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Firefox 1.5 Beta Set for September 8

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

September 2, 2005, 12:03 PM

Mozilla has announced its beta schedule for the upcoming release of Firefox 1.5, according to a posting on its developer news Web site. Beta 1 will be released on September 8, followed by a second beta on October 5.

Furthermore, the first release candidate of the browser is expected on October 28, which indicates the final version of Firefox 1.5 would likely come sometime during the month of November.

Developers warned, however, that the dates could shift depending on bugs and user feedback during the beta phase.

Alpha builds of the browser, code-named "Deer Park," have shown some of the features that may make it into the final version. Although, Mozilla has made no official announcement of the new features that are expected to be included in Firefox 1.5.

Some of the current enhancements include a better software update system to serve browser upgrades, the ability to reorder tabs through drag and drop functionality, and improved pop-up blocking.

Early alpha versions have also shown the 'SnapBack' technology that allows for faster navigation through Web pages. Also, better support has been announced for Mac OS X. Early versions of the Firefox browser have proven to be crash-prone on Apple's operating system.

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By 4wd

posted Sep 6, 2005 - 9:36 PM

1. How hard is: Right-click on titlebar, choose Customise, drag Bookmark icon to somewhere on a toolbar? Instant button to open/close bookmarks in a sidepanel.

2. Interestingly when I middle-click on a link it loads in a new tab 'in the background' - no disruption to current tab view. Possibly due to an extension like 'Tabbrowser Preferences'.

But the point is: it can all be customised, unlike a program in which they try to put everything in. Add what you want, remove/disable what you don't.

Score: 0

By chspnll

posted Sep 6, 2005 - 7:07 PM

I am thinkining of moving over to Opera for two reasons.

1.Opera has a button to open my favourites. I have to do Ctrl-I in Firefox to do this.

2.Opera has the option to open new tabs in the background. If I come to this site and want to read several articles, view more beta information, I open in a background window and come back to it when I am ready. If I use Firefox, the new tab takes the focus and I have to sit while a page loads, or manually click back to the page I was reading.

Is the Firefox 1.5 beta going to have an 'open in background' function for tabs?

Score: 0

By Prestaul

edited Oct 6, 2005 - 1:20 PM

The option to have tabs load in the background is one of many tab options already available in the "TabBrowswer Preferences" extension.

Score: 0

By crashoverride

posted Sep 6, 2005 - 9:20 PM

"Opera has a button to open my favourites. I have to do Ctrl-I in Firefox to do this."

Never had to do that in Firefox. I just click the bookmarks button on my navigation bar.

Score: 0

By z2bass

posted Sep 5, 2005 - 3:54 PM

y has this article been on BetaNews for days, it is time to take it off! We all know!

Score: 0

By spiffyjeff

posted Sep 6, 2005 - 12:35 AM

pay more close attention, they don't update the articles over the weekend, it wasn't just this one.

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Sep 5, 2005 - 10:11 PM

How did you get out of your cage?

Score: 0

By PhoenixPath

posted Sep 6, 2005 - 11:18 AM

roflmao...

Score: 0

By Shawilelol

posted Sep 5, 2005 - 12:13 PM

The best for me!!!

Score: 0

By sebthib55

edited Sep 5, 2005 - 5:17 AM

I really can't wait. Firefox is the best browser I have ever used :)

Score: 0

By al_ross

edited Sep 5, 2005 - 12:52 AM

I am really looking forward to this.

The product has been phenomenal so far...

altechorama.blogspot.com

Score: 0

By spiffyjeff

posted Sep 4, 2005 - 6:23 PM

hmm, check this out, when you go to this spoof site in firefox and internet explorer, explorer looks as if it's an official ebay site where Fx does not.

http://212.156.223.203:680/rock/isap/index.htm

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Sep 5, 2005 - 9:57 AM

1. This is off topic.

2. Actually, both FF and IE render the page the same for me.

3. IE7's anti-phishing mechanism alerted on that page.

Score: 0

By spiffyjeff

posted Sep 5, 2005 - 1:48 PM

4. must be because i dont have service pack 2
5. heaven forbit i post something slightly related without saying "this might be a little off topic..." I would assume you could figure that one out on your own.

Score: 0

By wincement

edited Sep 5, 2005 - 10:13 PM

"must be because i dont have service pack 2"

Let me guess: you probably wonder why IE is so insecure too don't you?

