30 replies to this topic

[GolfProRM]

For anyone who isn't into the nightly builds of Mozilla Firebird (Phoenix), they just posted a stable recommended build that seems to be quite an improvement over the Milestone release...Check it out here!http://texturizer.ne...d/download.html

[friendofdot]

Thank you for posting the link to the new build.  I had just signed on to this forum because my Phoenix browser kept freezing.  It worked for days and then finally stopped.  When I downloaded this version, I did not set the home page to myway.com.  For some reason, it seemed that this page was causing the problem.  So far this build is good.  Thanks again...I really, really like this browser   Paula

[LilBambi]

GolfProRM --Great! Thanks! I was waiting for the first Firebird stable version to download it!  

[GolfProRM]

friendofdot, on Apr 23 2003, 07:46 PM, said:

Thank you for posting the link to the new build.  I had just signed on to this forum because my Phoenix browser kept freezing.  It worked for days and then finally stopped.  When I downloaded this version, I did not set the home page to myway.com.  For some reason, it seemed that this page was causing the problem.  So far this build is good.  Thanks again...I really, really like this browser  Paula

I don't know whether or not myway.com is causing your problems, but I've got it set as my homepage too...  I've never had any troubles with Firebird freezing...  I'd try the homepage again with the new version...  if it freezes then you'll know!

[LilBambi]

GolfProRM --Got it and started using it tonight ... nice fast browser :)Now for those new Firebird Icons  

[Prelude76]

How does Firebird differ from Mozilla 1.3?  Does it have all of the following? Image Blocking, Cookie control, Junk Mail filter, Email program, Address book, pop-up blocking?  I use those components all the time and couldnt operate good without them.  p.s. - the pop-up blocker in mozilla is a god-sent.  makes browsing at work so much safer :)p.p.s. - stay away from me, i live near toronto, i'm to be avoided at all costs, according to WHO  

[Peachy]

Prelude76, on Apr 24 2003, 07:01 AM, said:

How does Firebird differ from Mozilla 1.3?  Does it have all of the following? Image Blocking, Cookie control, Junk Mail filter, Email program, Address book, pop-up blocking?  I use those components all the time and couldnt operate good without them.  p.s. - the pop-up blocker in mozilla is a god-sent.  makes browsing at work so much safer :)p.p.s. - stay away from me, i live near toronto, i'm to be avoided at all costs, according to WHO  

Phoenix/Firebird is a fresh start from the Mozilla development trunk. Right now it's just the browser but they've built it using the XUL modules that were developed during Mozilla's project. See the Phoenix/Firebird page for more details. It stil has the block pop-up adds feature, tabbed browsing, but the mail client has been seperated out into a parallel project.I live 1.5 hours from T.O. and the WHO won't dissuade me from visiting my parents. Besides, the risk of catching SARS is relatively low outside the hospital environment. And please, wash your hands!

[GolfProRM]

Prelude76, on Apr 24 2003, 07:01 AM, said:

How does Firebird differ from Mozilla 1.3?  Does it have all of the following? Image Blocking, Cookie control, Junk Mail filter, Email program, Address book, pop-up blocking?  I use those components all the time and couldnt operate good without them.  p.s. - the pop-up blocker in mozilla is a god-sent.  makes browsing at work so much safer :)p.p.s. - stay away from me, i live near toronto, i'm to be avoided at all costs, according to WHO   

Firebird is essentially Mozilla without the email client and address book.  It's a very nice, compact browser (zip file is only 6 mb)...  It does have pop-up blocking, image blocking,  and some cookie control (Never used Mozilla, so don't know the differences with the cookies), but all in all, Firebird is a great browser.  They are working on a mail client for it as well.  The best thing about it is that it is completely un-Netscapeified (if that's a word)   It's very easy to work with, it only uses two folders (the main program folder, and an application data folder (stores all your settings, so when you update to a new version, you don't have much work to do).  The pop-up blocker is wonderful.  It works great and you can set it to allow certain sites to pop-up windows if you need them to.  It's a big help in my opinion!

