there is always "Seamonkey 2.0.14"
I have been using it since i was beta testing "nightly builds" for 0.6 or 0.8 .That was YEARS ago ,and i still use it .

well yes, extensions are handled by an API of some sorts, with each new version the API changes slightly, thus breaking compatibility. It's called progress, you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs ya know.

Yes, I'm serious. However, he didn't mention contributing your opinion ... which you obviously would have to do, otherwise they wouldn't know. I can have an opinion and tell them the opinion, but not directly contribute to development. Otherwise, only devs would have an opinion, and probably they would be completely detached from their user base ... and they browser would soon fail, which may happen.

Only if I were also indestructible and immortal ... neither of which are possible anyway.

I've updated most of the PCs running 3.6x to V4 & am quite happy with my extensions.
But, what I can't fathom, is why the sudden rush thru V4 - V5 - V6 all in this year ?.

any one know, just what the reasoning behind this, is ?.
( if it's just to keep up the numbering aka - with IE10 - then why bother )

@almatic: I know they were trying to increase space for content. But there's a better way: save money for a bigger monitor. I just tried FF5 in WinXP, and there is no right clicking the button bar and adding a statusbar at the bottom. Sorry, FF 3.5 or 3.6 are still better.

As for me, I'd use Opera and be done with it.

(Do you remember when a web browser program could launch in under one second?)

By the way, firefox extensions are pretty much Javascript and HTML, so if one breaks for ya, well, just roll up your sleeves and fix it.

I think Microsoft deserves a lot of blame for many things, but I'm having difficulty extending the blame for Firefox's shortcomings to them. Grief! Even the title of this thread includes "(Killed By Microsoft?)".

However, since the thread disparages Firefox, I will give you the pleasure of hearing of my recent relevant experience. I am in the habit of opening ten or twenty tabs in Firefox and leaving them open till I get around to them--sometimes for weeks. A couple days ago I came back and tried to continue reading, but Firefox 4.0.1 seemed to be in a timewarp. I'd click on a tab and 30 to 50 seconds later it would come forward. I'd click the x to close it and many seconds later it would go away.

Worse, this condition happened simultaneously on two different machines, one running Fedora 15, and the other running Arch.

Fortunately, the Arch repositories already had Firefox 5.0 ready, so I installed it. Though I'm still running 4.0.1 on my Fedora machine--and dreading that happening again.

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@sundialsvcs: Yes, those were the days when browsers loaded in < 1 second.

@DJ Shaji: Well, that might be easy for you to rewrite a program, but I'm not the programmer type, and unfortunately, I don't have the extra time to learn it.

@KenJackson: I'm not really trying to bash (pun intended for Linux/Unix users), but sometimes I wonder what these people are thinking when they try to make it "new and improved". Sometimes, improved is better if you don't see it. This thread is mainly to see what people are thinking.

It's the first time I've ever heard of someone taking one of those XPI files apart and basically thwarting the compatibility check of Firefox. Today, I ran the system updater and it installed Firefox 5.0. I scratched my head and tried the launch it, only to discover that one of my favorite extensions, Pentadactyl, was no longer compatible. I had to go all day depending on the mouse to get around! Now, after beating around the bush for a few hours, I find the solution right here in this thread. Pentadactyl now works again, but with the seemingly great advances Mozilla is making, I can't help but wonder why Firefox doesn't already have something like Pentadactyl built-in.

For those who don't know, the extension I'm talking about enables Vi-like keybindings in Firefox. Personally, I don't use Vi or Vim, but I like opening new windows and tabs with a single key press. It's especially useful on netbooks. However, the extension is a bit bloated for what it's supposed to do, even going so far as to implement Vi-style marks, macros, and buffers. If they're going to modify the UI so much to favor it (tabs on top, hiding address bar, etc) why hasn't Mozilla come up with something similar? Personally, I don't like where Firefox is going. I hope they undo some of the changes they made to the UI, or at least give users the option of emulating previous UI elements without requiring an extension.

I've gone back to using Seamonkey. 2.1 was just released and while it's based on the same engine as FF 4.0, it has a more conservative UI and a more sane development cycle.

I'm also going to try something completely different and compile "UZBL" tonight heh..

Uzbl was interesting to play with for a while.
A nifty thread on the debian forums about it:
Debian User Forums • View topic - Anyone tried Uzbl? : http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.p...158&hilit=uzbl

I don't see what all the fuss is about extensions have been breaking since Firefox first had them. With every update they break or just get forgotten by their author. The UI hasn't really changed, the taskbar is still there, the menu bar etc.

I think FF3 was just like an enhanced version of Internet explorer. I like the changes they made to FF4. Theres a lot more room for the website.

you say that but your thread title seems to be presenting an opinion rather then asking for them.

It's not by Mozilla, but Uzbl seems perfect for what you're describing.

The main reason I don't use it that often is that it's still unstable and seems to reliaby crash every time when visiting certain sites.