Is it just me or does Firefox suck?

[DaveM]

Since Mozilla upgraded to Version 5 (and now 6), there's been serious suckage around this computer. Browsing has slowed down considerably, some pages refuse to download at all, and a number of plug-ins (notably Java) are no longer compatible. Is it just a matter of my 2006 computer having have trouble with 2011 software? Or has Mozilla thrown us a lemon? I'm about ready to go back to (dare I say it) Internet Explorer.

[Sara]

I'm about ready to go back to (dare I say it) Internet Explorer.
No, Dave, no! Say it isn't so!! http://i456.photobucket.com/albums/qq287/schoolcounselor4kids/RollingEyesLittleGreenDude.gif

[Amy in Vermont]

IE 9 sucks too. Give me IE 8 and Firefox 3.x, maybe 4 if you must!

[paularoid]

MY point of view (even if somewhat flawed) is that you should go back to the latest version of Firefox 3.x. I currently run version 3.6.20 and I will -not- upgrade to later versions than that until such time as I am absolutely -forced- to do so. That'll be a cold day in he!! before I do that. I have NO problems with my current version and see NO advantage in upgrading. Like so many other software "upgrades" you are often forced to upgrade your system in order to make use of the latest and greatest when it comes software and that has always struck me in the wrong way.

It's the same way with "Windoze". My WinXP runs just fine and I don't need or want any later versions. Windows 7 is fine but for me to be able to run it I've got to get a whole new system and I'm not prepared to do that when my current system has NO problems doing absolutely EVERYTHING I need or want to do. I don't and shouldn't need a nuclear bomb to kill a gnat!

IF IT AIN'T BROKE - DON'T FIX IT!

PS: If you need the latest version of 3.x (as above) and you can't find it then let me know and I'll get it to you. I've learned to stockpile the earlier versions for just such an occasion. I can always go back to the one that worked before the "upgrade".

[dreamchaser728]

Since Mozilla upgraded to Version 5 (and now 6), there's been serious suckage around this computer. Browsing has slowed down considerably, some pages refuse to download at all, and a number of plug-ins (notably Java) are no longer compatible. Is it just a matter of my 2006 computer having have trouble with 2011 software? Or has Mozilla thrown us a lemon? I'm about ready to go back to (dare I say it) Internet Explorer.


I agree. I have a mac and firefox DOES suck!

[DaveM]

I am checking to see if I still have the older versions on hand. If I do, I'm rolling back to around 3.6. It worked great back then.

[paularoid]

I'm rolling back to around 3.6. It worked great back then.

Exactly my point when I said "IF IT AIN'T BROKE - DON'T FIX IT!"

You -can- get the old(er) versions direct from Mozilla still but you'll have to hunt for them a little. Again, if you don't have it or can't for some reason get it then let me know and I'll send it your way.

[DaveM]

I installed Version 3.6. And all is well again. Ridiculous.

[richthelandlord]

IF IT AIN'T BROKE - DON'T FIX IT!



There's no flaw in that logic - however both XP and Firefox are broke... XP to the point where it's now completely FUBAR and unsafe to use online without so many layers of security you grind to a halt, and Firefox to the point where it's almost as unsafe as IE unless you use the latest version 6.

The reason the FF update broke so many add-ons is that they all relied on FF's unsafe behaviour to work properly!
Give it a week or two and the updated versions of those add-ons will materialise as the developers catch up with the changes... the first ones are already beginning to happen.

[paularoid]

both XP and Firefox are broke...
In your opinion...


unsafe to use online without so many layers of security you grind to a halt,
Depends on the layers. While many "layers of security" are resource hogs full of holes, many are not. The trick is to find those that are not full of holes yet retain the security that you need. There's a lot to be said for safe security practices (safe computing) and a strong sense of paranoia when sitting at the keyboard because they really are out to get you.

And while I'm at it (editing), updating the extensions/add-ons to be more compatible with the latest and greatest(?) version of a browser does -not- necessarily decrease the amount that the browser itself hogs resources. It's like a fat person trimming their fingernails in order to lose weight. Sure they lose weight but they're still fat.

[Sara]

There's a lot to be said for safe security practices (safe computing) and a strong sense of paranoia when sitting at the keyboard because they really are out to get you.
Oh, I agree. Always use protection!

http://i456.photobucket.com/albums/qq287/schoolcounselor4kids/FirewallProtection.jpg

[richthelandlord]

Sure they lose weight but they're still fat.

I resemble that remark! lol

[Dee]

IE 9 sucks too. Give me IE 8 and Firefox 3.x, maybe 4 if you must!

Good advice, Amy.

I am a very reluctant upgrader. I use Firefox 3.6.13 and never have had a single problem with it. I also use IE 8, although rarely, but have never head trouble with that one either.

