Mozilla Firefox 3.0 RC1


Recommended Posts

when this browser use the same resources than Opera, I might consider use it for more than 5 minutes

You will be pleased to know that Firefox 3 uses a lot less resources than previous versions of Firefox and should be on par with Opera, depending on the platform you run it on.

Could someone do me a favour please? I just hate the new home icon they've been using as of beta 5 on vista. It looks all washed out and doesn't fit in with the reload and stop button as well as the previous one did. If anyone is good at mods for Firefox could they create me a theme using the older home button? I did try it but I can't get it right.

Dude your one looks like ass :(

Here's how it looks with Aero enabled :D

firefox3mainax6.th.jpg

This RC1 is running flawless for me, not a single issue at all.

Ahem, to be honest, I think both his and yours look like "ass"! :p

This is how I think Firefox 3.0 should have looked and I personally think this looks amazing:

FirefoxLayout-Firefox30RC1withGlass.jpg?t=1211138129

I don't understand how anyone can bash the UI or the icons when all it takes is adding the Glasser extension, editing the userChrome.css slightly and removing uneeded icons (i.e. the 'Bookmarks' icon when you can use a keyboard shortcut or go into the bookmarks menu - because let's face it, with the AwesomeBar built into Firefox 3, you rarely have to access your bookmarks :p)

All you have to do to ge the menubar up is press 'Alt' and even that is transparent ;)

Seriously, after looking at my screenshot, how can anybody say Firefox 3's UI is horrible on Vista?

----------------

Now playing on iTunes: Kanye West - Homecoming (Feat. Chris Martin)

via FoxyTunes

----------------

Now playing on iTunes: The Killers - Sweet Talk

via FoxyTunes

Edited by cJr.
Ahem, to be honest, I think both his and yours look like "ass"! :p

This is how I think Firefox 3.0 should have looked and I personally think this looks amazing (see attached image). I don't understand how anyone can bash the UI or the icons when all it takes is adding the Glasser extension, editing the userChrome.css slightly and removing uneeded icons (i.e. the 'Bookmarks' icon when you can use a keyboard shortcut or go into the bookmarks menu - because let's face it, with the AwesomeBar built into Firefox 3, you rarely have to access your bookmarks :p)

All you have to do to ge the menubar up is press 'Alt' and even that is transparent ;)

Seriously, after looking at my screenshot, how can anybody say Firefox 3's UI is horrible on Vista?

----------------

Now playing on iTunes: Kanye West - Homecoming (Feat. Chris Martin)

via FoxyTunes

I think yours looks more ass though :)

I say this because yours has no bookmark toolbar I can see that is easily reachable without having to clickthrough to the bookmark area! also winamp controls? My keyboard controls winamp remotely so +1 point to me there :p

I guess I just like to have everything at arms reach and be in control, I like that with everything from car to camera to UI on my PC though heh.

I think yours looks more ass though :)

I say this because yours has no bookmark toolbar I can see that is easily reachable without having to clickthrough to the bookmark area! also winamp controls? My keyboard controls winamp remotely so +1 point to me there :p

I guess I just like to have everything at arms reach and be in control, I like that with everything from car to camera to UI on my PC though heh.

Ok, I agree on the one point to you for the controls on your keyboard ;) lol

But, why would you need a 'Bookmarks' toolbar clogging up a Firefox 3 UI and making it ugly? When you can just type the first letter of the bookmark you want in the location bar and it will come up :)

That's the best thing about the AwesomeBar which shows your bookmarks as you type, because it means I no longer need a 'Bookmarks' toolbar.

Does that not make sense? :/

You make a valid point about awesomebar and I installed the hide main menu extension to hide the top bar on my screen so when I press ALT it shows.

I Marmite it at the moment.

ON one hand it's cleaner to look at hidden and gets me using the Awesomebar more but on the other hand usually I like to see my bookmarks listed as I bookmark pages by catagory and part them out using separators (see fig1)

fig1:

firefox_bookmarks.jpg

I'll probably get used to it as you can just hit ALT and display bookmarks normally if you need to whilst all other times it's neatly hidden away and you just use awesomebar.

So, with The Hide Main Menu extension installed my Firefox now looks like this:

firefox3hiddensv7.th.jpg

Edited by mrk

Ahhh, I do see what you mean mrk. I like the last screenshot you posted in your last post (above this post) the most, but it is your computer and your browser, after all :p

Do you have an add-on for your Windows Vista to make it more glassy, by the way? Because yours looks more glassy than mine and I like how glassy yours looks.

Edited by cJr.

Ah yes! that is indeed done by a glassier update :p

You need to patch the UXTheme files suing Neowin's patcher and then use a visual style called VistaGlass (attached here). You can then vary the pacity in the Colours and Appearances section in Vista after applying the VS :)

The interface is still not fast enough to replace Opera for me. But overall it seems better than Firefox 2.

They should add simple stuff like mouse gestures by default. You shouldn't have to install such a simple thing yourself.

Mouse gestures aren't really "simple" things. While I agree for some they may be super useful, but for others (such as myself) they're just going to get in the way.

Mouse gestures aren't really "simple" things. While I agree for some they may be super useful, but for others (such as myself) they're just going to get in the way.

in the way of what? do you right click and drag up+left with no reason ? I don't see how that "hidden" feature can be harmful.

Mouse gestures aren't really "simple" things. While I agree for some they may be super useful, but for others (such as myself) they're just going to get in the way.

Your kidding right? It's better to have the option to disable it rather than have to find it and install it.

I've been using mouse gestures since 2001, they have never interfered with my browsing ever.

edit: Do you seriosly have to install an add on to enable Aero Glass support?

Edited by x-byte

What's to say I accidentally press the right mouse button as I'm moving to click a link? What happens then if I didn't know about the mouse gestures thing? To me, firefox would just seem to randomly go back a page or whatever, which can be very frustrating. It's better to simply have it disabled by default (or better yet, not installed at all) so if you want it, you can install it yourself.

It's a case of the developers having to think very carefully about what they DO add to firefox. Every little addition makes the whole thing bigger, slower, etc.

That's why most of the "default" features are extremely useful things (such as tabs) that the vast majority of people will probably use. While you two might love mouse gestures, can you be certain that MOST other firefox users (remember, this includes the likes of people's grannies and other non-techy, non web-savvy users) will get the most out of without it potentially getting in the way?

EDIT:

edit: Do you seriosly have to install an add on to enable Aero Glass support?

Kind of. The borders have glass enabled by default, but the menu bars do not.

If it makes a browser bigger and slower, why is Opera still smaller and faster in most cases? That argument doesn't really hold up.

I can understand that the most non tech savy people might not need it. The way Opera handles it works great. It ask you if you want it enable if you do a mouse gesture. I think Firefox should do this as well. Mabye people actually can learn how to use new features also. It only helps in giving a better browsing experience.

Mabye I'll give FF a try again when FF4 is here.

edit: Do you seriosly have to install an add on to enable Aero Glass support?

Yes, because in order to implement Aero glass properly, in Firefox, ironing out all of the bugs, etc, it would have pushed Firefox 3's release date back quite a bit (as they have to change code within their rendering engine, or something like that). Therefore they are going to implement Aero glass in Firefox 4.

I see nothing wrong with that, because I'd rather have Firefox 3 released ASAP. I'm even happier now I know of an extension to get Aero glass.

You're insulting Firefox 3 for not having Aero glass, yet your rubbishy Opera doesn't have it by default does it? No!

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • BrowserOS 0.46.0 by Razvan Serea BrowserOS is a free, open-source Chromium-based browser that runs AI agents natively, offering a smarter, more productive browsing experience. It supports Chrome extensions and integrates AI agents to automate tasks, fill forms, and streamline workflows. Your data stays on your computer: you can use your own API keys or run local models via Ollama, making it a privacy-first alternative to tools like Perplexity, Comet, or Dia. With built-in productivity tools and app integrations, BrowserOS boosts efficiency while keeping control firmly in your hands. Being Chromium-based, BrowserOS lets you effortlessly import your bookmarks, passwords, and Chrome extensions in just a few clicks. BrowserOS works with OpenAI GPT models, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, and local AI models via Ollama or LMStudio. You can use your own API keys and effortlessly switch between providers. BrowserOS Agent Your AI productivity assistant that organizes and manages your browsing effortlessly Quickly list, group, or close tabs Save and resume browsing sessions Search your history and organize bookmarks Switch instantly to the tab you need BrowserOS Navigator – Automate web tasks with ease Navigate websites and search automatically Interact with pages without manual effort Handle repetitive tasks in seconds What makes BrowserOS special Feels like home - same familiar interface as Google Chrome, works with all your extensions AI agents that run on YOUR browser, not in the cloud Privacy first - bring your own keys or use local models with Ollama. Your browsing history stays on your computer Open source and community driven - see exactly what's happening under the hood MCP store to one-click install popular MCPs and use them directly in the browser bar (coming soon) Built-in AI ad blocker that works across more scenarios! BrowserOS 0.46.0 changelog: Run Claude Code & Codex right in your browser — We've extended the agent harness to bring full coding agents into BrowserOS. Claude Code and Codex now come bundled and plug straight into the assistant, so you can drive your browser with the agent — and the subscription — you already use. A brand new experience — A redesigned new tab, a calmer composer, and a rebuilt command center for switching between agents. The whole assistant is cleaner, faster to reach, and easier to live in. New MCP tools — We rebuilt the browser tool surface from the ground up — a tighter, more reliable set of tools for agents to drive the browser. Plus one-click install of BrowserOS as an MCP server into the agents you already run, with automatic URL sync. Chromium 148 — Updated to the latest Chromium base with all recent upstream fixes and security patches. Streamlined — We've pulled back a few features that weren't getting much use — Skills, Soul, and Memory — so we can focus and ship better versions of them soon. Download: BrowserOS 0.46.0 | 181.0 MB (Open Source) Download: BrowserOS for macOS | 485.0 MB Links: BrowserOS Homepage | Github | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Microsoft finally admits its default Windows 11 25H2, 24H2 action broke key legacy component by Sayan Sen Microsoft last week released Windows 11 KB5094126 and KB5093998 as the latest Patch Tuesday updates. Following that the company also published the accompanying dynamic updates under KB5094149, KB5095971, and KB5094156. So far the company has acknowledged two known issues that have popped up after the release which include bugged-out Office apps as well as the Recycle Bin; though there could be more at play too. Speaking of bugs and issues, Microsoft seems to have finally acknowledged a problem that probably has been around for close to a year. That's because back in July of 2025 the company made a default change to the latest Windows 11 versions, wherein it switched to JScript9Legacy on Windows 11 24H2 and later releases. Hence following the release of version 25H2 in October 2025, JScript9Legacy also remained default-enabled. As a result there has been a compatibility issue ever since then. For those wondering, by switching to JScript9Legacy Microsoft intended to improve the security of modern Windows PCs by reducing vulnerabilities tied to legacy scripting like cross-site scripting (XSS), among others. XSS exploits can allow cyber-attackers to attach malicious code onto legitimate websites and use them to execute the code when a potential victim loads such a website. Hence the new JScript9Legacy engine enforced stricter execution policies and improved object handling, which should help mitigate such attacks. Microsoft today has published a new support article detailing the problem. Neowin spotted it while browsing. The company says that JScript global definitions and execution context may fail to persist across scripts, potentially breaking older dependent apps and web-based components that relied on this legacy behavior. In the article Microsoft has confirmed that the issue stems from its move away from the older jscript9.dll engine in favor of jscript9legacy.dll. As mentioned above, while the newer engine was designed to address vulnerabilities and strengthen security it also changes how JScript handles execution context. As a result functions and definitions loaded by one script could no longer remain available to subsequent scripts once execution ended. The company notes that some applications worked correctly on earlier Windows versions because the older JScript engine automatically retained global definitions and execution state between scripts. Under the newer model though that behavior is disabled by default causing certain legacy workloads and polyfill-dependent scripts to fail. Microsoft says it addressed the problem via the KB5077241 update though the fix had not been enabled automatically in the following updates. As such admins must explicitly turn on persistent JScript execution context using a Registry setting that the tech giant shared today. The configuration can be applied to individual processes or system-wide through the FEATURE_ENABLE_PERSISTENCE registry key. The steps have been outlined below: Run the following command to create the feature control registry key: reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_ENABLE_PERSISTENCE" Under this key, create a new DWORD (32-bit) value. Configure the value as follows: To enable persistence for specific processes only: Set the value to 1 for each target process name. To enable persistence for all processes: Add * as the key name and set its value to 1. You can find the official support article here on Microsoft's website.
    • The possibility that milk gathers back into a glass implies that gravity can be 'reversed'.
    • VidCoder 12.20 by Razvan Serea  VidCoder is a DVD/Blu-ray ripping and video transcoding application for Windows. It uses HandBrake as its encoding engine. Calling directly into the HandBrake library gives it a more rich UI than the official HandBrake Windows GUI. VidCoder can rip DVDs but does not defeat the CSS encryption found in most commercial DVDs. You’ll need the NET 8 Desktop Runtime. If you don’t have it, VidCoder will prompt you to download and install it. The Portable version is self-contained and does not require any .NET Runtime to be installed. You do not need to install HandBrake for VidCoder to work. Feature list: Multi-threaded MP4, MKV containers Completely integrated encoding pipeline: everything is in one process and no huge intermediate temporary files H.264, H.265, MPEG-4, MPEG-2, VP8, Theora video Hardware-accelerated encoding with AMD VCE, Nvidia NVENC and Intel QuickSync AAC, MP3, Vorbis, AC3, FLAC audio encoding and AAC/AC3/MP3/DTS/DTS-HD passthrough Target bitrate, size or quality for video 2-pass encoding Decomb, detelecine, deinterlace, rotate, reflect, chroma smooth, colorspace filters Powerful batch encoding with simultaneous encodes Customizable Pickers to automatically pick audio and subtitle tracks, destination, titles and more Instant source previews Creates small encoded preview clips Pause, resume encoding VidCoder 12.20 changes: Updated HandBrake core to 1.11.2. Download: VidCoder 12.20 | 47.0 MB (Open Source) Download: Portable VidCoder 12.19 | 89.3 MB Link: VidCoder Home Page | Github | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      Jordan Smith earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Reacting Well
      BizSAR earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • First Post
      AndreaB earned a badge
      First Post
    • Week One Done
      Huge Trailer earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      Classifyskilleducation earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      590
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      185
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      76
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      73
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      66
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!