Firefox 49 Released

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VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,225
126
I just got an update notification for Firefox 49.0.1.

Normally, when I see one, I go to www.firefox.com, and manually download the newest version, to have the full installer, whether or not I choose to do the update install.

However, the newest installer is still 49.0.

So what gives? Is this a MitM fake update?

Anyone else get an update notice for 49.0.1?

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/49.0.1/releasenotes/

Hmm, seems legit???
 
Puffnstuff

Puffnstuff

Lifer
Mar 9, 2005
16,204
4,885
136
When I updated from 48.0.2 it went to 49.0.1 so I couldn't tell you about a previous version.
 
Chiefcrowe

Chiefcrowe

Diamond Member
Sep 15, 2008
5,056
199
116
It seems like the most important add-on for me that is disabling multi-process is HTTPS Everywhere. I hope that is resolved soon.

As far as 49.0.1 - it seems legit to me. We'll have to check next week to see when they post the download for 49.0.1 on their website but it is already on their ftp.
 
pyonir

pyonir

Lifer
Dec 18, 2001
40,856
321
126
I updated to 49.0.1 through the "Help" menu like I usually do and it found it and I updated it. (manually)
 
Chiefcrowe

Chiefcrowe

Diamond Member
Sep 15, 2008
5,056
199
116
FYI - Mozilla has posted 49.0.1 for download now.


VirtualLarry said:
I just got an update notification for Firefox 49.0.1.

Normally, when I see one, I go to www.firefox.com, and manually download the newest version, to have the full installer, whether or not I choose to do the update install.

However, the newest installer is still 49.0.

So what gives? Is this a MitM fake update?

Anyone else get an update notice for 49.0.1?

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/49.0.1/releasenotes/

Hmm, seems legit???
Click to expand...
 
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,225
126
I finally got a chance to try 49.0.1 on my Gigabyte J1900 Brix box, which is an Atom quad-core. Somewhat slow single-threaded speeds, compared to even Core2 rigs, but multi-core.

Firefox 49.0.1 64-bit, initially showed multi-process windows disabled due to add-ons. (I had NoScript installed). When I totally disabled it, and re-started Firefox, with Task Manager running, I would hit 70% CPU time when loading tabs. Not bad.

I'm still not sure it's overall faster with the multi-threaded Windows. Seems like there's higher overhead now. And overall initial page-load latency seems hardly improved. But overall, seems smoother, with multiple tabs loaded. I'll go with it, hopefully it improves some, and more add-ons become multi-threaded compatible.

Edit: Seems maybe just a little tiny bit faster than Waterfox 48.0.2? Not quite sure.

It will be interesting if/when Waterfox gets the multi-process feature code, along with the optimizations in Waterfox. Should be nice.

Edit: It seems to get really bogged down after a few days. There's SEVERE lag to typing in the text / post-entry box here on the forums. Like 3-4s lag, waiting to see what you've typed. (Unless it's my wireless keyboard screwing up and buffering the keystrokes. I suppose I should attach a USB wired keyboard to definitely test. Maybe I'll do that.)
 
Last edited:
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,225
126
Waterfox 49.0.1 just dropped, so I installed it on my Beema quad-core laptop. Was running Waterfox 48.0.2.

Well, went to about : support , found Multiprocess Windows 0/1 Disabled.

So I disabled NoScript, like I did with Firefox 49.0.1 64-bit on my Brix J1900 box.

Restarted Waterfox, still shows "0/1 Disabled". Doesn't mention add-ons. So maybe it's not yet enabled in Waterfox builds.

Now that I can do a direct A/B comparison, the new 49.0.1 version is quite a bit laggier in typing into text boxes. Not as bad as my J1900 box (and that improved, when I reloaded my internet radio site), but it's still there, and more laggy than 48.0.2.

Edit: Setting this, shows "1/1 (Enabled by User)"
browser.tabs.remote.autostart=true

Edit: I installed it on my J1900 Brix unit, and it showed "1/1 (Enabled by Default)". Maybe because I had Firefox 49.0.1 on here before?