The grass is NOT always greener on the other side!

[sharoney]

maybe give google chrome a go. i have been happy with it

[DaveM]

Point taken on Windows XP. I have managed to avoid "catching anything" by and large but the security software required is so involved that while online, the security software ties up at least as much of the machine as the browser. That doesn't help performance one bit.

I'll try upgrading Firefox again in a bit and see if the various plug-ins have caught up with it. For now, the rollback is running reasonably well, though it certainly isn't as fast or as stable as it was before I "upgraded".

[paularoid]

the security software required is so involved that while online, the security software ties up at least as much of the machine as the browser.

Might I suggest that by employing the use of two extensions/add-ons you can probably do away with a LOT of the security software. I would suggest the employment of "Adblock Plus" and "NoScript". If you employ those and LEARN - TO - USE - THEM properly then you can probably do away with with some of your other security software (depending on what exactly it is that you use) and at the very least it'll probably speed up your system quite a bit. They both can make your browsing experience a LOT more pleasant because you won't have all that flashy stuff in your face (unless you want it to) and it won't be sucking up your processing power with extraneous processes going on.

I should also say that you should probably look into the addition of the extension/add-on called "BetterPrivacy". That one will allow you to take out all the 'supercookies' that accumulate on your system. Those things can seriously degrade your online browsing performance in an invisible way.

[aforeyego]

Oh, I agree. Always use protection!

http://i456.photobucket.com/albums/qq287/schoolcounselor4kids/FirewallProtection.jpg

I just showed that to DONALD, Sara, he's absolutely f*l*a*b*b*e*r*g*a*s*t*e*d AND e*l*e*c*t*r*i*f*i*e*d by the very thought of this way of totally *safe* security ,,,,,
as you can see >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 1173 ...

... on the other hand, he's thinking about it ...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 1174 ...



[now he's brought to the scratch 1175 ]

[DaveM]

Appreciate the advice, Paul--I hadn't heard of those. Right now I am using Microsoft Security Essentials, Malwarebytes, and a couple of others that I forget at the moment. Amazingly, each catches things that the others miss. How many of those may be false alarms I have no idea, but I certainly don't feel like removing any at present. A browser plug-in that would replace one or more, however, could be a great help.

[paularoid]

Appreciate the advice, Paul--I hadn't heard of those. Right now I am using Microsoft Security Essentials, Malwarebytes, and a couple of others that I forget at the moment. Amazingly, each catches things that the others miss. How many of those may be false alarms I have no idea, but I certainly don't feel like removing any at present. A browser plug-in that would replace one or more, however, could be a great help.

What you have listed there you should leave alone assuming that the Malwarebytes that you have is the free version (because it's on-demand only rather than memory-resident). Just make sure that they're regularly updated,... even if you have to update it manually as you would with the freeware version Malwarebytes. MSE can be set to update itself regularly.

What Adblock Plus does should be fairly obvious from the name but you should be best off with it if it's using a subscription list,.... which is to say that there is a regularly updated list of ads that it blocks. Usually you're told that and given a choice of lists to subscribe to when you download it. Blocking ads that show up in your browser decreases demand on your processing power to a huge degree. If your browser doesn't have to deal with all those flashy, blinking, ads then it runs much smoother. For the most part you can leave that one alone but if you constantly run into the same ad over and over again and it's really getting on your nerves then you can right-click on that particular ad and exclude it from everyplace you go. THIS is where you will probably need to learn a bit about it. There are different ways to include it into your block-list and you'll need to figure out the best way. Generally though you can leave it alone unless you really want to tweak things a bit.

What NoScript does should also be relatively obvious from the name. It blocks scripts. This one works in conjunction with Adblock Plus quite nicely. They compliment each other well. This one however, you'll probably need to a more active part in using because there are some scripts that you want to run just so you can get the interactivity from a page or site that you need to be able to get things done. You can actively turn it on or off for selected pages or whole sites even. To get the feel of where you do or don't need it though you need to actively participate in the running of it as you browse. After a while it becomes second nature and you hard notice anymore.

BetterPrivacy is an effective tool against the new "Supercookies" that are all the rage of sites these days because they store a LOT more information that the more normal straight-text cookies we're so used to. They're consequently a LOT larger,... AND,... they "phone home". They don't really phone-home but they constantly add information and grow larger and larger. You cannot just delete them either like the cookies of old because they're stored in numerous places and once you delete them they come back. BetterPrivacy hunts them down and deletes them. You'll notice that after you delete a whole batch of them your systems runs better. For a good run-down on supercookies look here:
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22supercookie%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

[paularoid]

This is what I'm running right now without a hitch.

http://blog.ffextensionguru.com/2011/08/16/firefox-3-6-20-released/

Firefox 3.6.20 Released

Mozilla has released the 18th update for Firefox 3.6 on June 21st. This update fixed several security issues & stability issues. See release notes (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/3.6.20/releasenotes/) for full details. Users can get the update by going to Help >> Check For Updates.

