I need an alternative to Firefox ASAP

[cyb3r_sn4k3]

Try Chromium(chrome)

Its in the repos you can get it by...

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install chromium-browser

And I use firefox from a long time back but I never had any problems with it.

[cascade9]

What? There's 'Chrome' and also 'Chromium'?

Interesting. I need to spend more time here.

Yeah, google playing licence games.

Long story short- google writes some code for the chrome browser, releases it as open source 'chromium'. Because chromiums code is under a BSD licence, they can take code from it and incorporate it into the closed source chrome.

[gerowen]

After reading this thread I installed epiphany and holy cow it's fast compared to Firefox. It's Chrome fast with even less gui. The address bar isn't even there by default you just hit ctrl+l and it comes up temporarily. Appears to be a lot better than it used to be at rendering pages too, plus it supports the mozilla plugins for Flash and Java.

Edit: AND it supports HTML 5.

[lovinglinux]

You should try Firefox 4. A lot faster, very cool features.

Firefox runs like a charm as long as you do some maintenance. See my tutorials on optimization.

I also recommend Opera 11, which now support Chrome-like extensions. Opera is my primary browser now, but I also use Firefox for development, because nothing beats Firefox extensions.

Chrome? No way. It doesn't even have rss feed support.

[TeoBigusGeekus]

Opera all the way.
I've been using it since it had ads and even with them, it was still faster than firefox.
Version 11 supports extensions; small number of them available at the moment, but it's due to change in the immediate future.

[Jerriy]

You should try Firefox 4. A lot faster, very cool features.

Firefox runs like a charm as long as you do some maintenance. See my tutorials on optimization.

I also recommend Opera 11, which now support Chrome-like extensions. Opera is my primary browser now, but I also use Firefox for development, because nothing beats Firefox extensions.

Chrome? No way. It doesn't even have rss feed support.

But does Firefox 4 solve the memory/plugin-container/whatever problem?

And also this: does installing Firefox 4 while having repos-origin Firefox 3.6.13 cause me problems like it did when late last year (I mean two years ago now that it's 2011 already:>) when Firefox-jaunty couldn't be updated without the browser being renamed "Shiretoko" instead of "Firefox" (remember that?)

I remember all that hussle and now this latest Firefox-memory cockup! It's seriously getting tiring to use Firefox for just basic things! I'm using Chromium now just so that I can access imgur.com which firefox 3.6.13 is patheticaly NOT capable of without crashing and shutting down everything
.

[sanderd17]

just delete your firefox settings, history ... and it will be fast again:

rm .mozilla

You will have to redownload your add-ons and do your settings again. But with a new browser, you would have to do that too.

If you install firefox 4: get it from the website: http://www.mozilla.com/nl/firefox/beta/
download the archive, unpack it somewhere and execute the firefox file from it. The worst thing that can happen is that it messes up your profile (certainly if it's an old profile) and if you don't like it, just delete the archive and the unpacked archive.

[lovinglinux]

But does Firefox 4 solve the memory/plugin-container/whatever problem?

The plugin-container is what allows the browser to launch some plugins like flash as a separate process and thus not crashing the browser if the plugin crashes. It is very useful. However, you can turn it off if you need. See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Plugin-con...ash_protection

Opera has a similar container, called operapluginwrapper. Plugin performance in Opera is worse than Firefox, but Opera is much faster in regard to javascript.

The issues with the plugin container are more likely to be caused by the plugin itself, rather than the container. After all, flash uses too much CPU and lags like a turtle. However, recent versions of flash are getting better. If you are using 64bit, you should try the square preview.

Get my extension Flash-Aid, to install the proper flash beta version, get rid of conflicting plugins and apply some performance tweaks.

Also, get rid of flash on Youtube, Vimeo and Metacafe, by using my extension FlashVideoReplacer. You will be able to see HD videos without flash eating your CPU. Make sure you get versions 2.0.x of both.

In regard to memory issues, if you are experiencing memory leaks, is more likely to be an extension causing this.Start Firefox in safe mode to see if the problem persists and apply some memory tweaks in the preferences.

If you are switching to Chrome because of memory issues, then you will probably get frustrated soon. Chrome is not a miracle maker and it also tend to eat memory over time. Besides, it lacks too many features.

About Firfefox 4 solving your issues, I don't have enough data to determine what is the source of your problems. However, Firefox 4 javascript engine is a lot faster than 3.6. It is not as fast as Chrome and Opera, but you will be surprised (3 times faster than 3.0). Besides, in the real world, with a properly maintained browser profile, there is not much difference between the three browsers.

And also this: does installing Firefox 4 while having repos-origin Firefox 3.6.13 cause me problems like it did when late last year when Firefox-jaunty couldn't be updated without the browser being renamed "Shiretoko" (remember that?)

That's because a lot of people recommend the ubuntu-mozilla-daily ppa, which also updates Firefox 3.6 with unstable packages, which has no branding.

I prefer to download Firefox directly from Mozilla and install it into the /opt folder. This tutorial explains how to do it. You can also use the SilverWave ppa, that does not interfere with FF 3.6 or you can use my FoxTester extension, to easily install and launch any number of Firefox versions. Although the extension is intended to be used for testing various versions, you can use the "Make Default" option to install any version permanently into the /opt folder. Is very easy to use and no commands are required.

Yes, I remember the "Shiretoko" drama. Tons of endless threads complaining about the logo and name. That was exactly the time when I decided to create my tutorials.

I remember all that hussle and now this latest Firefox-memory cockup! It's seriously getting tiring to use Firefox for basic things! I'm using Chromium now just so that I am able to access imgur.com which firefox 3.6.13 is patheticaly NOT able to do!
.

You need to figure out what is causing these problems. Firefox 3.6 used to run pretty well on my Core2 Duo machine, even with more than 60 extensions installed.

See http://www.webgapps.org/firefox/general-troubleshooting

[lovinglinux]

just delete your firefox settings, history ... and it will be fast again:

rm .mozilla

Although that usually solves several profile issues and make Firefox fast again, there are less destructive methods to achieve the same results. For instance, optimizing the databases would be a good start.

[scouser73]

Opera is worth a shot.

I agree, install Opera 11 and see how fast it is.