Over the past few weeks Mozilla released the final version of Firefox 4 (and not a moment too soon I might add). This release, which saw a long period of developmental and pre-release versions, promised to be the best version of Firefox ever- something that I can vouch for.

Admittedly, I have been a Chromium user for a long while now. Although I was consistently using the other browser for most of my web-surfing needs, I’ve always had a special place in my heart for Mozilla and the whole Firefox team. I really do believe that they’re in this for the right reasons. They’re committed to open-source and preserving a free and open web. (I can’t post HTML5 vids on Wordpress, but I’d love for you to see the Mozilla mission video: http://mozilla.org/about/)

That’s all great, but how does the browser stand up? Surprisingly well. I challenged myself to replace Chromium with Firefox on my main machine running Ubuntu 11.04 Natty pre-release for the past few weeks: here are my results: (just a note: the Ubuntu version ships with extensions for Ubuntu One and the global menu).

My switch was painless, and I don’t plan on going back. While start-up times are slower, I have found Firefox to be equally as fast as Chromium in loading/rendering sites. My bookmarks are backed up with Ubuntu One, and the menu bar is conveniently packed into my Global Menubar. A huge array of extensions and working pin-able app-tabs make this a solid competitor. New features include stackable tabs and a re-thought UI. Read below for a list of my pros/cons:

Pros

  • Much faster than previous versions of Firefox (on-par with Chromium)
  • Has Chrome-style pin-able "app tabs"
  • Seems to be notably stable
  • Customizable
  • New option for tabs on top
  • Redesigned UI, especially in the Windows version
  • Out-of-the-box ability to group tabs together
  • Integrates well within the various operating systems
  • New sync features that keep your browser synchronized between installs
  • No more status bar

Cons

  • Still a bit of a resource hog :(
  • Slower to start up than Chromium
  • No built-in "New Tab" page (Speed Dial exists as an extension, but is not my favorite)
  • Downloads appear in manager (separate window)
  • Just a personal thing, but the "New Tab" icon in Linux bugs me to death.

Verdict: I love this browser. I have switched from Chromium full time, and I am loving every minute of it. Is it as good as Chromium. Eh… that’s for you to decide. All I know is that it works well for me. Either way, it’s a great browser, it’s open-source, and you honestly cannot go wrong with it. It’s an evolutionary release, not a revolutionary one- but it’s free as in freedom, free as in beer, and rock-solid.

Downloads

For Ubuntu 10.04 and 10.10 users:

  • sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable
  • sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

For Ubuntu 11.04 users: Firefox 4 is already installed. Run the update manager, or sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get update (or apt-get install firefox if you’ve uninstalled it before)

All other OSes and lanuages: