Upgrade to Firefox 3 Release Candidate 1 was not as smooth or satisfying as I would have expected it to be. Many of the extensions I use were marked as incompatible and there were no updates available to them for Firefox 3 either.
Firefox 3: Incompatible Extensions
The following extensions (I use) are as yet incompatible with this new version of Firefox:
- All-in-One Sidebar
- BitComet Download Helper (installed by BitComet)
- CuteMenus – Crystal SVG
- del.icio.us Buttons
- Firebug
- Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer
- MeasureIt
- PicLens
- Remove It Permanently
- Save Flash Movie (installed by Flash Decompiler)
- Screen Grab!
- Smart Bookmarks Bar
- Tab Mix Plus
- Web Developer
The ones that are most essential to my Firefox experience are PicLens and Tab Mix Plus. Other extensions that came in handy now and then are del.icio.us Buttons, Firebug, MeasureIt, Remove It Permanently, Screen Grab! and Web Developer.
Firefox 3: Working Extensions
The extensions that are compatible and working (after updates) are:
- Download Statusbar
- Video DownloadHelper
- FlashGot
- Nuke Anything Enhanced
- Orbit Downloader Firefox Integration (installed by Orbit Downloader)
- ScribeFire
- SeoQuake
- StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon‘s extension is not working perfectly though, as the images displayed in Google search for rating and other stuff appear broken.
Firefox 3 Default Theme: So Bland!
The theme that I had grown used to, iPox, became an outcast, and I had to settle with the bland default Vista theme of FF 3!
There are only a couple of themes available for Firefox 3; none of them suit me. I ended up applying a theme that merely contained icons, though much better ones than the ones available in the default theme for Vista – Azerty III.
Not Feeling at Home
Although I loved the new features, especially live searches through your bookmarks and history as you type in the address bar, the add to bookmarks, site info, and bookmarks being tag enabled (awesome!), but I didn’t feel at home!
With the bland theme and incompatible extensions, this didn’t seem like the Firefox I had become used to.
I wanted my money back! My Firefox 2 back!
The Little Fiasco: Getting Back to Firefox 2
I had made no backups of any sorts (assumed, wrongfully, that everything would go smoothly), and having overwritten the existing installation of Firefox 2, there was no way to use Firefox 2 but to reinstall it … over Firefox 3!
After reinstalling it, Firefox 2 refused to start up! Just great!
Installed Firefox 3 back, which, thankfully, worked.
Hanging on to Firefox 3 RC1
For now, I have adjusted myself with the bland Firefox 3, hoping and checking for extension and theme updates every now and then.
I am sure most developers are already updating their extensions and themes for Firefox 3. So let’s wait for the updates and the final version to enjoy this vastly improved, feature-packed version of Firefox!
The Nightly Dev build of Tab Mix Plus works fine with FireFox 3.0 RC1. [ http://tmp.garyr.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7031 ]
As for the other addons, look into using the Nightly Tester Tools plugin [ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6543 ] to override the compatibility check.
Thanks BRiT for stopping by and pointing it out. I got this and it’s working pretty good so far.
I have also hacked into Firefox settings, after following an article/tutorial, where I had disabled the extension version checker in Firefox and also the Add-on security checker. So many of the extensions started working.
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