Support for Gecko 1.9.2/Firefox 3.6 will continue. Next release will be Firefox 3.6.21, with a release date likely to be around September 27, 2011. Firefox 3.5 has reached end of life support as of April 2011, depending on your operating system you should upgrade to Firefox 3.6 or 6.0

[paularoid]

And it just finished upgrading itself to 3.6.21 without a hitch.


This is what I'm running right now without a hitch.

http://blog.ffextensionguru.com/2011/08/16/firefox-3-6-20-released/

Firefox 3.6.20 Released

Mozilla has released the 18th update for Firefox 3.6 on June 21st. This update fixed several security issues & stability issues. See release notes (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/3.6.20/releasenotes/) for full details. Users can get the update by going to Help >> Check For Updates.

Support for Gecko 1.9.2/Firefox 3.6 will continue. Next release will be Firefox 3.6.21, with a release date likely to be around September 27, 2011. Firefox 3.5 has reached end of life support as of April 2011, depending on your operating system you should upgrade to Firefox 3.6 or 6.0

[DaveM]

BetterPrivacy definitely worked--it removed 517 "supercookies". Now to see if performance has improved at all.

[paularoid]

BetterPrivacy definitely worked--it removed 517 "supercookies". Now to see if performance has improved at all.

You can also get a standalone product that does the same thing if either you don't have Firefox or you don't want to use an extension/add-on. It's called "Flash Cookie Cleaner". Imagine that. :p In any case it can be found here (http://www.flashcookiecleaner.com/):

http://www.flashcookiecleaner.com/

Their description:

Flash Cookie Cleaner is a small, easy-to-use application that lets you manage and remove Flash cookies. Flash cookies are created by the Adobe Flash plug-in and can be used to track you online, for marketing purposes, for website analytics, and to store site information (like login info or high scores for online games). Most Flash cookies can be deleted, but you may want to save cookies from trusted sites. Flash Cookie Cleaner also includes a Scheduler to automate the cleaning process and an Ignore List for cookies you wish to save.
Mine is an older version that does not have a Scheduler so I guess I'll be getting this new version right about now.

[Mary6906]

BetterPrivacy definitely worked--it removed 517 "supercookies". Now to see if performance has improved at all.

http://laughingsquid.com/wp-content/uploads/cookie-monster-20080603-133713.jpg

[DaveM]

Actually, the browser does seem to come up faster and run more smoothly than it was. As an aside, I run a "cleaner" utility once a week or so to get rid of temp files, broken links, registry problems, etc. Am currently using IObit (free version) which puts a little icon on the desktop that supposedly indicates computer performance and when running the cleaner is needed. Strangely, I have never noticed any improvement in performance after "cleaning", with this or any similar utility. Perhaps merely because I keep up on it?

[paularoid]

http://blog.ffextensionguru.com/2011/09/06/firefox-3-6-226-0-2-released/

Firefox 3.6.22/6.0.2 Released
by The Guru

Mozilla has pushed out another emergency update for Firefox 3.6 and 6.0 due to more fall out from the DigiNotar hack back in July. This time around the focus is on revoking Staat der Nederlanden Certificates. More information here (http://blog.mozilla.com/security/2011/09/02/diginotar-removal-follow-up/). Users can update to the newest versions via:

* Firefox 3.6 users go to Help > Check for Updates or download directly (http://mozilla.org/firefox/all-older.html)
* Firefox 6.0 users Firefox Button > Help > About Firefox or download directly (http://mozilla.org/firefox)

Note: Since Firefox 3.6 uses the old release process, all features, bug fixes, improvements, etc.planned for the upcoming Firefox 3.6.21 release on September 27th are being rolled over to Firefox 3.6.23.

Mozilla Developer’s News (https://developer.mozilla.org/devnews/index.php/2011/09/06/firefox-6-0-2-and-3-6-22-security-updates-now-available/)

[aabram]

I can't use Firefox at all on this old and slow laptop. Ubuntu (on the last one) was great,and I've never liked GoogleChrome. So it's back to IE for me as well, although this too is really slow :( I know AVG slows it down considerably, but my theory is that there are too many apps on this computer for it to function as broadband should. I'm going to have a look through the apps and delete some to try and speed it up abit, and then just MAYBE, Firefox will work?

Love Annabel x

[Roady]

IE 9 sucks too. Give me IE 8 and Firefox 3.x, maybe 4 if you must!

