Quotes from Joe;
"Firefox 3 Beta 3 may not be foxy, but it is fast. Blazing. And it's a firestorm against malware. Tab enhancements look really good, too. I'm a big tabber. Mozilla had tabs down pat before Microsoft, and now they're even better. The new password management feature is delightful, even visually. In fact, the motif's nicety accentuates the broader UI's flaws."
----------------------------------------------------
It may not be the pretty face for you, and perhaps could use some eye candy, but remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And at some point we are will agree that functionality is far more important than looks. Which I think you might have grudgingly come around to, like the rest of us. I would say you are hooked now Joe on Firefox, just like the rest of us open source users. And at some point, it dawns on you, that open source software, a lot of it is very good, far better than the MS software. Once you start down that road, at the end of the road is Linux.

The number 1 application I run on my Asus Eee is Firefox. On my workstations, I can run Firefox continuously for a week or more before it starts thrashing like mad and I have to kill it and relaunch it. On the Eee, that happens regularly after just a day or two. (Could be because the Eee only has half a gig of RAM.)

I'm hoping Firefox 3 improves its memory-handling sufficiently to reduce this irritation. We'll see.

If you are so fond of Safari, just use the iSafari Leopard themes for Firefox, or one of the many other free to download themes.

Glad you like the underlying structure, if not the skin. As someone's already mentioned, one of the best things about Firefox is that if you don't like something, there's plenty of opportunity for you as a user to take control of your own destiny and change it. I'd encourage you to check out some of the themes available on the Add-ons website, and find one you like.

The visual polish isn't done yet, and you can expect things to start looking a little slicker on Windows. We're doing our best to balance between platform native look and feel and a modern, sleek, clean appearance. Keep your comments (and suggestions, which are always harder but more valuable than just criticism) coming!

Joe Says :
Besides, I need a break from ActiveX. Don't you?

@Joe :
Sounds like buyers remorse to me, eh?

don't like the look of firefox? that's the beauty of firefox, you simply go & find a skin that appeals to you or create your own.

some skins are better in concept than actual execution so feel free to experiment.

I use both IE7 and Firefox 2 and although Firefox does require more user interface for plug-ins, Firefox is user friendly and noticeably faster. My preference is still IE for Sharepoint web sites (then again, both are Microsoft products). I also notice fewer lockups with the Firefox web browser.

Don't worry Joe. Downloading add-ons in now a part of the browser. The below link shows a nice "Get Add-Ons" menu, among other features:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080212-first-look-firefox-3-beta-3.html

Does / Will IE ever let users have enough control over Explorer to make their own skins ??

I haven't used FF3 yet, but:

I like IE7's interface.

FF2's interface looks clunky and old fashioned.

Interface aside, I look forward to giving FF3 a try, when it is done. Having a Backup Browser is a Good Thing.

"IE7 has been my preferred browser for consuming content, in part because of ClearType for HTML support, the ability to easily block third-party cookies and annoying but useful content-blocking features."

You can set your ClearType as default text rendering at the OS Level in Windows XP. Content then gets the cleartype rendering in Mozilla- same as IE7.

Canvas performance trumps shell issues for me, especially on Web Applications. Yahoo Email is an Ajax application which runs infinitely better in Mozilla. Barely usable in IE and perfect in Firefox.

While the Mozilla browser may appear to be dated, it is functional and it works very well. I really can't stand the UI of IE 7. My wife does not like it either. When we initally updated to IE 7, we found the interface confusing and simply too much hassle to lean and use. We simply don't have the time. I have installed Mozilla on all of our family computers and have not looked back since.

A new UI does not necessarily mean a better product.

I don't like IE7 UI. I don't like Vista UI.I use neither. I like Win2000 look and UI. This is the way I've set up my XP installs from day one (Windows Classic). I like IE6 UI and FireFox2 UI. I want my software to be lean, mean and snappy.

Every software should give you the option for the "classic" Windows look. Have you tried it in Vista? I did just to see if I could bare using a fat, slow, buggy OS. Well, you can get the classic look but with Vista icons only. It's pig ugly. I never touched Vista since.