LOL

And anyway, whether or not you have SP2 shouldn't make a difference. FF still renders it as a legit page. Did I miss something?

Score: 0

By spiffyjeff

posted Sep 6, 2005 - 12:43 AM

i don't care anymore if IE is so insecure, since i've mostly stopped using it.

i didn't install SP2 because i have misplaced my windows and motherboard disk - should something go wrong that i need to restore, i'd be more screwed than risking vulnerabilities anyway.

Because you can not see it the way I do, i think you did miss something.
Fx shows the domain as http://212.156.223.203
where when i loaded it in IE it showed as https://signin.ebay.com

brain fart for a second there... me not having SP2 installed doesn't have anything to do with it, because i am at work on Win2K, so i wonder exactly why it is doing that.

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Sep 6, 2005 - 11:21 AM

hmm.. ok.

That makes sense about SP2, but I'm sure you can find some place online to download the drivers you need and get a Windows CD from a friend.

I see what you're saying about the URL. In both IE and FF, it came up as the IP address for me (Win XP Pro SP2).

I don't have a Win2000 machine to test it on. Sorry for being rude in my previous comments.

Score: 0

By ThePain

posted Sep 4, 2005 - 11:34 AM

@asellus

do you realize that do probably dont talk about the popup blocker (which is disabled by default) but the javascript blocks/exceptions?
If you enable the popup blocker you will _NERVER_ see a popup. Including those which you actually WANT to see. In contrast the javascript options block scripts that automaticly open popus without any user activity, but allow the ones that are result of an users action (clicking a image/button/link)

Score: 0

By asellus

posted Sep 4, 2005 - 8:57 PM

Firefox's pop-up blocker has always been enabled by default. Never seen it disabled after installation. After all, pop-up blocker is one of Firefox's biggest selling points (apart from being able to stop spyware). And I never disabled it.

In the early days of Firefox 1.x, the pop-up blocker works very well. It kills unwanted pop-ups while still allowing wanted ones. Now, it wasn't the case anymore. Many websites are now able to display pop-up in Firefox even if the pop-up blocker is enabled (usually via onClick and onLoad or onUnload commands). Strangely Opera (and to a certain extent IE too) are still able to suppress those pop-ups that Firefox can't. Currently, I'm using a combination of extensions like NoScript, TargetKiller etc to reduce those pop-ups.

The pop-up blocker function I think, are the most important feature that needs serious updating.

Score: 0

By spiffyjeff

edited Sep 4, 2005 - 9:20 PM

indeed, i think pop-ups are one of the most unethical ways to advertise, along with the "rich media" ads that contain audio, and over lap the actual thing you are attempting to view.

Ad banners aren't bad, as long as they aren't flashing.

Score: 0

By GhoS

posted Sep 4, 2005 - 6:34 PM

On the contrary I now get popups at a very few select sites. I had never recieved popups at sites before, but now ones are starting to creep in. Try Nintendonow.com , if you don't get a popup on site access, then you do when you click on a story link.
I have the option properly checked for blocking popups and having a portion related to that off in javascript.
Always looking forward though to new updates with Firefox as they generally seem to add features that are needed.

Score: 0

By 4wd

edited Sep 6, 2005 - 9:11 PM

I must be doing something wrong then, I don't get any popups for that site.

Score: 0

By asellus

posted Sep 4, 2005 - 4:33 AM

I hope they will improve the pop-up blocker. Too many sites now know how to get around Firefox's pop-up blocker. Hell, even IE pop-up blocker now works better that Firefox ones.

Score: 0

By spiffyjeff

edited Sep 4, 2005 - 9:19 PM

i'd like to see the reording tabs, improved pop-up blocking will be good too.

I personally think that adblock should be encluded with firefox. I'm keeping in mind though, that their philosophy is to keep the browser small, and let the users get the extra features they want through extensions.

Score: 0

By PhoenixPath

posted Sep 6, 2005 - 11:21 AM

Adblocker should continue to be developed seperately. I cannot see how MozDev could improve on it in combination with Filterset.G

Adblocker: http://adblock.mozdev.org/

Filterset.G: http://www.pierceive.com/

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Sep 6, 2005 - 7:21 PM

Wow. That's two awesome FF links on one topic. Wait. Actually that's three.

nice...

Score: 0

By azimov

posted Sep 3, 2005 - 12:55 PM

I have been using the alpha release for quiet a while now. Most if not all the top-rated extensions have been upgraded to work with the alpha release. if you check extensions, if they are marked Deer Park, then they will work with the beta and also with the final version.
The alpha is very stable and as one would expect, buggy at times but never to the point that you couldn't use it.

