Firefox 2.0b2 (#2): Stability problems; Issues with Flash media; more
Firefox 2.0b2 (#2): Stability problems; Issues with Flash media; more
Stability problems A handful of users are reporting stability issues with this release of Firefox -- an issue we've yet to experience in-house on both PowerPC and Intel-based Macs.
MacFixIt reader Gary Tait writes:
"Alas it has crashed six times. I have had to force quit it 'not responding'. I have reverted back to an older version. The new one needs some work. I am running an Intel iMac."
If you are experiencing problems with stability after the update, try disabling any third-party extensions and/or themes. These can be toggled by going to the "Tools" menu and selecting "Add-ons."
Issues with Flash media Some users have reported issues with embedded Flash content -- particularly controls in Flash-based navigation/interaction systems.
MacFixIt reader John writes:
"When playing online flash games, like at neopets, holding down the space bar does not cause your gun to continuously fire while the space bar is down. Rather it jut fires one or two shots. The 1.5 release, as well as Safari, Camino and OmniWeb all operate correctly, i.e., your gun will fire repeatedly as long as the space bar is depressed. This causes Firefox 2 to be unusable for Flash gamers."
Fixes for problems with Japanese characters One MacFixIt reader reports issues with Japanese characters in the previous edition of Firefox have been fixed in the new beta release.
"I just downloaded and am comparing the stable 1.5 version with the new 2.0 beta version and noticed one or two significant changes. I live in Japan and have a 20" intel Mac. Using Japanese with version 1.5 caused a lot of problems with many Japanese characters, wether it be the Google search bar, or the Google site itself. Besides '???' marks appearing where the characters should be, entering characters in the Google site, among other sites, the characters would simply disappear. The new 2.0 beta version seems to have fixed this problem, but I am still in the midst of testing. Also, strangely enough, inputing Japanese characters seems to perform somewhat faster than before where there was a lot of sluggishness."
Rearrangement of preferences Meanwhile some users have taken issue with the slight rearrangement of some preferences and commands in Firefox 2.0b2.
Gerard Farrell writes:
"The preferences have been rearranged, it takes a little time to find some things. If you are using a theme other than the default, some of the icons in the pulldown menus are mucked up. In the preferences, the "Clear Cache" button is gone where the cache volume is set; you have to go into privacy, configure the privacy settings to clear the cache only (if that's all you want to do) and do it that way."
Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.
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