I'm not a fanboy
Yes you read it right.
Though I am a big fan and user of Mozilla, I am not a fanboy. Why do I say that? Well, because I went back to Firefox 2 today.
Though I use Thunderbird in an office full of Outlook, Entourage and Outlook Express users, though I was one of the millions who pledged and downloaded Firefox 3 on download day (and I have a certificate to show for it), it didn't work out for me. I had sort of grown fond of the improved address bar, and I simply love the improved zoom feature, but the basic reason I use Mozilla or GNU software was lacking in this release - it wasn't stable. FF3 crashed - everyday, some 10 times a day, on unfortunate moments. I tried searching online for the reason this would happen, and potential solutions. All I could gather was that there was a conflict between some Google software, and if this software is uninstalled and installed after FF3, the problem would go away. But surprise! I never used that Google software, so what would I uninstall in order to solve this problem?
Then came the second release of FF3, and I hoped that this would solve the issue, but nothing doing. FF3 kept crashing. And I could do nothing about it. To avoid using the "inherently evil" browser, I used Safari, and liked it. But I still kept missing FF - the plugins, greasemonkey, and zotero. So out goes FF3, and back it comes - FF2.
So what do I think went wrong? Mozilla, known for its superstable software and responsiveness to consumer feedback, released a piece of software that is unstable for quite a few users as I gather. Could it be because they gave in to hype-mania - of releasing a not-yet-stable software on a particular date and setting a record? Now where have I seen this before? Hint: it's a big company producing a software that is FF's biggest competition. Set deadline, create hype, rush to release without testing. And then release another version which still has the problem.
If I were a fanboy, I would have gone ahead and blamed myself, my computer for the problem and been heartbroken. But since I'm not one, I simply uninstall FF3 and start using FF2. And it's been working so far for me - I am writing this on FF2 (without the fear of it crashing midway :) ).
Till the time Mozilla comes up with a super stable release, which is its hallmark, I'm sticking with FF2 - only that I miss the zoom :(
Though I am a big fan and user of Mozilla, I am not a fanboy. Why do I say that? Well, because I went back to Firefox 2 today.
Though I use Thunderbird in an office full of Outlook, Entourage and Outlook Express users, though I was one of the millions who pledged and downloaded Firefox 3 on download day (and I have a certificate to show for it), it didn't work out for me. I had sort of grown fond of the improved address bar, and I simply love the improved zoom feature, but the basic reason I use Mozilla or GNU software was lacking in this release - it wasn't stable. FF3 crashed - everyday, some 10 times a day, on unfortunate moments. I tried searching online for the reason this would happen, and potential solutions. All I could gather was that there was a conflict between some Google software, and if this software is uninstalled and installed after FF3, the problem would go away. But surprise! I never used that Google software, so what would I uninstall in order to solve this problem?
Then came the second release of FF3, and I hoped that this would solve the issue, but nothing doing. FF3 kept crashing. And I could do nothing about it. To avoid using the "inherently evil" browser, I used Safari, and liked it. But I still kept missing FF - the plugins, greasemonkey, and zotero. So out goes FF3, and back it comes - FF2.
So what do I think went wrong? Mozilla, known for its superstable software and responsiveness to consumer feedback, released a piece of software that is unstable for quite a few users as I gather. Could it be because they gave in to hype-mania - of releasing a not-yet-stable software on a particular date and setting a record? Now where have I seen this before? Hint: it's a big company producing a software that is FF's biggest competition. Set deadline, create hype, rush to release without testing. And then release another version which still has the problem.
If I were a fanboy, I would have gone ahead and blamed myself, my computer for the problem and been heartbroken. But since I'm not one, I simply uninstall FF3 and start using FF2. And it's been working so far for me - I am writing this on FF2 (without the fear of it crashing midway :) ).
Till the time Mozilla comes up with a super stable release, which is its hallmark, I'm sticking with FF2 - only that I miss the zoom :(
Labels: firefox, mozilla, what went wrong?
posted by Hypnos @ 5:39 pm
5 Comments:
At 3 August 2008 at 11:22 ,
Anonymous said...
Amit - you're emotionally attached to your computer, aren't you? ;-)
Btw, give Opera a try. I don't like it, but I've encountered hardcore Opera fans. Might do the job for you.
...and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for IE 8.0. I, for some strange reasons, love those folks at Microsoft.
At 4 August 2008 at 12:59 ,
Hypnos said...
If I'm spending 8 hours a day on the [office] computer, I'd be attached to it... emotionally or otherwise. And the browser is arguably the one software I use the most (Email, CorelDraw, Office and Photoshop compete for the second spot combined).
Ergo.
I have Opera installed on both my machines - office as well as personal, and the only issue I have with it is the lack of tactile feedback. Maybe if they correct it...
At 6 August 2008 at 01:49 ,
Karan Rajpal said...
That story repeats itself on every count, everywhere these days.
Cuil, which has been given the ultimate PR spin for now, is having a good time-
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/29/how-to-lose-your-cuil-20-seconds-after-launch/
At 25 August 2008 at 19:57 ,
Anonymous said...
FireFox 3... man, it's way too loaded with features.. but also way too heavy. Know what, I;m actually a big fan of FF, but I'm using IE a lot these days coz FF is drivingg me crazy in terms of loading time.
At 28 August 2008 at 15:42 ,
Hypnos said...
Govar using IE???
What has this world come to? Can't you get your hands on FF2 or Safari?
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