I've tried several different browsers, including Firefox, Chrome and Opera but after using every version of Internet Explorer I just can't stick with one of the others long enough for it to become automatic. I think it really is a case of not being able to teach an old dog new tricks!

Now my problem is IE 9. I agree Amy, it sucks! I tried uninstalling IE 9 by uninstalling the update under Programs and Features but after rebooting my computer as instructed I got a message saying it was unable to make the changes and was reverting back to previous state or something like that. Is there any easy way of reinstalling IE 8?

Thanks,

Barb

Well I tried it again and for some reason the instructions said to add the 64 bit short cut to my desktop. Not sure why. But anyway I did the exact same thing as before except for that and it worked. Now I'm happy!

[paularoid]

The one alternative to all these other browsers mentioned here that I like is 'K-Meleon'. I -really- like it except for the fact that there really aren't any 'whiz-bang' features in it. It's just a browser,.... period. It's really light and nimble. It uses the 'gecko' engine just like Firefox and all it variants but it's -extremely- light on resource demands. You -can- dig into it and tailor it a lot toward your needs and desires but I'm not dedicated enough (anymore) to attempt that. If what you want is just a plain, simple, light, and FAST browser then you might give this one a try.

Again,... it doesn't really have any 'whiz-bang' features and I've come to like all the different add-ons that you can get and use with Firefox. If one could -easily- incorporate those into K-Meleon I'd be switching back to it and not looking back. It's -very- secure partly because of the gecko engine powering it and with the addition of a good firewall and a good antivirus program you'd be all set for bear so to speak.

I can probably say the same (above) for Opera but there again it just doesn't have all the 'whiz-bang' add-ons that you can get for Firefox.

I almost forgot,... oops,... you can get K-Meleon here (http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/):

http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/

[DaveM]

I added a Firefox add-on called "Ghostery" which is supposed to detect and if you wish shut off all tracking software present at a given web site. It slows my computer down a bit, but it is amazing how many "trackers" are present on some web sites--it finds 8-10 routinely. No idea whether it is accomplishing anything constructive or improving my computer security, but it is interesting.

For those who may be wondering, janisian.com does not have any tracking software on it, at least, nothing that Ghostery can find.

[paularoid]

I added a Firefox add-on called "Ghostery" which is supposed to detect and if you wish shut off all tracking software present at a given web site. It slows my computer down a bit, but it is amazing how many "trackers" are present on some web sites--it finds 8-10 routinely. No idea whether it is accomplishing anything constructive or improving my computer security, but it is interesting.

For those who may be wondering, janisian.com does not have any tracking software on it, at least, nothing that Ghostery can find.

FYI, the latest version (and perhaps earlier as well) of Firefox has this feature,... sort of. It doesn't detect and report the sites that track you but you -can- set it to tell the sites that -do- track you to -not- track you.

You find it by going to 'Tools' > 'Options' > and then click on the 'Privacy' tab at the top.
The topmost choice there has a check-box for 'Tracking' where you can put in a check to enable or disable this feature.

Since I put a check in that box it seems to me that my browsing experiences have sped up a slight degree. If I'm correct about that then I -assume- this is because there's not a lot of activity going on in the background anymore.

I could very well be mistaken but that's the way it seems. I don't really have a good way to verify it but that's the way it seems. Perhaps it's just a 'placebo' effect. <chuckle>

[DaveM]

I may have to try the new version again....I rolled back to a much earlier 3.2-something version when an "upgrade" slowed my computer down to the point of unusability. Perhaps they fixed the fix.

[paularoid]

I may have to try the new version again....I rolled back to a much earlier 3.2-something version when an "upgrade" slowed my computer down to the point of unusability. Perhaps they fixed the fix.

...and make sure you've got an earlier version to roll back TO if you run into problems. That way you don't have to struggle to find it (the earlier version) if you have to. Make sure you do this BEFORE you 'upgrade'. It would be a good idea to save your bookmarks too so that you don't lose those in the potentially ensuing craziness that -might- come about as a result. Always leave yourself an 'out'.

[DaveM]

I lost most of my bookmarks during a computer crash a couple of months ago. Also lost all of the storage folders for Windows Live Mail....which are presumably out there "under the cloud" somewhere rather than being on my computer in a form where they could have been and would have been backed-up weekly. All my word processor files, thankfully, are safe and sound, though since they're not in Microsoft Works' "history" any more, they're a nightmare to find.

I am finding that this 2005/2006 computer is reaching the point at which it cannot even run some web applications without a fair amount of lag (amazing, when I consider that not long ago the "dual core Athlon processor" was supposed to be the end-all and be-all of the computer universe), though my net connection seems to have somewhat improved. Might be about time to take up a friend's offer and have a proper machine built. I really want to be able to play World Of Tanks.