Score: 0

By dlowell

posted Sep 3, 2005 - 12:39 PM

Difference between good and bad software developing:
Mozilla:Alpha 1>Alpha 2>Beta 1>Beta 2>Release Canadite> Final
Microsoft:Beta(sometimes)>Final

So you tell me who cares more about the quality of there software.

Score: 0

By PhoenixPath

posted Sep 6, 2005 - 11:22 AM

Microsoft: Alpha(many), Beta(many, few public), RC(usually 3).

Where have you been the past 16 years?

Score: 0

By crashoverride

posted Sep 5, 2005 - 9:54 AM

Now i'm no fan of Microsoft by any means but even I know that they do test their software more than that. It's mostly tested internally until like the last one or 2 betas.

Score: 0

By Dreimanis

posted Sep 3, 2005 - 7:09 PM

do you recall whistler? or are you one of the fanboys who got their computer year ago?

Score: 0

By f355

edited Sep 3, 2005 - 6:10 PM

Microsoft is just selling their soft. So if they'll release public, almost stable betas - who will buy final stuff?
BTW, there's no point in starting just another "holy war" here, dude =)

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Sep 3, 2005 - 4:49 PM

You think Microsoft doesn't have multiple alpha and beta versions of their software? Look before you leap dude.

Score: 0

By PCCRomeo

posted Sep 3, 2005 - 11:26 PM

I Microsoft DOES have alpha and beta versions I'd hate to see them, especially after seeing the final releases.

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Sep 4, 2005 - 12:45 PM

Classic MS-troll response.

Score: 0

By PhoenixPath

edited Sep 6, 2005 - 11:13 AM

Microsoft OSes have several alpha, beta, and RC releases before going gold. I think the GP was referring only to software outside the OS realm.

I do not know the dev cycle they use for things like MSN IM or their photo software, but I am sure it's similar.

Just because you see a "beta" for public testing doesn' tmean the build you are getting isn't an "RC" in-house. It's very likely they are calling it a beta because that's a term the public is familliar with.

Score: 0

By asellus

posted Sep 4, 2005 - 4:25 AM

You definitely haven't seen one. Windows 2003 R2 beta for example beta is rock stable. So are WinXP x64 beta (if you have drivers).

Score: 0

By ThePain

posted Sep 3, 2005 - 6:53 AM

"ITS GOING TO BE A BETA FOR A VERY LONG TIME"
Now you are one hell of a moron. New software needs to be tested, you know? Unlike M$ the guys over there at mozilla.org mark their public betas as BETA instead of .0
If you are a scared p****, there is a 1.06 NOT BETA release ot there. go, fetch! Why are you here anyways? This place is called BETAnews. If you are too scared go to download.com <_<

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Sep 3, 2005 - 4:50 PM

I still can't figure out what Microsoft has to do with this topic.

*scratches head*

*shrugs*

I give up.

Score: 0

By rpavl

posted Sep 3, 2005 - 5:33 AM

Im so sick of hearing about this frigging web browser. ITS GOING TO BE A BETA FOR A VERY LONG TIME FOLKS, ANYTHING THAT HAS THOUSANDS OF HANDS IN ITS COOKIE JAR IS GONNA BE DIRTY....meaning problems, bugs, and damn this thing is slow. yuk.

Score: 0

By PhoenixPath

posted Sep 6, 2005 - 11:14 AM

Troll.

Where's a BN ignore list when you need one?

Score: 0

By Banquo

edited Sep 3, 2005 - 2:02 PM

What an idiotic comment. Firefox 1.0 was released a LONG time ago, and it's up to 1.06 now. That is a not beta version, it's final. The beta version being talked about here is for the next release. I guess you had better stop using Windows because Vista is going to be beta for a long time!

This is BETANEWS by the way; if you don't like betas what are you even doing here? As for your open source bashing, another stupid comment. The more people that have access to the code, the faster bugs can be found and fixed. Finally it is certainly not slow unless your computer is a ten year old piece of crap.

Score: 0

By rpavl

posted Sep 3, 2005 - 2:19 PM

You know anyone who would waste their emotional energy like this BOZO defending a WEB BROWSER has to be a real loser with nothing better to do than think about code. Get a life, find a job, go to the mall, get out more often.

Score: 0

By Banquo

edited Sep 4, 2005 - 12:07 PM

So you're not only a troll, you're a hypocrite too. Who was it shouting in all caps about how it's a beta and how full of bugs it is? Let's see, oh yeah it was you. Anyone who would waste their emotional energy bashing a WEB BROWSER...

Score: 0

By rpavl

posted Sep 4, 2005 - 7:02 AM

Youre still an idiot. A pitiful waste of flesh with no life. Drop Dead. Nuff said.

Score: 0

By Banquo

edited Sep 7, 2005 - 8:50 AM

Telling people to drop dead over a web browser? I feel sorry for you.

Score: 0

By zridling

posted Sep 3, 2005 - 4:26 AM

Support just another corporation: use Firefox!

Score: 0

By mcm

edited Sep 2, 2005 - 8:12 PM

I wouldn't be too concerned with the beta status. They've been using Alpha releases to get the product in better shape for beta unlike the lead up to the 1.0 release. In a sense I even recommend it because it has fixed a number of issues with 1.0 that frequent the mozillazine forums.

However, you're right about extension compatibility. The majority of extensions will work with beta version coming out (however not themes). But just before the release Firefox will have its internal compatibility number bumped from 1.0+ to 1.4 preventing extensions from installing until the authors get around to bumping the number within their extensions also. For some extensions it seems to take the authors a month to get around to doing this. The same thing is going to happen with the final release as well when the number is bumped yet again.

Score: 0

By BklynKid

posted Sep 2, 2005 - 8:28 PM

Then again it's very easy for anyone with some knowledge of notepad and zip files to change this version number themselves. I did that a few times and the extensions worked just fine when going from beta to 1.0 final.

Score: 0

By Kramy

posted Sep 2, 2005 - 9:09 PM

Which is good since there's an override, but it will prevent people from installing an "old", possibly buggy extension, then saying the extension sucks.

Score: 0

By The MAZZTer

posted Sep 2, 2005 - 7:23 PM

Hmm I KNOW somewhere I read it was Sept 8 last week. This is old news.

Score: 0

By Banquo

edited Sep 4, 2005 - 12:08 PM

It's not old news to everyone.

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Sep 2, 2005 - 7:40 PM

Aren't you special? Do you want a cookie?

Score: 0

By BklynKid

posted Sep 2, 2005 - 6:19 PM

How long has Opera had the fast-back/forward buttons? And it's always "FF has way more features than Opera."

Ok...

Score: 0

By Secret Agent Man

posted Sep 3, 2005 - 10:24 AM

Well, that's --->one<--- feature. "Way more" means "more than one."

Score: 0

By twosheds

posted Sep 2, 2005 - 2:42 PM

I love FireFox, but I've got to admit I fear to be an early adopter even of an official release, never mind a beta, based on previous experience with FF betas. Think I'll have to grit my teeth and sit it out until all the extension developers are up-to-date and the worst of the bugs have been addressed.

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Sep 2, 2005 - 7:41 PM

Yeah. Me too. I'll wait a little while, and then try it.

Score: 0

By RobertM

posted Sep 2, 2005 - 1:08 PM

I could be wrong ... but I don't think "SnapBack" is what this fast back/foward feature is called. As far as I know, they've just been calling it "fast back/forward" or something unimaginative like that (IE and possibly Opera already do this).

SnapBack is a term used in Safari that will take you back to the last page you went to by performing a search, typing in an address, or loading a bookmark (as opposed to clicking a link on some site).

Score: 0

By PhoenixPath

edited Sep 2, 2005 - 12:29 PM

A little OT, but I found something some of you may be interested in:

IE view for Firefox...in Tabs. Now you can open you IE window in a FireFox tab.

Few glitches with it yet, but it appears to still be in active development as well.

Linky-linky: http://forums.mozillazin.../viewtopic.php?t=297798

Score: 0

By Marticus

posted Sep 4, 2005 - 2:43 AM

Somehow I just don't feel it safe to allow IE to run in FF. Conflict of interests.

Score: 0

By PhoenixPath

posted Sep 6, 2005 - 11:17 AM

Heh... the very meaning of odd bedfellows?

Works pretty slick, though. Some of the minor issues I may be having with it are likely due to the fact that I am using the IE7 beta. I highly doubt IE View was designed with IE7 in mind.

Score: 0

By Shifty31

posted Sep 2, 2005 - 9:44 PM

Best comment and link of the week :D

Score: 0

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