Firefox 6 released

[HansV]

Most "new" features aren't really spectacular. The most visible one should be the one listed first: the domain name within a web address being displayed in a different color from the rest:

x751.png

Doesn't that happen in Windows XP?

[Roderunner]

I installed Fx 6 but I don't see any of the feature changes they speak about in the "What's New?" blurb.

I'm running on XP Pro SP3. Are the new features only for Win7 users?

I'm not entirely sure, but as IE9 is not for XP users, FF might be the same.

[viking33]

I installed Fx 6 but I don't see any of the feature changes they speak about in the "What's New?" blurb.

I'm running on XP Pro SP3. Are the new features only for Win7 users?

My impression is that it's for both 7 and XP.
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System specs for ver 6:
Operating Systems

Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows Server 2003
Windows Vista
Windows 7

Please note that while the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7 can be used to run Firefox 6, only 32-bit builds of Firefox 6 are supported at this time.
Recommended Hardware

Pentium 4 or newer processor that supports SSE2
512MB of RAM
200MB of hard drive space

[HansV]

Are the new features only for Win7 users?

My impression is that it's for both 7 and XP.

Firefox 6 definitely runs on Windows XP, but BobH was wondering whether the new features were only visible to Windows 7 users.

[BobH]

I don't see the domain name in a different color type. The URL appears in the address block just as it always has.

Could it be a settings issue?

[HansV]

I won't be using an XP machine until after the weekend, I'll check this if it hasn't been solved by then.

[Bigaldoc]

I'm running XP. Here's mine, although it's not too glaringly distinct.

[HansV]

Thanks, Al!

I found that you can turn this behavior on / off:
- Type about:config in the address bar, then press Enter.
- Type formatting in the Filter box.
- The only entry matching the filter is browser.urlbar.formatting.enabled.
- Double-click the entry to change its value - true will display the domain highlighted, false won't.
- Close the tab.

x752.png

[BobH]

After checking the option in about:config, I must report that the option appears as shown in Hans' screenshot; however, the domain name in the URL remains unchanged. Its font is the same as the rest of the URL. There must be some other option affecting the display.

[StuartR]

...There must be some other option affecting the display.

What color scheme do you have selected? If it is high contrast (or whatever it was called) this could affect things.

[Jim Cone]

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2391196,00.asp

"...In fact, a look at its complete change log reveals a significant total of 1,300 changes and fixes.
One that end users may notice include URL highlighting, which, like Internet Explorer 9 and Google Chrome,
shows the domain name in darker font than the rest of a page's address.

The other visual change, though not major, is in the "site identity block"—
the area to the left of a Web pages address that indicates whether it's a secure.
Mouse clicking on this shows if a page is encrypted, verified, who owns it, and who verified it.

Also newly available to users is a site-specific privacy feature.
This can be accessed by typing "about:permissions" in the address bar,
and it lets users specify which sites are allowed to store passwords, get access to your location,
set cookies, open popups, and maintain permanent storage.
It's a useful new feature, though Mozilla could have made it more accessible in menus.

As the title of the Mozilla blog post announcing Firefox indicates, developers get far more in Firefox 6.
New features include support for server-sent Events with EventSource, which will let Web apps perform server push;
support for the latest version of WebSockets, which allows persistent connection with a server;
a new JavaScript prototyping tool called Scratchpad; a more usable Web Console;
and new choices on the Web Developer Menu for easier access to tools.

The Firefox 6 update adds a couple of operational behaviors from which users can benefit:
Firefox Sync—which allows syncing of bookmarks, passwords, history, and more—
is now offered when you create a bookmark or go to save a password.
And users of Firefox's Panorama tab groups should see faster startup times for the browser..."
'---
Jim Cone
Portland, Oregon USA
http://www.mediafire.com/PrimitiveSoftware
(Data Rows add-in: Custom Shading, Deleting, Inserting)