Zenning!

If you are web developer like me, who relies on Firefox for better productivity through its excellent add-ons, such as Firebug, then you must be feeling frustrated with the slow (sometimes extremely slow) performance of Firefox 4 (and/or previous versions as well). Browser speed is of course relative: I am comparing Firefox to Chrome in this case.

Turns out that Firefox is not the only one to blame; there are a host of add-ons that render Firefox to a sluggish speed, both at boot and operating times.

But fikar not, I have heard that folks at Mozilla are identifying the trouble-making add-ons and, as a first step, they have published a list of the most sluggish Firefox add-ons (something like a Hall of Shame). In addition, they are also helping out the add-on publishers to help them improve their add-ons. Here’s how the chart looks like at the moment:

I am switching to Google Chrome for my normal browsing, but Firefox will remain my preferred browser for development!

Problem:

There\’s this annoying little bugger in Firefox, where, out of the blue and just so randomly, the address bar stops responding to the Enter key after you have entered the website\’s URL!

No matter what you do: press Enter, Ctrl + Enter, click the (Go) Arrow button … Firefox would sit there idle, as if it\’s ignoring the Enter key, while the cursor keeps on blinking in the address bar as it is.

Read the solution after the jump.

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Finally, there is a Firefox theme, which is not just pleasing to the eye with its subtle color theme but also, everything in the theme, every detail of Firefox has been worked upon with outstanding finesse.

The theme is called Silvermel. Here are two screenshots from the official site, showing Firefox and Thunderbird versions of the theme:

Looks great, no? The Silvermel theme fits perfectly on Firefox 3. Download it from here.

More screenshots after the jump …
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Upgrade to Firefox 3 Release Candidate 1 was not as smooth or satisfying as I would have expected it to be. Many of the extensions I use were marked as incompatible and there were no updates available to them for Firefox 3 either.

Firefox 3: Incompatible Extensions

The following extensions (I use) are as yet incompatible with this new version of Firefox:

The ones that are most essential to my Firefox experience are PicLens and Tab Mix Plus. Other extensions that came in handy now and then are del.icio.us Buttons, Firebug, MeasureIt, Remove It Permanently, Screen Grab! and Web Developer.

Firefox 3: Working Extensions

The extensions that are compatible and working (after updates) are:

StumbleUpon\’s extension is not working perfectly though, as the images displayed in Google search for rating and other stuff appear broken.

Firefox 3 Default Theme: So Bland!

The theme that I had grown used to, iPox, became an outcast, and I had to settle with the bland default Vista theme of FF 3!

There are only a couple of themes available for Firefox 3; none of them suit me. I ended up applying a theme that merely contained icons, though much better ones than the ones available in the default theme for Vista – Azerty III.

Not Feeling at Home

Although I loved the new features, especially live searches through your bookmarks and history as you type in the address bar, the add to bookmarks, site info, and bookmarks being tag enabled (awesome!), but I didn\’t feel at home!

With the bland theme and incompatible extensions, this didn\’t seem like the Firefox I had become used to.

I wanted my money back! My Firefox 2 back!

The Little Fiasco: Getting Back to Firefox 2

I had made no backups of any sorts (assumed, wrongfully, that everything would go smoothly), and having overwritten the existing installation of Firefox 2, there was no way to use Firefox 2 but to reinstall it … over Firefox 3!

After reinstalling it, Firefox 2 refused to start up! Just great!

Installed Firefox 3 back, which, thankfully, worked.

Hanging on to Firefox 3 RC1

For now, I have adjusted myself with the bland Firefox 3, hoping and checking for extension and theme updates every now and then.

I am sure most developers are already updating their extensions and themes for Firefox 3. So let\’s wait for the updates and the final version to enjoy this vastly improved, feature-packed version of Firefox!

It has not even been two years since the arrival of Firefox 2, the version of the open source browser that built up on the success of the first Firefox version (and 1.5) by further denting its way into the desktop browser market share, taking Internet Explorer head-on.

With recent reports of Firefox gaining 29 percent browser market share in Europe, even nearly 50 percent in parts of Europe, Firefox version 2 proved its mettle as a stable browser that didn\’t let you – neither the user nor the developer – down.

Now make way for Firefox 3!

The good folks at Mozilla have released the first Release Candidate of Firefox 3 to the public.

It looks pretty solid. If you, like me, love getting your hands dirty (and your computer for that matter) before others, then download Firefox 3 RC1.

Download Firefox 3 Release Candidate 1

Caution: With my initial experience of installing Firefox 3 RC 1, it is not going to be such a smooth ride as far as the extensions and themes are concerned, so be ready for that. More on it in my next post.