significant rewriting or changes. If anything memory leaks will be reduced or flushed in version 3.0 which will be based on a completely rewritten Gecko engine.
Unfortunately that may be too late...memory problems will drive many users back to IE(7) (which will be official long before Firefox 3).
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IRM said 7:41AM on 3-20-2006
I have no problem with memory usage in Fx.. Am I the only person?
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Chris said 9:22AM on 3-20-2006
I have a memory leak problem. Everytime I highlight text within the browser the fans on my G5 go nuts and Firefox takes up nearly 100% CPU usage. If I wasn't so lazy, I probably would have switched back to Safari by now. (:
Anyone know of a fix?
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Howard Jeffrey said 9:27AM on 3-20-2006
Am I the only one here that uses Camino exclusively? Built for Mac, works for Mac and Safari is a pig.... Need I say more?
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student said 9:32AM on 3-20-2006
I agree the memory leak needs to be fixed. Just wondering how much memory should firefox take if i have one tab open? right now
I have firefox talking up 108k w/ 2 tabs open
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Thomas said 9:58AM on 3-20-2006
#13 this is Apples' issue. It's not just a Firefox problem. Happens in other apps too. Carbon or Cocoa or whatever it is.
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Justin said 10:30AM on 3-20-2006
Shiira anyone? :) But I still love the fox.
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Poopmaster said 3:15PM on 3-20-2006
Oh, right. Firefox's occasional (as seen by surveying the posters on this article) memory bug is going to drive people back to IE 7. If I had a dime for every off-the-wall prognostication I've heard on blogs, I'd be rich. Count me as another one who hasn't seen this memory bug, and I've been using Firefox since the beginning -- day in, day out. Part of what keeps people using a browser is its feature set and its behavior. Another part is habit. So once the Fox locks people in, they hesitate to go back to IE, especially if you count in the bad taste that M$ leaves in many mouths. This should be obvious, but Microsoft's army of the inane is on the march, spreading FUD before the glorious release of IE 7.
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samual icky said 3:28PM on 3-20-2006
rom, dude! Your test are misleading and well yawn old news. I've seen a similar peformance test here and thats the same test you used. You know what its just for JavaScript. I seen a more complete test here.
Sorry dude your test get an incomplete grade, however accruate your results are.
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samual icky said 4:08PM on 3-20-2006
It might have been a good idea to include the links
a.) JavaScript Test -- http://risckyworkings.com/2006/02/26/performance
b.) More test -- http://risckyworkings.com/2006/02/28/20060227-builds-benchmarks
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