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Post by Jack Teems on Aug 7, 2013 16:03:41 GMT -5
The newest update of a long string of updates is now ready -- Firefox23. While I don't see any significant changes, I'll take it. Anything has to be better than their previous attempts to compete in the browser war.
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Post by drmark on Aug 7, 2013 18:13:05 GMT -5
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Post by blueboxer on Aug 7, 2013 22:45:01 GMT -5
I sent them a feedback comment saying I was annoyed with the too frequent updates, the tendency of new versions to lose my profile and crash the computer, and the disablement of favoutite extensions without notice or explanation. I also don't like the way their notices often intrude over some item I'm working on - on one occasion I lost a tedious but important download that way.
The update notices now have a link inviting feedback. Maybe we dissatisfied folk need to use it.
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Post by cyberdiva on Aug 8, 2013 9:37:19 GMT -5
I sent them a feedback comment saying I was annoyed with the too frequent updates, the tendency of new versions to lose my profile and crash the computer, and the disablement of favoutite extensions without notice or explanation. I also don't like the way their notices often intrude over some item I'm working on - on one occasion I lost a tedious but important download that way. The update notices now have a link inviting feedback. Maybe we dissatisfied folk need to use it. +1
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Post by marck on Aug 9, 2013 18:12:41 GMT -5
There is NO law that say's you have to update.you can always set it to manual update.Most of the time there is no need to update.You can choose what version you want and need.If it's not broke don't fix it.
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Post by drmark on Aug 9, 2013 20:30:28 GMT -5
Marck makes an excellent point. In fact I have no programs set to automatically update. I prefer to choose what updates I want and which I may not.
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Post by Jack Teems on Aug 10, 2013 7:30:37 GMT -5
There is NO law that say's you have to update.you can always set it to manual update.Most of the time there is no need to update.You can choose what version you want and need.If it's not broke don't fix it. While that's true, the temptation to update is strong when the version one is using doesn't function properly. You go ahead and update with the attitude "What do I have to lose?"
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Post by drmark on Aug 10, 2013 7:38:16 GMT -5
And then you sometimes find out that you had more to lose than you thought. My biggest problem with auto-updates is that generally means you need to have a service for that application running in real time whether you are using the application or not. I just do not want five or ten or twenty additional services running, using up my resources, just for the occasional update that I may or may not want.
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Post by cyberdiva on Aug 11, 2013 7:53:07 GMT -5
There is NO law that say's you have to update.you can always set it to manual update.Most of the time there is no need to update.You can choose what version you want and need.If it's not broke don't fix it. I agree, but even though I had Firefox set NOT to update or even check for updates, a few weeks ago I opened Firefox and found it in the middle of downloading version 22 (I was happily running version 21). I tried to stop the download, but eventually the download AND install succeeded in spite of my setting. I've now found that other people have had a similar experience. The update wiped out a number of settings, changed my homepage to the Mozilla homepage, messed with my toolbars and my add-ons and plug-ins, and more. I finally got version 22 back into shape, and of course I have it set to NEVER check for updates, but I no longer feel so confident about my ability to prevent Firefox from updating. Ever the optimist, I'm hoping that my experience was a fluke. Ever the realist, I'm thinking about switching to Pale Moon, which is based on Firefox but doesn't participate in some of its insanity, including the updates.
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thai
Full Member
Posts: 164
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Post by thai on Aug 11, 2013 8:08:02 GMT -5
I am sitting here laffing at myself for still using Firefox version 12....YES, 12.
Am I missing something by not being in the 20's?
Thai
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Post by marck on Aug 11, 2013 12:34:31 GMT -5
If you have A check mark on never update,and uncheck automatic update of search engine.You will never have an update of any kind from firefox.
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Post by marck on Aug 11, 2013 12:39:28 GMT -5
I am sitting here laffing at myself for still using Firefox version 12....YES, 12. Am I missing something by not being in the 20's? Thai I really don't think you're missing too much as long as you have all you windows and AV's and firewall updates.
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Post by cyberdiva on Aug 12, 2013 8:02:40 GMT -5
If you have A check mark on never update,and uncheck automatic update of search engine.You will never have an update of any kind from firefox. Marck, you raise an interesting point. I DO have "update search engines checked," though I'm not sure what that really means. Of course, I've always had "update search engines checked," and for a long time I nonetheless managed to avoid having Firefox updated. So I assumed that the two instructions didn't influence one another. But I'd really like to know what it means to have Firefox update (or not update) search engines. Clearly, if it's not important, I'll uncheck it. But not only don't I know what it really means, I also don't know how I would go about manually asking that they be updated. (I understand how to add or remove search engines from the list available, but that's probably not something that can be done "automatically." And I assume that search engines update their information all the time, so that's probably not what's meant, either. Does update here refer to those presumably rare times when major changes are made to the way the search engine functions?)
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Post by drmark on Aug 12, 2013 8:46:02 GMT -5
Without getting to deep into the weeds here, I think we are running into a problem of semantics. Search engines such as Google (and Bing, Dick Duck Go, WebCrawler and on and on--there are hundreds) don't actually "update" in the sense that it is something an end user does. Google changes or "updates" its search algorithms 600 to 700 times a year.
Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Chrome, and so on are not search engines but Search Browsers. They simply provide a gateway to the Internet to allow you to use search engines as well as a Graphic Interface. Each browsers does contain a rendering engine (often mistakenly refereed to as a "search engine") which is the "engine" that renders each page that you see. Each of the browsers, use one of three or four such "engines": Trident (IE), WebKit (Chrome), Presto Opera, Gecko (Firefox). These do update as a part of the browser update.
When you update your browser the changes are often and for the most part cosmetic but there are also improvements as to how each browser handles resources such as memory; improvements to security; faster page rendering (how fast you see a page when you click on a search result) also called page load time and has to do with improvements with the rendering engine; and other small tweaks to improve the overall usability of the browser.
So, to update or not to update. It is certainly not necessary to update each time--especially when many of these are minor updates, e.g. Opera 12.5 to 12.6 or Firefox 20.3 to 20.4. Even with a major update (the first number)you may wish to wait and can always inspect the changelog posted on each browser's website which will list the changes before making your decision. I would argue that if you are too many updates behind you are losing out on security fixes, speed increases, and better resource management but otherwise the choice is yours.
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Post by cyberdiva on Aug 12, 2013 9:23:24 GMT -5
Thanks very much, Dr. Mark, for your prompt and informative response. When I saw the option on Firefox to "update search engines," I assumed it was referring to the search engines I can choose to use when I search for something in Firefox--Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Ixquick HTTPS, etc. Frankly, I've never seen Gecko, WebKit, etc. referred to as a search engine but rather as web browser engines, engines that determine how the web browser runs. I gather that for years Opera ran on Presto but now (as of version 15, which I have avoided) has switched to WebKit, which Chrome also uses. I'm really surprised that Firefox would word an option "Automatically Update search engines" if what it were referring to was some change to Gecko. Wouldn't that change happen automatically when Firefox is updated? And why, if it's referring to Gecko, would it say search ENGINES (plural)? So I'm still confused (a state I know well :-) )
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