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Firefox 2.0: Unstable

UPDATED

Running the latest version of Firefox is a huge drag — repeated freezes that require a forced shutdown of the application on my MacBook Pro. Growing pains for the Mozilla folks or just sloppy coding?

Update: I should have been clearer, as commenters are noting, that the sloppy coding, if it exists, could easily be the doing of the folks writing the add-on extensions that many Firefox users, including me, have found so helpful. I’ve been testing the application with some of the extensions removed to see if that is the problem and, if so, to try to isolate what add-on(s) might be causing the problem.

New Update: The Mozilla folks have identified a small bug in the software. I installed a slightly updated version of the application, I’ve had no freezes since then. Thanks!

12 Comments on “Firefox 2.0: Unstable”

  1. #1 barry
    on Dec 3rd, 2006 at 6:33 pm

    works fine for me. maybe it’s one of your extensions?

  2. #2 Dan Gillmor
    on Dec 3rd, 2006 at 9:29 pm

    I’ve been testing to see if that’s the case, but the problems have been happening from the day I installed the new version.

  3. #3 JD Lasica
    on Dec 3rd, 2006 at 9:48 pm

    I couldn’t tell if it was Firefox 2.0 or one or more of the add-ons I installed. But yes, I’ve seen a few bugs on my MacBook Pro now, such as the inability to add links (through the popup bar) on certain sites.

  4. #4 Edwin
    on Dec 4th, 2006 at 3:08 am

    When I run FF2 @ work it’s unstable indeed, on my pc @ home everthing went good so far. Been removing extensions too but that did not cause problems. I have a feeling that it’s caused by other installed software. Not sure though…

  5. #5 barstep
    on Dec 4th, 2006 at 7:43 am

    Firefox 2.0 works well on both my iMac 20″ G5 and MacBook Pro 15″. I’m also using the Jeteye extension and GrApple theme.

  6. #6 barry
    on Dec 4th, 2006 at 7:22 pm

    i use linky, flashget and zotero, on firefox 2 on my new macbook pro – hasn’t been a problem. it occasionally crashes, but that’s cause i tend to open 50+ tabs at once….

  7. #7 Jesse Ruderman
    on Dec 4th, 2006 at 7:55 pm

    For some Firefox users on Intel Mac, frequent hangs are a result of bug 353962. That bug was fixed (well, worked around) on the branch for Firefox 2.0.0.x a few days ago, so it should be fixed in Firefox 2.0.0.1 when it comes out.

    You might try downloading a build from that branch now instead of waiting for Firefox 2.0.0.1 to see if that fix helped.

  8. #8 Mike
    on Dec 4th, 2006 at 11:27 pm

    I have no problems. Firefox 2.0 is absolutely stable and works error-free for me – much better than IE7.

  9. #9 Seth Spitzer
    on Dec 5th, 2006 at 9:10 am

    We’re trying to track these Firefox 2. 0 / Intel Mac crashes and freezes down. Please see http://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox2/ProblemsOnIntelMacs if you are seeing these problems and can help us out.

  10. #10 Steve Yelvington
    on Dec 5th, 2006 at 1:05 pm

    The Apple people should come out of their cave and share the crash report data they’ve been collecting from users.

    I rarely experience crashes, but often irritations — mouse click unpredictably and often quits working and, on a dual-monitor setup, address bar dropdowns show up on the wrong monitor. It’s not enough to make me drop back to 1.5, though.

  11. #11 dante45chicago
    on Dec 5th, 2006 at 3:45 pm

    I have problems with FF2 and I am with many extensions. First, it does not let me select a link and open in another tab. I have to click and link then go back to the original page and click another, so on and so forth. It’s very slow and annoying. It crashes often and is generally unstable compared to 1.5x versions

  12. #12 Le Gredin
    on Dec 7th, 2006 at 12:36 pm

    Works fine on my PC laptop for the last week or so.

    Just installed it today on my desktop at work and so far so good — no crashes or other weird behaviour.