Firefox 8.0 Beta Available

An anonymous reader tips news that Mozilla has released the beta version of Firefox 8, only a few days after going live with the final version of Firefox 7. According to the announcement, the big changes this time around include the ability to use Twitter as a default search engine, more versatility in restoring tabs on startup, and improved user control over add-ons. "Users will receive a one-time notification to review and confirm third party add-ons they want to keep, disable or delete. When Firefox starts and finds that a third-party program has installed an add-on, Firefox will disable the add-on until the user has explicitly opted in, giving users better control over their Web experience."

are you kidding me?

[hymie!]

I was just about to point out that I had to revert to Firefox 5.X because Firefox 6 broke a web site I need.

Then I read this:

the ability to use Twitter as a default search engine,

and I'm seriously wondering why I don't run Opera or Chrome.

Oh, right. FoxyProxy is the reason why I don't run Opera or Chrome.

Why is this news?

[loftwyr]

With Firefox releasing betas/alphas and new releases every few weeks, why are we covering this? Can't we just have the ever six week release story and maybe another one if they do something innovative?

Chrome is on version 15 but I don't see a story here every number change.

Re:are you kidding me?

[MechaStreisand]

No, the difference is that Chrome doesn't fuck with things on every new version, and Firefox DOES.

What third-party addons?

[DNS-and-BIND]

The addons I want to keep? Sorry, I've never had this experience. It's more like, "the addons I want to permanently disable as they won't be updated to the latest version because the creator finished his project and moved on with his life". Seriously, a browser whose entire idea is 'you can extend it' combined with constant compatibility-breaking updates?

Re:are you kidding me?

[RogueyWon]

The really sad thing? The other week, the latest release of Firefox 6 decided that it wanted to intermittently crash my Nvidia drivers. Until I figured out I could fix this by disabling the hardware acceleration option (which has absolutely zero impact on performance anyway), I was coming to the conclusion that rather than Opera or Chrome, if I was going to switch, it would be to IE. Having not used it for years, I was pretty shocked at how much it had improved in the interim.

That said, I think there's some deep part of me that would just find it hard to trust IE.

But yes, Firefox has long since passed the point where a new version meant "oooh, new features" and reached the point where it means "oh god, what have they broken or ruined this time?"

Re:I'm Waiting

[robmv]

So long dumbass Firefox developers, I'm switching to Chrome.

that has the same 6 weeks release cycle, news about Firefox are very good troll magnets

Re:are you kidding me?

[MrZilla]

I tried switching from FF3 to FF6 recently. I did not like it at all.
Currently been running Chrome for a few days, it's OK, but has some irritating issues (for me).

Will try Opera next week.
Then IE.
Then I will give up and move to some deserted island and avoid modern browsers for ever.

Re:are you kidding me?

[PixetaledPikachu]

And it still has a large number of uncopied features (like a mail client) which I've simply become used to having around.

Not having mail client is actually one of my major reason in adopting firefox, and abandoning netscape

Re:are you kidding me?

[LordLimecat]

You could always go back to the older browsers. You can still download Phoenix 0.5 (aka pre-firefox firefox) right here [mozilla.org], and Firefox 1.0 here [oldapps.com]. Im pretty sure you will discover that its a case of "the grass is always greener", though.

And of course, theres always lynx.

Re:are you kidding me?

[rubycodez]

The BUG is between your comrades right ear and left, they are DESTROYING a once-good software because this version churning breaks plugins, breaks access to web sites, and break use with other web-fronted softwares. Your team is ignoring user needs and flying off on a ridiculous tangent that does the users no good. People are getting fed up with this crap and ditching Firefox. Your project will LOSE MONEY that it gets based on user share. Tell them to quit being ivory tower dumb-asses working in a vacuum and start taking heed of the real world of users.

Re:are you kidding me?

[shutdown -p now]

An API that is accessible to userspace code and can crash the system, or otherwise significantly affect all processes running on it, is unacceptable. "Undefined behavior" that crashes the calling process only is okay. "Undefined behavior" that crashes the driver in the kernel is not.