Another example of where a UI redesign is useless and ugly is the Windows Mobile Device Center. Active Sync 4.5 was fine.

I've stopped "supporting" my friends using Vista and/or other softwares that have a silly UI.

If IE8 once again try to get something too fancy with limited customization I won't touch it, FireFox3 will be just fine. If Windows7 UI is as useless as Vista's I'll be moving to something else.

Joe, get off your butt and skin it. i hardly think it matters since there will be plenty of skins to choose from.

Far more important is the other stuff. ODF support for one. Less memory use for another. FF2 manages to suck up 350MB at times here. I've not seen FF3 reach even 150MB yet.

My only wish is that 'web developer' extension is fast tracked.

Go have a look at the server logs and tell us what the ratio is of IE > FF. And how many of your viewer are using FF3. That might be worth writing about.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

You want the Firefox developers to make the same mistake Micro$oft did when it slapped on the "ribbon" onto Office? Yeah, that sure threw the old Office users into a spin -- and CAUSED A LOT OF WASTED TIME AND PRODUCTIVITY.

Firefox works well. Sure, some eye candy might make it prettier and more appealing to the fashion-conscious, but that's just icing on the cake. And too much icing can make one flabby.

Firefox is a community effort. Why don't you join Mozilla as a developer and help make it better if you think it's so bad. I'm really getting to dislike pundits. I just noticed this is "Microsoft watch".... go figure..

As Vista's Aero proves, you can have lean or you can have gleam, but you really can't have both.

You rave about the blazing speed of Firefox 3, so don't bash the reason for that blazing speed. If you want Aero-style glitz, I'm sure any number of 3rd party skins will be available to sate that urg; just don't expect Firefox to run as fast after installing one.

Joe,

You pays your money and you takes your choice. Do you want eye candy, bloatware, and gaping security breaches to match Vista's WOW! ??? Or do you want something practical, utilitarian, relatively secure (as secure as Windows itself allows), with a somewhat pedestrian look? You seem to want eye candy, no software bloat, and a highly secure internet experience. Some of these are mutually exclusive, or maybe you want to try a polished Linux distro? Oh, yeah. And don't forget that Firefox is multi-platform software working and playing effectively in Windows, Linux, OS X and heaven knows what other operating systems. As a consequence, the Firefox UI needs to blend in with all of the above, rather than look like an extension of Windows. When IE works and plays nicely in many OS environments, we'll all be dead and maybe Microsoft will be, too.

breaks ALL extensions [ that's why we have nightly tester tools,right ? ]
makes Gmail contact list INVISIBLE though still there
works with ONLY Yahoo classic email

think i'll go back to 2.0.0.12 or even Flock !
ANYTHING is better than 3.03b !!

Never really thought of the look and feel, or perhaps this is never a top requirement for me, a more speedy, stable and less resources is more important than good looking interface, but of course no problem at all for me to have a nicer looking browser with a set of good looking buttons and images that does not need to sacrifice any of those important points.

Joe;

I have always opt for functionality and userabilty issues first and foremost, then comes the customization and add-on stuff.

My favorite color is black, always was. In Windows since 3.11 it's been hard to get a great looking theme without purchasing some third party app to make it functional for me with the various apps. Then came the Zune theme which is wonderful. When Vista came around, it is the Graphite theme that rocks and with it, Firefox has a black aero skin along with the new WinAmp 5.52's wonderful look.

Now with Firefox, on Vista SP1, things are great. Ubuntu with my black theme and running FireFox on my open source endeavors is priceless...

Don't like the way something looks or behaves, change it!

I haven't tried the FF3b yet but, I will have to say that FF has the upper hand in Web Standards Compliance. That makes every web developer's life easier. IE just blows when it comes to standards compliance. They need to fix that before they release a new version of IE... priority #1.

When I stated the internet is great for a passive income, the reason being is because a lot of things online is already being generated some how or another take for example affiliate marketing this can be a very powerful way to make money online and a lot of people have been successful at it, but if you really focus in a lot of these people that are into the affiliate game have put years of time into what they do to get wealthy or to make a great living, so in other words it don'

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.