updates Meet the browser: Firefox Next

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

Windows 64-bit is now Tier-3 and not much priority plus they are planning to disable crash reporter so I think it is more like nightmare... Because once in future they enabled Firefox 64-bit to Tier 1 etc, all their crash reporter servers surely gonna crash because of lot of unknow crash signature coming in...

Very bad technical point of view decision...

I do not know why it was crashing on users. The 32 Bit Crashed many many times. I , to the best of my knowledge have never had a crash using the 64 Bit version. Maybe some users don't know where to find the proper plug-ins, IDK. But I agree with you Zippy, it is a very bad decision on Mozilla's part.

[encarta]

Hi guys, I'm sorry for posting this question here, but this thread is alive and you guys probably know everything about Firefox.

So, I want to completely remove Google from my life and for me, the only alternative to Chrome is Firefox. But there's one thing that's killing me. If I import Chrome's bookmarks, favicons are not imported. There used to be a plug-in for restoring/refreshing favicons, it was called Check Places. It doesn't exist anymore (at least not in the extension "store"). Are there any other extensions that can restore favicons?

Thanks in advance

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

I do not know why it was crashing on users. The 32 Bit Crashed many many times. I , to the best of my knowledge have never had a crash using the 64 Bit version. Maybe some users don't know where to find the proper plug-ins, IDK. But I agree with you Zippy, it is a very bad decision on Mozilla's part.

The 64bit version is much buggier than the 32bit version, and was never intended to be tested by end users (But in the end more people were using the unsupported 64bit release than the supported 32bit release, which was one of the reasons why it was turned off)

Every time I tried the 64bit nightly I'd get about 2-3 crashes, and on average only 1 of those would ever have been caught by the crash reporter. So even if 64bit Firefox was providing most of the top crasher bugs, I'd say they were still missing out on a bunch.

[ArialBlue]

There is no one to be blamed for bad 64-bit support other than the developers.

Any good browser should start transitioning to more modern technologies.

How long are you going to rely on a WOW COMPATIBILITY LAYER? Till it will be gone?

Till Microsoft wont certify 32-bit apps? What?

I am not saying that it is normal for a browser to use more than ~3GB RAM.

But it sure beats getting on OOM when you have 8/16/32 GB RAM free.

Also proper 64-bit support means of equivalent or better performance than 32-bit.

Obviously. Less Assembly Code. Better performance handling 64-bit numbers and SSE2 and more registers.

That is all there is to it. Besides Linux and Mac are 64-bit already.

So WTF. Lead Mozilla. Not follow.

[bawz]

hate to say it, but Mozilla will eventually Crumble just like Netscape. even Open Source Browser such as Epiphany are starting to take features from Chrome that Mozilla still lack. another problem with Mozilla, they do not have any Goals, just look at when they said they'd dump 64bit support browsers, now they dig ther 64bit browser out of the Grave an put life back into it. an you call that a Goal? they have none.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

The WoW64 layer won't be removed from a proper consumer release of Windows (not talking about locked down crap like WinRT) for a very long time, Microsoft only just got rid of 16bit compatibility recently. And it's not like it would just vanish overnight, if Microsoft do remove it, it'll be over a very obvious and slow transition period.

There are benefits to moving to a pure 64bit build, but they won't benefit a program like Firefox much (For example, 64bit Firefox is slower than 32bit Firefox)

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

The WoW64 layer won't be removed from a proper consumer release of Windows (not talking about locked down crap like WinRT) for a very long time, Microsoft only just got rid of 16bit compatibility recently. And it's not like it would just vanish overnight, if Microsoft do remove it, it'll be over a very obvious and slow transition period.

There are benefits to moving to a pure 64bit build, but they won't benefit a program like Firefox much (For example, 64bit Firefox is slower than 32bit Firefox)

I did not notice a drop in performance using the 64 Bit version of Firefox. Maybe it is your machine or your OS? Should MS do away with their 64 Bit Browser as well?

[.stan]

(For example, 64bit Firefox is slower than 32bit Firefox)

That is only the case because Mozilla sucks at optimizing it, take a look at Waterfox.

[bawz]

Thread discussing feature landings and bugs etc in Pre-Release Builds of Firefox

Rapid release Calendar

Development Status Related Sites :

Delivery Meetings

Meeting Notes

Features Priority List

Are We Fast Yet

Are We Pretty Yet

Are We Native Yet

Are We Slim Yet

Downloads :

Firefox Current Release

Firefox Aurora/Beta Channel

Nightly Builds

Hourly Builds

http://ftp.mozilla.o...htly/latest-ux/

http://ftp.mozilla.o...y/latest-trunk/

https://hg.mozilla.org/projects/ux

[+Zlip792 MVC]

Firefox really doing great in WebIDL (JS class based bindings) and many of these are gonna land today.

Snappy work is now really progressing especially off the main thread sweets landing once in a week at least. So snappiness is improved great deal for me but I noticed one issue, my old profile of several months history does not load site quickly if I open Firefox which is very pathetic although solved this by making new profile.

[+Zlip792 MVC]

Firefox progress on WebIDL can be measured on this simple benchmark given on IE Test Center: http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/HTML5/DOMCapabilities/Default.html

IE9 and 10 score perfect 24 out of 24

Chrome score 21 out of 24

Previously Firefox used to score 17 out of 24 but now latest Nightly score 23 out of 24, so I think it is great improvement.

Salute to Boris dev working on WebIDL work.

[bogas04]

Just in case you haven't looked at new Downloads View in Nightlies , it is tasty :p

[.stan]

I think the whole concept of the library window is pretty ****ty. Should just integrate that into the options UI (incontent ofc)

[+Zlip792 MVC]

I think the whole concept of the library window is pretty ****ty. Should just integrate that into the options UI (incontent ofc)

That's the ultimate plan to implement Incontent UI.

[TheLegendOfMart]

How do I get the download window back, my firefox profile is at least a few years old i back it up with mozbackup and opening library takes ages and firefox freezes till it opens.

[+Zlip792 MVC]

So lets cook list of updates (In Inbound):

JS Engine cleanup: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=752578 , https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=825892 , https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=825966 , https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=824312

ECMA Internationalization API: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=769872 ,

WebIDL: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=810644 , https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=820665 , https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=825527 ,

DOM: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=823225 , https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=811753 , https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=821580 , https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=821177 , https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=819845

Speedup consistent returning DOM getters using TI (Type Inference): https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=818050

(Snappy) Cycle Collection (C++ functions related): https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=785493

Don't start telemetry case: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=821879

Regression in table rendering: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=810586

[bawz]

what are the features planned for Firefox 21 anyone know yet?

https://wiki.mozilla...elease_Tracking

[+Zlip792 MVC]

Some more from Inbound:

Code refactoring and cleanup: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=825866

DOM: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=825949 , https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=816340 , https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=818708

JS Engine: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=824217

Phishing Protection: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=650935 ,

Private Browsing UI related (in Autostart): https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=826371

Performance improvement (Backed out): https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=791546

Ion Monkey Improvement: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=822436

Networking Cache performance improvement: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=725993

Click to Play Doorhanger bug: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=820303

Per Window Private Browsing bug: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=826063

Plugins issue on Linux: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=814200

JS Engine GC bug: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=826435 (More precisely Exact Rooting - Generational GC bug)

Social API: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=824800

Per Window Private Browsing & Addon SDK: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=815847

(Snappy) ADD UI when Plugins become unresponsive (backed out): https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=805591

Cookie Manager bug: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=826159

MemShrink (Added new memory reporter): https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=826553

[Digitalfox]

Thanks Zlip :)

[Kirkburn]

What I like the most about using Nightly builds is that you never know what fixes are included untill hours after you update.

A pretty detailed list of things changing in the nightly builds day-to-day can be found here: http://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/pushloghtml?startdate=2+days+ago&enddate=now

It's not surprising that you always don't get a nicely formatted list (here, or on mozillazine) until after the update, because nightly generation is an automated process - the daily lists rely on the kindness of volunteers.

Changes can land any time of day, by many different people, and not all of them are noteworthy (many aren't listed even on the most detailed changelogs that volunteers produce). Nor, to be honest, does it matter what's in the lists most of the time - Firefox developers watch their respective areas, and many changes have no relevance to end-users.

Then there's the fact that things can get pulled out of nightly at a moment's notice, rendering the changelog incorrect. The changelog for one day could have a quarter of the items negated the next day by a backout.

Essentially, I'm saying this is normal, and expected. I work at a software company, and even though I *love* reading changelogs, it would be ridiculous to try and effectively watch everything that's going on. Important changes for end-users have different methods of communication.

So - be very happy for the kindness of volunteers who look out for interesting changes from nightly to nightly, even if Firefox will survive just fine without them :)

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

A pretty detailed list of things changing in the nightly builds day-to-day can be found here: http://hg.mozilla.or...ago&enddate=now

It's not surprising that you always don't get a nicely formatted list (here, or on mozillazine) until after the update, because nightly generation is an automated process - the daily lists rely on the kindness of volunteers.