Edit: I'm digging Waterfox 49.0.1 on my J1900 Brix unit, with Multiprocess Windows 1/1 set.
It's almost... snappy. On an Atom. Pretty impressive stuff. Sure, there's still more initial latency opening pages compared to my G4400 @ 4.45Ghz and PCI-E M.2 SSD, but this is now much more bearable.
 
Last edited:
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,225
126
One thing that I noticed with Firefox and Waterfox 49.x. They seem to have a different rendering method than other desktop versions. They seem to use a rendering method akin to the Android version of the browser.

When clicking other tabs, I often get a spinning wheel for a few seconds, until that tab re-renders. Which is kind of weird that it would even need to do that, since it has allocated 3GB of RAM, for only 33 tabs.

Also, when rendering a page, it seems to only render the active area at first, and if I scroll, I get a white area until the rendering catches up. Which might have something to do with how / why there's so much lag typing text into this edit box, if it delays a few seconds, re-renders, rinse, repeat. What a mess.
 
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,225
126
" 0/1 (Disabled by accessibility tools)"

Firefox 49.0.1 32-bit, on a cheap Win8.1 tablet.

Anyone have any ideas? Does it not function well, using the onscreen keyboard, if enabled?
 
ninaholic37

ninaholic37

Golden Member
Apr 13, 2012
1,883
31
91
VirtualLarry said:
Edit: Setting this, shows "1/1 (Enabled by User)"
browser.tabs.remote.autostart=true
Click to expand...
Got the same in my single-core laptop lol

34fd3kw.jpg
 
mikeymikec

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
21,017
16,267
136
Has anyone actually seen multiprocess support in Firefox actually happening (ie. seeing multiple Firefox processes in the process list / Task Manager)?

I just installed FF 49 again, that multiprocess windows support bit in about:support was enabled, yet no extra processes and my 29-tab job took as long as it usually does in FF.
 
Chiefcrowe

Chiefcrowe

Diamond Member
Sep 15, 2008
5,056
199
116
You know, I haven't seen different processes in the machines that have it enabled. Maybe someone at here or at mozilla can explain how it is supposed to work/look like?
 
Last edited:
ninaholic37

ninaholic37

Golden Member
Apr 13, 2012
1,883
31
91
Even in Firefox Nightly I only get one firefox process (and one for plugin-container) when many tabs are open, but in this one I didn't have do anything for it to show 1/1.

2jbkt2u.jpg


edit: Apparently "Main Process" and "Web Content" are separated in about:memory and top. 2 processess = multi? lol

2vj8meo.jpg
 
Last edited:
ninaholic37

ninaholic37

Golden Member
Apr 13, 2012
1,883
31
91
Nice. Changed the dom.ipc.processCount from 2 to 4 and now it shows 4 separate Web Content processes.

67sjyg.jpg
 
kd5

kd5

Member
Apr 10, 2010
40
0
61
Been using Pale Moon for the last couple of years because Firefox got so bloated and slow I couldn't stand it anymore. Pale Moon has had its issues too, but overall I've struggled through their growing pains. My wife & I have older machines so we need for the browser to open and navigate the web quickly on older machines. While Pale Moon was quicker on our older machines than FF, that speed has been diminishing lately. Absolutely do NOT want Chrome primarily because I know how Google likes to track what people do on their machines, but also because I believe Chrome is a memory hog and would drag our older machines down. I've been trying to keep up with news on new FF releases, CNet had an article a while ago about FF trying to revamp their browser to get back into the browser game they lost to Chrome. I wonder about their progress. Is FF faster now than they have been (like they claim)? Is FF still bloated like they got a couple of years ago after they switched to their Australis interface? Always hated the new look, used Classic Theme Restorer back then. I'd like to try a leaner meaner FF but I don't know if they're back to basics yet or still churning away with extra crap nobody cares about. Will Firefox run side by side with Pale Moon? Tempted to try FF but don't want to abandon PM just yet...

Thanks!
 
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