A newer version of Mozilla Firefox is available.
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1 out of 3 people found this review helpful
5 stars
Version: Mozilla Firefox 3.0.4
"A very fine browser..... but looking forward to FF3.1"
Pros: - Fast at page rendering
- Massive number of add-ons allow you to customize Firefox to the max.
- Improved memory management over version 2.x
- Security features
- It's a fun browser to useCons: - I had some stability issues when I initially installed FF3, however for the past month it has been extremely stable.
Summary: While I consider it the best browser out there today, FF is, in my opinion, not without problems. I have used it from its inception and always thought it to be fairly stable, that is until I downloaded and installed version 3. I had a number of minor and not so minor stability issues that I couldn't find an answer to, and was eventually forced to uninstall Firefox in total and then do a reinstall. Since then there have been no problems, and the browser with its 60+ extensions are running smooth as silk. What was the problem? Who knows.
- Firefox program opens slower if, as on my computer, it is ladened with lots of extensions.
- Bookmark manager needs work
What I do know is that its a lot of fun customizing this browser. With over a couple thousand extensions to choose from you can make Firefox into exactly what you want. This is what attracts me most to this browser. Oh yes, there are browsers that render pages faster, ones where the program opens quicker, ones that are better looking, and ones that score higher on the Acid 3 test, but no browser out there can come even remotely close to the feature set that Firefox offers. In this regard it's in a league by itself.
There are a number of areas where, in my opinion, Firefox could use more work. Browser stability would be one. Never in all the 4 years of Firefox's existence have I read so many reviews complaining about stability issues as I have with Firefox 3. The fact I too had problems makes me give more credibility to some of their complaints. What's going on here? I suspect it is, to a very large degree, due to the folks at Mozilla releasing version 3 early. The competition has really heated up with pressure on all the browser makers to get their product out there as soon as possible. It's better we get a well tested Firefox a tad late then an unstable version fraught with problems that comes out early. I sincerely hope this is the case with Firefox 3.1 due out in a few months.
Another area I would like to see some improvement is with the bookmark manager. With 25,000 plus bookmarks I find a well functioning bookmark manager all important, however the one in version 3 not only seems to open more sluggishly than than the one in version 2, but also isn't as easy to use. Hopefully it will be more polished in version3.1.
All in all I think Firefox 3.0.4 is a pretty good browser, and one I enjoy using. Is it perfect? No! I think it needs work in a few areas, but this only makes me all the more anxious to see what follows.
Updated on Nov 24, 2008ice_queen85..... Your review stirred my curiosity on a couple of issues.
1. If your system resources are being eaten up I wish you had stated what your page file usage was for Firefox. This can be ascertained by right clicking on the taskbar, clicking task manager, and them selecting the performance tab. Close everything, and see what the page file usage is. Then open FF and read the page file usage again.
2. How much memory do you have on your computer? Does you page file usage exceed your RAM? If it does you may be memory deficient.
3. How many extensions have you added to Firefox 3?
4. What number of processes are running?
On my system I have 3 GB of DDR2 800 RAM. With no applications open other then my Zonealarm firewall pro with antivirus and Spyware Terminator my page file usage runs at approx. 675 MB. When I open Firefox 3 it goes up another 200 MB to approx. 875 MB. All this with 38 processes running.
- 2 replies to this review
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Don't write a story just review the product!!!!!!!
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Yes, i agree with you. It was a bit touch when they first released Firefox 3. But with the last couple of updates it's become far more stable. Also i am too looking forward to FF3.1, CAN'T WAIT !!!
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