Mozilla has released Firefox 7. Unlike releases of Firefox 5 and Firefox 6 which were relatively minor upgrades to the browser, Firefox 7 includes a number of significant improvements, most important of which is probably the drastically reduced memory usage.
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Member since:2005-07-06
And Chrome inflating itself to version 14 (and updating itself far more often) is surely "twice as worse" than Firefox is? It is interesting to note how Mozilla is beginning to "hide" the version numbers of its products - the download buttons no longer reveal the version and if they could remove it from the "About..." box, I bet they would!
However, although they've been copying some of Chrome's features recently (and not all the copied Chrome ideas have been good ones, mind you), Mozilla has yet to copy the idea of "silent updating" that Chrome uses. This is why you see people whine incessantly about new Firefox releases (normally every 6-8 weeks unless there's an emergency fix) and no-one complains about the many more updates Chrome gets (every 2 weeks typically).
Also don't forget that IE on Windows often gets a monthly update as part of the "Patch Tuesday" - again, more often than Firefox, but no-one complains about that either (mainly because MS don't bother changing the major version number and it's "bundled" with a bunch other updates, which are often all automatically applied).
So, yes, Firefox increases its major version number at about the same rate as Chrome, but like Chrome, just learn to ignore the version number really. I think Mozilla should have done a year.release version scheme (e.g. 2011.01 for the first release of the year and so on - gives them 99 releases [which could include alphas and betas inbetween stable releases] a year, which should be more than enough). That way, no-one would moan about the major version changing because that would only happen at least 12 months apart!
Member since:2005-06-29
Member since:2010-06-08
Member since:2007-09-23
But that means that they would go from 7 to 2011. Inflation of almost 3000%!
Member since:2007-03-30
Member since:2010-06-08
Member since:2011-02-10
I have here an 8Gb, Win7 64, quad Phenom box and have it installed Firefox 7.0. As a Google Chrome user, I tested firefox right away, doing my usual browsing habits opening tabs, typing a search query, then it suddenly very slow, I can't even click the tabs and I have to wait for 10 to 15 secs. I have never experience this in Google Chrome, unless there are too many tabs I may experience slowness.
Forget about the memory reduction, it ain't useful when it will compromise stability. Stability is more important to users. Now I'm back again at Google Chrome. When time is wasted, it is turn off.
Member since:2005-08-18
Member since:2006-12-05
No, there was a time you could look at the version number and tell if there were some major changes or not. You know, things like major compatibility and UI changes. Firefox's version number has only recently become "completely arbitrary"... since, what, Firefox 4, 5? Never mind the whole incompatible extensions mess that is brought to extreme levels with these rapid version number inflations.
Edited 2011-09-27 22:48 UTC
Member since:2005-07-31
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.
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2006-12-05
...yet another f***ing inflated version number.