Firefox 3 vs. Windows Vista, Part 3

So it looks like removing the extensions has indeed paid off. You may recall my earlier post noting my concerns about the reliability of Firefox 3 and questions about the cause. After uninstalling the few extensions I had installed in the Firefox 3 release candidate and using the default browser install for four days now, I've not seen any crashes:

So that's good, obviously. However, not to belabor the point, but to the end user, a Firefox crash is a Firefox crash. In the same way that one might blame, say, Windows Vista when there's an incompatible device driver, one might likewise blame Mozilla when the browser crashes, regardless of the actual fault. I'm not saying this is fair, just that it will happen.

I should also mention that Mozilla has been quite attentive to the issue and has asked for a lot of feedback. Their activity and interest is commendable.

Discuss this Article 3

dugbug
on Jun 2, 2008
I love that vista reliability graph. Eventually the digirati will take notice of it and the improvements MS has made in identifying performance trends.
JamesNT
on Jun 2, 2008
I don't see the problem with the Firefox team taking heat for a problem caused by a third-party plug in. It happens to Microsoft every day. Remember that pwn2own contest? And the firefox team has also contributed to MS getting bashed for stuff that is not their fault. Turn-about is, after all, fair play. JamesNT
procario
on Jun 2, 2008
I am surprised that buggy extensions are getting through. I have had a number of my extensions disabled as incompatible: google toolbar, google gears, the AVG security toolbar. I had to go get a beta version of the the del.icio.us extension. I was neither surprised not disappointed by this. The extensions are going to lag the browser, but it sounds like their is still something missing about how extensions are accepted by firefox. Overall I have been very happy with RC1 on OS X, windows XP, and linux.

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