The Mozilla foundation has released Firefox1.5 today. I have installed it, which went smoothly and without issue. It also checked my extensions for compatabilty and with any new piece of software, not all of them work. I am sure within the week these will be updated and corrected.
I have not noticed a pile of changes with the following exceptions. The options screen has a horizontal navigation verses side navigation now along with sub sections having tabs. Not a big deal but seems easier.
Notice the TABBED BROWSING option there. That is from an extension.
The RSS/ATOM feed detection for adding a “live bookmark” has moved from the bottom right corner to the end of the address bar. I was used to it at the bottom but understand the sensiblity of moving it to the top.
There is also a convenient “Clear Private Data” option in the TOOLS menu. That pops up another window asking what you want to clear. Of course, you can turn off the second window if desired.
It is suppossed to have new update feature that are suppossed to be “patches” verses full installs. We will see what happens when the first ones become available.
It still does not pass the Acid2 test, which is unfortunate. At least my configuration did not. Perhaps an extension caused the problem.
I also tested the claimed improved pop-up blocking and it seemed to do a fine job for the tests I ran against it. Overall, nothing mind numbing. I am hoping to see WAY less resources used. I heard the memory leak problem was actually associated with the Flash 7 plugin and not Firefox itself, but I cannot confirm or deny that.
Over all seems to be a fine update but nothing revelotionary. Those types of updates are for numerical increases anyway. Firefox 2.0 is slated for early to mid 2006 and 3.0 for 2007.
Also, the Mozilla website received a face lift with this new relase. I think it looks cleaner. Check out the firefox page for a more robust list of updates.
Dowload Firefox 1.5
Update
After more playing the following changes/shortcomings.
The password “remember” screen has been reworded into a more familar language setup. Not a big deal but to some users it may help clarify things.
Another problem, like the extensions, is the additional search engines. I cannot seem to add ones. It appears like Wikipedia was added but it does not funciton. This should be much like the extensions and with the week these should be cooled off.
Updates – Dec 1- 24 hours use
Another new item I have noticed is the “timeout” screen. It is updated with a bit more “style”. Not that this screen really mattered before but it is an idication of Firefox setting rules verses following. Here is what it looks like:
Another feature is the extension feature an UPDATE NOW button next to them when they are ready to be updated. Already 2 were updated today (as I mentioned above, it would not take long). ( Sorry, no screen shot, I forgot to grab one)
