Firefox 7 goes live with leaner, faster design

updated 12:30 pm EDT, Tue September 27, 2011

 

Mozilla posts Firefox 7 final to FTP


Mozilla on Tuesday posted the finished versions of Firefox 7 (Linux, Mac OS X, Windows). The new release is still part of Mozilla's fast track schedule and focuses most on running faster and more efficiently than before. Version 7 uses 20 to 50 percent less memory and also now cuts back on memory leaks and waste from Javascript.

Closing tabs now directly removes those tabs from memory and leads to more resources free as time goes on.

Other changes are minor but noticeable. The address bar now eliminates the URI from the current page and highlights the primary domain to simplify spotting fake sites. Bookmark and password syncing occurs more frequently, and the renderer now supports CSS3's Text Overflow and web load time analytics for developers. Windows users now get hardware acceleration of HTML5 Canvas pages.

Another major Firefox revision is expected within about six weeks. Mozilla has entertained the prospects of a partial return to slower, major milestone releases but hasn't signaled any such change coming before Firefox 8.


By Electronista Staff

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industry, software, Firefox, mozilla, Linux, HTML5
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Previous Comments

  1. BigMac2

    Forum Regular

    Joined: Dec 2000

    -5

    Good for them

    I'm still using last year version 3. Waiting for mozilla team to calm down and take times to debug and finalize at least one release.


  1. Grendelmon

    Forum Regular

    Joined: Dec 2007

    +1

    Jeez

    I can't even catch my breath with these releases. And wait: "Closing tabs now directly removes those tabs from memory and leads to more resources free as time goes on." Wasn't that supposed to happen anyway? Or have they adopted the Chrome method for spanning a child process for each tab/window created?


  1. jay3ld

    Senior User

    Joined: Jul 2004

    +4

    Faster releases wouldn't be so bad if..

    They did them correctly. I could see a point release every 6 weeks such as 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, etc and a major release such as 8 once a year.


  1. ptkdude

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Feb 2006

    -1

    Too late...

    I already abandoned Firefox because the last few "full-version" releases were so bad. Constant beachballs and crashes. Sorry Mozilla, I won't be trying you again.


  1. Paul Huang

    Dedicated MacNNer

    Joined: Sep 1999

    -2

    Starting to remind me of...

    Now Up-to-Date's hourly (almost) updates, which eventually burned itself.


  1. Geoduck

    Junior Member

    Joined: Jan 2010

    +1

    Tried FF7

    A few new features I like. Overall in just a few minutes of playing with it it's not bad. However when I open a folder of bookmarks it takes 10x or more time to open than Safari. Same as 6.


  1. MacAssemble

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jan 2008

    0

    I jumped ship - now using Chrome

    I found Chrome 14 to be much more enjoyable. The speed is just amazing!


  1. facebook_Terrin

    Via Facebook

    Joined: Sep 2011

    0

    Firefox works Good

    I love the new fast release Firefox schedule. I am using version 7, and it is quite slick. The speed on my Mac is truly noticeable. I refuse to use Chrome because I have Little Snitch installed and Chrome calls home multiple times in a session sending all my usage habits back to the mothership. My step father's gmail account was hacked. I am weaning myself from Google.

    I would use Safari, as the new Lion gestures work great with Safari. They save a lot of time. However, I really like my tabs on top. If Safari could just fix that, I wouldn't stray.


  1. Stoli89

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2010

    +3

    FF 7.0 excellent

    This latest release is a big improvement; the browser is much faster and quite stable. I like FF because it is so customizable...and now the speed is close enough to Chrome to make it my browser of choice.


  1. AllanCook

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jun 2006

    +2

    comment title

    Does seem a lot faster. It seems as fast as Chrome. I don't notice any instability yet, either.


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