[quint]

Here's a good, though small, site that has some well-explained tips for Phoenix   Firebird   MozillaFirebird   http://flii.blomp.com/

[Prelude76]

yeah, the pop-up blocking is amazing feature.  but i recently started using the image blocker.  next time you see a banner ad, right click and 'block image from server'.  reload, and see the page again :)it works good because MOST banner ads are from central servers, and even local ones like Yahoo's go thru ads.yahoo.com, so all images from these sites are blocked, and news pictures from yahoo are still shownheh, it even blocks those half page in middle of news articles FLASH ads.peachy: which side of T.O. are you at?  I'm 1 hour north, and I too visit my folks in the big city, so i use the "you live in quarantined city, so i cant visit you" excuse.   hehehe...  not often one can use such an excuse to skip out of easter religious celebrations, but i'll take it..   note- it didnt really help me, since the folks decided to go up north to visit me instead   p.s.-  im getting camping survival gear ready.  north of me is thousands of acres of great vast forests, so if full scale pandemodiam hits toronto, i'll be the first car on highway 69  

[Peachy]

Prelude76, on Apr 24 2003, 02:22 PM, said:

peachy: which side of T.O. are you at?  I'm 1 hour north, and I too visit my folks in the big city, so i use the "you live in quarantined city, so i cant visit you" excuse.   hehehe...  not often one can use such an excuse to skip out of easter religious celebrations, but i'll take it.. 

East. Peterborough to be precise.

[Scot]

Thanks, guys. I'm hoping to complete research in time to do a introductory review (not a final review) of Firebird in time for the next issue.With the 11-Apr-2003 build, I have a serious problem on one XP machine. It loads but freezes almost immediately.  I'm using the same build on another XP machine to type this right now while the new build is downloading.Firebird is a very intriguing browser.-- Scot

[GolfProRM]

Scot,Some info on this latest "stable release."  On my Windows ME machine at work, It seems to be eating up quite a bit more resources than my old one, and tends to run the CPU a bit more too.  I'm not sure if I'm going to go back to the milestone release or not yet.  The old version loaded very quickly, and was hardly a burden on my CPU, but when I load a page on the new version, it runs my CPU at 100% for about 3-4 seconds before it settles down.On my XP machine at home, I haven't noticed any issues whatsoever.  It's running great here and I'd never go back to the milestone release!

[LilBambi]

Waited for the first Stable release which Ryan mentioned the other night. Got it and it has been a wonderful browser in Win98se so far!Only had a couple days but really like it alot! Even does one of the secure sites I go to, haven't tried the others yet, but will let ya know.

[havnblast]

Well since I have been introduced to this browser it is all I use.  I love the tab browsing, even tho it has been around.  I have been telling my friends about it and they are starting to use it and they are impressed with it right away.  I have not had any problems yet with it.

[Temmu]

got it!  am posting with it now...will report later.thx!

[GolfProRM]

After running this latest "Stable Build"  I've noticed that it seems to have a Memory leak.  When I start it up (I use tabs with two homepages), It uses about 21k of memory (seems like a lot anyway), but I've noticed if I leave the browser open for an hour or so (even without refreshing pages/surfing), it'll be up to about 30k of memory usage.  I looked at the memory usage this afternoon (had it open for 3-4 hours) and it was using 45k of memory!  This seems like a problem to me.  I'm going to try the latest nightly build to see how it works, but while I don't notice the memory issues on my main machine, slower machines with less RAM could have more noticeable slowdown issues.Still looking into this... will report back with more findings liater.

[GolfProRM]

Update - I know it's quick but I'm sitting here watching the NFL draft and playing with stuff on the Puter...The latest nightly build of Mozilla Firebird seems to have addressed the memory leak issue.  It still takes up about 21-25k of memory, and like the "stable build" it does increase over time, but the difference:  unlike the "stable build" it seems to periodically "clean up" its memory allocation.  I noticed after it got to about 35k that it refreshed, and dropped down to 22k.Good to see that this problem has been addressed!

[LilBambi]

Ryan --Sounds like it just gets better and better   No problems with it here on Win98se with the stable build.

[Gus K]

One thing I like as a Mozilla (browser only) user is the themes that are available.  Not so much as a 'dress up' thing but the fact that I've been able to get a couple 'skinny top bars' ones (I like Early Blue),  that give me a larger browser window.  Are thinner themes available for Firebird?  And should I keep my Mozilla installed?Thanks

[Peachy]

There are themes available for Phoenix; don't know how skinny they are to your taste, but there is one called Phat!

[Temmu]

peachy:  LOL!all:said i'd report on phoenix, er, mozilla.am using it now.so far, so good.  the tabbed browsing thing is cool.     seems fairly quick to me.no non-displayable or obviously messed up sites (yet).

[quint]

Temmu, on Apr 28 2003, 03:06 AM, said:

peachy:  LOL!all:said i'd report on phoenix, er, mozilla.am using it now.so far, so good.  the tabbed browsing thing is cool.     seems fairly quick to me.no non-displayable or obviously messed up sites (yet).

Don't know what build/version you're using, but some of the earlier builds had a distinct problem with:http://espn.go.com/main.html

[Scot]

Seems ok with ESPN and the 27-Apr-2003 build. I'm just installing the 28-Apr-2003 build now ...-- Scot