Tech Friday: Mozilla rapid fire update to Firefox 5

Posted By on June 24, 2011

Firefox 4 has only been around for a few months, but Mozilla’s Firefox 5 is already being push to users (beta out about a month). According to reviews, the version 5 of Firefox has "more than 1,000firefoxlogo improvements," which include the "Do Not Track" privacy feature and support for the CSS Animations standard, among other things. So far for me it is stable and relatively fast … but the Google for Firefox Toolbar extension is not compatible … probably a good thing?

In its rush to make the Web better, however, Mozilla is taking criticism for not making it especially clear to users that it would stop issuing vulnerability patches for Firefox 4.

"Firefox 5 is the security update for Firefox 4, and we do not plan to release a Firefox 4.0.2," Johnathan Nightingale, the Mozilla Foundation’s director of Firefox engineering, told TechNewsWorld.

Firefox5Update

Although I’ve been a loyal Firefox user and relatively up on tech changes, the rather quick 4 to 5 update has me concerned that many will be concerned regarding what version is stable and quick. Frankly I’ve noticed a decline in speed and usability in recent updates to the widely used browser AND have found myself using Google’s Chrome more often due to the sluggish and less stable Firefox 4.2 – I’m hoping the version 5 sees some improvements.

Comments

  • http://richc.myarchive.us RichC
  • http://amileofrunway.blogspot.com Steve

    Holy crap, that is fast.

    To be honest, I’d be happy if the only fix is eliminating Firefox’s impressive memory hogging abilities!

  • http://richc.myarchive.us RichC

    “Memory hogging” … I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought FF
    was getting to be a fat pig! I’ve spent the last two years debating
    whether or not to add memory to my aging notebook or to keep
    operating lean and save the $$$ for a new computer (funny thing,
    if I were — but am not — in the market for a new notebook
    computer, I’m not sure what brand or setup I would consider???)

  • http://amileofrunway.blogspot.com Steve

    Yeah, I go back and forth on totally switching over to Chrome. I love how slick Chrome is but there are still some add-ons and other bits of functionality that keep me from waving goodbye to Firefox.

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.