OS X Odyssey 326 - Test-driving the Mozilla Firebird 0.6 XUL-based Browser for OS X





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OSX

OS X Odyssey 326 - Test-driving the Mozilla Firebird 0.6 XUL-based Browser for OS X

Monday, May 19, 2003

By Applelinks Contributing Editor Charles W. Moore

Mozilla Firebird is a redesign of the Mozilla browser component, similar to Galeon, K-Meleon and Camino, but written using the XUL user interface language and designed to be cross-platform.

Mozilla Firebird 0.6 (formerly Phoenix) is now available for download. This release features a fresh new look designed by Arvid Axelsson, a redesigned preferences window, preliminary support for Mac OS X and much more. Mozilla.org’s long-term goal is for Firebird to become the next Mozilla Browser, but that name change will not happen until after Mozilla Application Suite 1.4 is released.

Firebird is not just a streamlined rework of Mozilla. Some 40,000+ lines of code have been added or changed from Mozilla so far, and it’s still a work in progress.

Mozilla Firebird is a browser only. There are no mail and news or html authoring modules as there are in the current Mozilla Application Suite and Netscape, but Mozilla.org is working on a new Mozilla Thunderbird mail client application to compliment the Mozilla Firebird browser.

My first impression upon trying Firebird was that this thing is wicked fast, certainly not taking a back seat to Safari or Camino. However, subjective impressions can be deceiving, so I timed a few page downloads against Safari 1.0 beta 2 v74 and iCab 2.9.1.

Please note well that these are NOT formal benchmarks nor purported to be. Just measured times from clicking the link until the Stop button grays out on a 26,400 dialup connection (PowerBook G3 500 Mhz/640 MB RAM/ OS X 10.2.6).

Applelinks Homepage
Firebird - 26 seconds
Safari - 26 seconds
iCab - 55 seconds

Low End Mac Homepage
Firebird - 1 minute, 9 seconds
Safari - 1 minute, 8 seconds
iCab - 1 minute, 23 seconds

National Post Homepage
Firebird - 1 minute, 8 seconds
Safari - 1 minute, 33 seconds
iCab - (won’t load the NP homepage properly)

Environment Canada Weather Radar Image For Halifax, N.S.
Firebird - 20 seconds
Safari - 14 seconds
iCab - 19 seconds

At least based on these informal samplings, it’s pretty much a wash speed-wise between Forebird and Safari, which is to say that they are the fastest browsers available for the OS X platform.

New Stuff in Mozilla Firebird 0.6 (Glendale build)

Of course, everything about Firebird is new to Mac users, but here are the main changes from previous Windows/Linux builds, with my observations and comments:

• Mac OS X Support
Mozilla Firebird is now available for Mac OS X. The Mozilla team disclaims that the OS X variant is “still quite rough around the edges but it’s a start.” They are being far too modest. In a couple of days of doing most of my surfing with Firebird, I encountered no instability, unexpected quits, or other erratic behavior. Everything that worked. worked well. The only things I found slightly annoying were that command-clicking links to open them in a new tab or window didn’t work, but the contextual menu (Control-click) did; and full JavaScript support is not there yet.

• New default theme
Mozilla Firebird 0.6 has a crisp, fresh and attractive theme, based on the Qute theme by Arvid Axelsson. Also, the new theme has icons for the Bookmark Manager toolbar. I like the look of Firebird, which I thnk is the most aesthetically pleasing of the Mozilla family of browsers, and much more attractive than Safari’s “brushed metal” interface theme.

• Redesigned Preferences window
The new Options window puts the most often used preferences into seven convenient panels, each with a descriptive icon selector. I found the Firebird preferences very intuitive, and line the main interface theme, the aesthetics are attractive.

• Improved Privacy Options
With a single click (and a confirmation) you can clear all privacy data including form data, history, cache, cookies, etc. Kudos again. This is not something I use a lot personally, but if it’s an important function for you, you’ll appreciate the one-click convenience.

• Improved Bookmarks
Among other bookmark enhancements, the Bookmarks menu now features a context menu. Try it by right-clicking on a bookmark in the menu. Cool. I still perfer the traditional bookmarks motif to the one used in Safari, Firebird has the best Bookmarks implementation I’ve yet encountered in a Mozilla/Netscape browser. Unfortunately, there is no Bookmark import function for bringing in your bookmarks from Mozilla, Camino, Safari, et al. There appears to be an Internet Explorer Favorites import, but I don’t use IE, so can’t confirm how well it works.

• Talkback enabled
You are now able to submit Talkback information when Mozilla Firebird crashes, which makes it much easier for developers to fix critical bugs.

• Automatic Image Resizing
With this feature, Mozilla Firebird shrinks any image that is bigger than the window to make the whole image visible. When this is done, the cursor over the image changes to tell you that if you click, the image is restored to full size. This feature can be disabled if you prefer.

• Smooth Scrolling

• Access to more preferences
You are now able to edit lots of advanced preferences that are not exposed in the Options window by entering about:config in the location bar and press Enter.

• Profile Chrome
You can now install Mozilla Firebird extensions in your own profile folder instead of in the actual program folder. This means that you will be able to upgrade to new versions of Mozilla Firebird without losing all your extensions. Note that it’s up to the extension authors to allow their extensions to use this functionality. Some extensions may not offer this as an option yet.

• Lots of bug fixes

In summary, I really like Firebird even in this early iteration. To my sense of aesthetics, it’s much prettier than Safari, and it seems to be its match for speed and stability. It’s a smaller download than Mozilla 1.4 or Netscape 7.x (but no Mail module) at about 11 MB. Definitely wirth checking out.

Mozilla Firebird is beta freeware

For more information, visit:
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firebird/

Download:
Mac OS X:
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firebird/releases/0.6/MozillaFirebird-0.6-mac.dmg.gz

*** Indexing OS X 10.2.6

From: Irwin Mortman

I have been trying to index my hard drive without any luck.

Here’s my procedure.
1. I click on the hard drive icon
2. Get info
3. Click on Content Index
4. It shows:

Status indexing Date - Status bar is blank Clicking on Stop Indexing does not respond

5. I’ve tried repair permissions
6. Ran Disk Utility form the OS X CD
7. Logged out and logged in with a different user - no change

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thank you.
Irwin Mortman

___

Hi Irwin;

I’ve never indexed a hard drive in either OS X or OS 9. I detest the whole concept, a point I’ve elucidated here several times in the past.

Perhaps some readers out there with indexing experience can offer some helpful suggestions.

Mine would be to forget about indexing and use a text search utility like SpeedSearch X or EasyFind, neither of which requires indexing, and which also search whole documents rather than just the first 2000 words.

Charles

***

The OS X Odyssey archives may be accessed here:
http://www.applelinks.com/news/odyssey/

***

*** Charles W. Moore

Note: Letters to Moore's Mailbag may or may not be published at the editor's discretion. Correspondents' email addresses will NOT be published unless the correspondent specifically requests publication. Letters may be edited for length and/or context.

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CM

Charles W. Moore

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