Changes can land any time of day, by many different people, and not all of them are noteworthy (many aren't listed even on the most detailed changelogs that volunteers produce). Nor, to be honest, does it matter what's in the lists most of the time - Firefox developers watch their respective areas, and many changes have no relevance to end-users.

Then there's the fact that things can get pulled out of nightly at a moment's notice, rendering the changelog incorrect. The changelog for one day could have a quarter of the items negated the next day by a backout.

Essentially, I'm saying this is normal, and expected. I work at a software company, and even though I *love* reading changelogs, it would be ridiculous to try and effectively watch everything that's going on. Important changes for end-users have different methods of communication.

So - be very happy for the kindness of volunteers who look out for interesting changes from nightly to nightly, even if Firefox will survive just fine without them :)

I know where and how to get the updates. It is at one Time the updates were posted before the release of the Nightly. I intended to follow Fx 20 through the cycle but the Aurora version is still at 19. So I wait. When Mozilla came out with These Branches one was able to go from one to the other like from Nightly to Aurora and so forth. That lasted about 10 days I think. Anyway now I am on Fx21 and it works just fine so maybe I will follow it through.

[+Zlip792 MVC]

Firefox 20 Nightly is marked as 21 now, so FF20 is in Aurora stage now.

Firefox is going amazing path nowadays.

I am loving every single bit of it now and it is vastly improved in every single way from FF3.6+ havock era.

Also DOM performance is quite splendid, you can witness it in several artifical benchmark sites as well like Peacekeeper, Dromaeo benchmark etc.

Some highlight of landings which I does not manage to cover due to my college classes starting. Sorry folks.

HTML5 "undo" feature implementation, SVG WebIDL elements, Anonymouse Health Report stuff

Some more info from Inbound:

Ion Monkey: https://bugzilla.moz...g.cgi?id=826734, https://bugzilla.moz...g.cgi?id=827659 (test failing more appropriate),

Crash fix: https://bugzilla.moz...g.cgi?id=827274

GC: https://bugzilla.moz...g.cgi?id=827929 , https://bugzilla.moz...g.cgi?id=799252 ,

Regression fix appeared on Firefox automated TALOS tests: https://bugzilla.moz...g.cgi?id=827188

Phishing Protection: https://bugzilla.moz...g.cgi?id=825891

Shaping library Update rollup: https://bugzilla.moz...g.cgi?id=826226

Crash fix (Appearing in FF18 as well): https://bugzilla.moz...g.cgi?id=823041

SVG Rendering bug: https://bugzilla.moz...g.cgi?id=825411

CC related (SNAPPY) fix: https://bugzilla.moz...g.cgi?id=820378 |ALSO BACKPORTED TO FF20|

WebIDL: https://bugzilla.moz...g.cgi?id=810644

FF Theme related fix: https://bugzilla.moz...g.cgi?id=827524

HTML5 Scoped Style Attribute Support landed BUT GOT BACKOUT: https://bugzilla.moz...g.cgi?id=508725

CSS2 test fail fix: https://bugzilla.moz...g.cgi?id=605231

CSS Flexbox related layout bug: https://bugzilla.moz...g.cgi?id=826149

Download Panel: https://bugzilla.moz...g.cgi?id=827298 , https://bugzilla.moz...g.cgi?id=827164

Per Window Private Browsing UI for desktop: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=729865

Also work on dense or sparse arrays fast path is again started by Brian Hackett it will make Firefox make particularly quite better in Peackeeper "Array" benchmark where Chrome literally destory every other browser and gain massive points lead.

Not only this, it will also improve other web apps performance.

[Kirkburn]

I know where and how to get the updates. It is at one Time the updates were posted before the release of the Nightly. I intended to follow Fx 20 through the cycle but the Aurora version is still at 19. So I wait. When Mozilla came out with These Branches one was able to go from one to the other like from Nightly to Aurora and so forth. That lasted about 10 days I think. Anyway now I am on Fx21 and it works just fine so maybe I will follow it through.

Yes, Aurora does not update automatically for a few days after the Nightly merge, so the code can stabilise.

Why would you follow a specific version through the cycle? That seems somewhat pointless.

All you would do is not get any new features for four months, and potentially lose features as they're backed out for not being stable enough. What benefit is there? (And you end up with the problem that your browser wants to update, but you are avoiding it ... sort of).

[cetla]

Anyone notice the tab animation in FF18 drop frames a lot? I switched back to 17.0.1 and its fine.

[mancode20]

Now that 18 is out, anyone have a link to 19 beta 1? From The FTP or wherever. Also, what has changed from 18 to 19? Thanks!