R.I.P. Firefox

I hate to do it, but I'm left with no choice. I have been using Firefox for over a year now, and I've enjoyed every minute of it. I have always liked the way it responds, it's faster than any other browser, and I particularly like that it's actually HTML-compliant.

But those times are over. I've spent at least 6 hours in the last 3 days fighting Firefox. I've had old versions and new versions. I've had it automatically update. I've installed, re-installed, and un-installed -- all to no avail. The most current "stable" version (1.5.0.2 I think, I can't keep it running) is wasting a lot of my time.

On one computer, a very, very powerful machine (for a PC), the new install does nothing. It updated and sits there. It cannot navigate to any web sites, nor does it ever time out -- a blank page is all that will appear. On another machine, the new latest version has worked for months -- but now locks up at random times -- and breaks Windows so bad I have to remove the battery to get the machine to restart.

It's on 3 machines, all with XP, but with different environments, and it's different times and on different web pages where it stops working. And again, on one machine I get nothing.

At this point, I give up -- I just don't have more hours and hours to devote to testing and changing and working with this thing. Perhaps it will work better if I change my OS to Linux, and I'll try that on one of my machines when I get a chance -- but for now, sorry Firefox, but you've got to go.

Posted by: Ogre at 06:02 PM

Comments

1 I haven't had the same problems with Firefox, but I have friends who have. I've been using Opera, because it's such a small target, and it works well. I'm not touching the new IE version until MS releases its first security patch.

Posted by: Stevin at May 04, 2006 11:00 PM (LfL8N)

2 I agree with Stevin, try Opera. I have not tried the free version but I have heard good things about it.

Posted by: Arbitratorofall at May 04, 2006 11:27 PM (5+Jvh)

3 I'm VERY seriously wondering if IE 7 is spyware. I just installed Opera and it has the SAME reaction as Firefox -- zero -- it just sits there and cannot find any web pages and never times out. Both are configured for direct connection to the internet. IE 7 finds web pages just fine. This is really getting annoying. I may have to switch all my computers over to Linux to get anything to work.

Posted by: Ogre at May 05, 2006 01:34 AM (blszc)

4 Is it maybe a firewall built into your router causing the problem? It could be that it's blocking all browsers except the IE. Try connecting one of your PCs directly to your modem and see if the Firefox or Opera works that way.

Posted by: Stevin at May 05, 2006 01:57 AM (LfL8N)

5 I think I need to uninstall IE 7 and see if suddenly everything else works.

Unfortunately, I can't connect directly because the router is in another room (and I don't have long enough wires). Firefox worked FINE until I installed the latest version. I've even turned off ALL firewalls and protections and nothing is getting anything. Damn, this is frustrating. And just think -- I'm a damn computer professional.

Posted by: Ogre at May 05, 2006 02:00 AM (blszc)

6 But indeed, thanks for the tips. I'm just really at a loss here.

Posted by: Ogre at May 05, 2006 02:03 AM (blszc)

7 I got tired of trying to set up my blog to fit both IE and Firefox. I downloaded IE7 Beta and really to like it. I haven't had any problems at all with it so far. Even using Firefox, a lot of websites, including my bank, wouldn't work with it anyway.

Posted by: Jo at May 05, 2006 11:23 AM (aOY2D)

8 I'm starting to use IE7, so good to hear at least one person has no problem with it, thanks!

Posted by: Ogre at May 05, 2006 11:40 AM (/k+l4)

9 I'm using FF 1.0.7, which works fine.

Based on various horror stories I've heard, I don't think I'll upgrade until 2.1 comes out... if then... :-)

Posted by: Harvey at May 11, 2006 03:48 PM (L7a63)

10 I'm playing with Opera now. Next I'll write my own damn browser.

Posted by: Ogre at May 11, 2006 05:01 PM (/k+l4)






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