RSSOne week later, it's time for Firefox 3.0.10
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published April 27, 2009, 3:22 PM
It's only been six days since the emergence on the scene of Mozilla's Firefox 3.0.9 -- ostensibly a major security and bug-fix update to the world's #2 browser -- and already the organization is preparing another update. Once again, no formal announcement has been made, though version 3.0.10 has appeared on the organization's FTP site for final preparation.
The emergence of yet another update follows a week of lackluster performance from the production version of Mozilla's browser in Betanews tests. Not only did release 9 lose some speed and performance, we noticed -- as we have from time to time with Firefox 3 -- the re-emergence of a memory leak that can leave the entire browser in the online equivalent of a coma. Release 10 may not have come too soon; already, we noticed a kick in its step, gaining back what it lost performance-wise in Betanews tests, especially in the SunSpider benchmark. Release 10's performance score now stands at 5.19, which is actually higher than for Release 7 -- meaning, combining multiple tests, we find Firefox 3.0.10 to perform 519% better than Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 (not IE8) in the same system.
It's been a tough week for Mozilla, as planners decided to push back the Beta 3 release of its Thunderbird e-mail client by an indeterminate number of weeks, on account of unresolved bug issues ("blockers"). We also still await word on Firefox 3.5 Beta 4, a public release that could be the organization's best performing browser to date.
Download Mozilla Firefox 3.0.10 for Linux from Fileforum now.
I've noticed a slowdown since loading 3.0.9 (and then 3.0.10). Right now Firefox is using 573M of memory. Every time I load a page with flash components (advertisments), my CPU fan kicks up a notch . . . what's wrong with this picture.
Oh, and my customizations to the toolbar won't stay -- they're gone when I restart . . .
Sigh . . .
Score: 0
|I wonder whether they'll managed to release 3.5 this year. Now we have the Beta 4. Next are RC1, RC2 etc with a month or two between each release. Their other projects like Mesh and Fennec don't get off the ground either.
IMO it'll be 2010.
Score: 0
|Whatever Firefox 3.0.10 does, it does NOT fix the memory leak issue!
:-((
Score: -9
|Memory leaks is fixed long time ago...
And if you still have this problem, dont cry and report it, simple...
http://i40.tinypic.com/2hnaxsj.png
Score: -1
|It seems as though the memory leaks have been fixed, but the memory usage is once again high. What's worse is that the nightly build of 3.5 beta 4 I'm currently running is using more real memory than 3.0.9 and it doesn't truly go idle.
They must be design issues. Gecko was good for the time when it was introduced but they seem to need a new engine.
Geez, I just started 3.0.10 to see what happened. It started at around 48 MB real memory and jumped to 62 MB almost immediately without a web page. Now, it's at hovering around 100 MB since I'm on this website. That's better than 3.0.9 but still, it's a bit sad for the lean, mean browser that Firefox was meant to be. It's also about 24 MB smaller than the 3.5 beta 4.
Score: 0
|"Memory leaks is fixed", huh?
3.0.10 intended to FIX the memory leak in 3.0.9!
It does not.
Simple.
I have had 2 tabs go from ~100MB usage to 214MB of resource usage - and then remain after all tabs were closed and with the fundamental tab having no defined session.
Resource management is still a problem and the memory leak has not been resolved.
Firefox has increasingly become a case of simply moving problems around rather than actually addressing them.
But then you obviously have more fundamental issues to address, 'hasn't' you? LOL!
Score: -12
|3.0.10 is horrible on Mac and Windows for me. Routinely crashes, eats 1.5GB memory with 4(!) tabs open! Previous version never had these problems.
Score: 0
|Ugh...
/me turns off all update functionality in Firefox.
This is ridiculous. I *used* to really like firefox... I am now wishing there was a comparable browser that provided the speed, add-ons and usability without all the constant problems.
*To all respondants: I have multiple machines, all with Virtual machines attached that I use daily. Each of these requires updating. It's a PITA when it *Doesn't need to be*. If they absolutely can't swap the files in-process, then do it *after* the program closes...not before. Damn near every time I opened FF last update I had to sit and wait. I *hate* waiting for programs to load. If you don't mind, I'm happy for you. I do.
Score: -11
|I was wondering whether you posted your disapproval at their fixing bugs. I hate to ask why you have such a unique situation.
Firefox is a good browser and they're tackling the security issues rather forcefully and quickly and as long as they don't produce more problems than they fix, I'm all for continuing to use the browser.
Version 3.5 beta 4 nightly builds have already been good so we might not have to worry too much longer. I just wish Shredder, the Thunderbird beta would be finished soon.
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|The 10 seconds of downtime must have dramatically impacted your lifestyle to get so upset. Have you sought counseling to remedy?
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|mjm01010101 -- It's easy to be a jerk when you are still living in your moms basement and the most complex thing in your life is tie your shoes when you actually decide to get out of the house once every month.
However, it's quite possible the update causes some of the other people in the world a bit more concern, like those responsible for creating baseline images for companies and testing compatability of those images with all the varying corporate sites. Thorough testing for a single image can quite possibly take multiple weeks, but you'd rather be a jerk than to consider other people might be impacted in ways you aren't.
Or those that write add-ons that got broken by the quick/shoddy quality of the 3.0.9 release and had to rewrite code as that they would work again, now only to have to revisit it yet again not a week later (add-ons like html validator).
Score: -1
|Funny. Accusing someone of being a jerk, then throwing the ol' flogged to death 'mom's basement' line out. Cliche much?
Score: 0
|I pushed FF out as a secondary browser to every machine I manage this afternoon. I haven't considered it a serious work replacement for IE since it came out. Few vendors support FF versus IE. No site is FF only. Most intranet sites we have are IE only.
So, still your complaining falls on dead ears. I love FF, but it isn't quite yet a business class browser.
As for updating FF, it is a simple -ms silent switch and it is installed easily. Never a reboot. I think only a few other software pieces I manage are quicker, such as 7-zip.
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|3.5 beta 4 is on ftp release folder now, will be announced in couple of hours.
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|I had to back out of FF 3.5 beta 3, it was crashing a few too many times for my taste.
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|Mozilla Firefox 3.0.10 - best speed! thanks
Score: -1
|You have to admire the speed with which they update this excellent bit of software. Not a week goes by without them having rushed out an update or two, or three, impressive stuff.
Score: 2
|Agreed. Not to mention it is a well supported FREE program. These days people get really critical about something they pay nothing for. You think they have paid a hefty price for a poorly supported buggy commercial program the way they trash it.
Score: 0
|I believe the appropriate term is...
OOPS!
Getting sloppy again, ZillaLand.
BAD.
BAD CHILD.
Score: -2
|i don't know about anyone else, but i can never get enough updates :D
Score: 3
|It's what we're here for, after all... other than slagging each other off, obviously :P
Score: 0
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