Firefox 3 Beta 4 fully armed and operational

Firefox 3 Beta 4 fully armed and operational

Despite my recent (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/2008/03/is-safari-best-of-both-worlds.html) postings (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/2008/03/its-called-apple-software-update.html) about Safari (http://www.apple.com/safari/), my web browser of choice remains Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/), largely because of extensions that make it extremely pen-friendly (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/2006/03/make-firefox-pen-friendly.html). Thus, I had been reluctant to try test versions of the browser since the extensions usually aren't immediately updated for them. Key phrase: "had been" -- No more need to wait thanks to PortableApps (http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable/test) and a hack I read on Lifehacker (http://lifehacker.com/355973/make-your-extensions-work-with-the-firefox-3-beta).

Portabletpps offers applications that can be run from a flash drive (I'm using a SD card). Among the offerings are Firefox and its new beta release (http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable/test). I'd already installed a previous version of FF3, so I updated it via its built-in updater. That lets me try beta 4 without installing it on my computer and possibly messing with my current version.

To this, I've applied a settings tweak (http://lifehacker.com/355973/make-your-extensions-work-with-the-firefox-3-beta) I read on Lifehacker that disables the version check on extensions. Normally, extensions that haven't been updated for a particular version of Firefox cannot be installed, which makes it difficult to use beta versions as I would normally use Firefox. Obviously, installing untested extensions can lead to buggy behavior. But remember, I'm running it from a flash memory card, so I'm safe from serious damage.

With those conditions in mind, I'm pleased to report that FF3 b4 is running fairly well from my SD card (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital_card) with the pen friendly extensions of All-in-one Gestures (https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=12) and Grab & Drag (http://grabanddrag.mozdev.org/) installed. As previously reported (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/2007/12/floating-tip-in-firefox-3-beta.html), the floating TIP works without GeckoTIP (http://geckotip.mozdev.org/). It did crash on me once for no apparent reason. Also, it launches quickly but then hangs for a minute, ballooning in memory usage before subsiding and returning to normal function. I suspect my unorthodox setup has something to do with that.

Anyway, I won't be installing FF3 directly on my computer just yet, but it's nice to see things are working. I look forward to the gold edition hopefully with updates for my two critical extensions.
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