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Post by Lillias on Jan 24, 2016 22:01:00 GMT
I'm on a Windows 7 64 bit PC and I use Firefox as my browser of preference. I see that it now offers a 'stable' (I think) 64 bit version and wondered if anyone has tried it and if so how they found it.
Are you experiencing problems with extensions or plugins at all? Do you have any other comments or observations to make?
Any information would be helpful thank you...
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Post by Tpgettys on Jan 24, 2016 22:28:01 GMT
I have no idea if it is 64-bit or not, but I accept all updates to FF and have never had any problems with it. The version I am currently running is 43.0.4
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Post by Lillias on Jan 24, 2016 22:47:33 GMT
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Squirrel2014
Established Forum Member
Where's that cup of tea ... ???
Posts: 685 
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by Squirrel2014 on Jan 24, 2016 23:59:39 GMT
I'm on 43.0.4 too, Windows 10 64-bit. How do I know if Firefox is 32 or 64 bit?
Thanks
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Post by Lillias on Jan 25, 2016 10:19:22 GMT
One of the ways Julie is go to your Control Panel > Programs and Features and the 32 bit version is listed as
Mozilla Firefox 43.0 (x86 en-US)
the 64 bit version is listed as
Mozilla Firefox 43.0 (x64 en-US)
It is only available for Windows 7 onward. On Windows 7 you could also go to Task Manager>Processes tab and you should see firefox.exe *32 indicating the 32 bit version. I believe I'm correct in saying that if it was the 64 bit version you would only see firefox.exe.
My concern is that apparently 32 bit plugins won't work in the new 64 bit version and I just wondered if anybody had any experience of using the 64 bit version.
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Squirrel2014
Established Forum Member
Where's that cup of tea ... ???
Posts: 685
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by Squirrel2014 on Jan 25, 2016 10:57:28 GMT
Good morning, BillieJean
Thanks, I had even thought of looking in Progs & Features. Yes, I'm on 32-bit. I hadn't realised there was a 64-bit version.
I would be interested to know about the 64-bit version, too, now. I'm running Windows 10.
I'll see what I can find out and, if I do, I'll post back
Julie
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Sue
Junior Forum Member
Learn something new every day
Posts: 132
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Post by Sue on Jan 25, 2016 13:10:40 GMT
What would the advantage be to a 64 bit version over a 32 bit version?
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Post by Lillias on Jan 25, 2016 14:20:43 GMT
If I'm honest from the research I've done so far I'm struggling to see what advantage I personally would get at the moment especially as it seems with the 64 bit version Mozilla are moving away from plugins as we know them.
It seems it allows access to more RAM than the 32 bit version which is better for those running large or high performance applications such as some of the latest high performance games. That doesn't apply to me.
It is suggested that it is faster although not all reports I've read agree with this. There is also a suggestion that it is more secure but I don't know enough to be able to say if this is true or not.
I think I will play safe and stay with the 32 bit version for now.
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Post by Major Major on Jan 25, 2016 15:46:24 GMT
Billie Jean -
The info link you listed indicates Firefox will be losing support for ALL plug-in by the end of 2016. I read their explanation, and its above my head, but I don't think this is good news. I have several plug-ins I value highly.
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Post by Peterj on Jan 25, 2016 17:51:48 GMT
A 64 bit version of any application, if written correctly, will provide either faster response or increased functionality. Since Fire Fox has recently offered 64 bit versions I suspect there will be little difference in functionality, but an increased response time might be noticeable. Another method of determining which FF version you are currently running ... type about:support in the url space and look for Application Basics | User agent (my listing = Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:43.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/43.0) Here's a partial quote from Mozilla's blog blog.mozilla.org/addons/2015/08/21/the-future-of-developing-firefox-add-ons/"Today we are announcing some major upcoming changes to Firefox add-ons. Our add-on ecosystem has evolved through incremental, organic growth over the years, but there are some modernizations to Firefox that require some foundational changes to support:" <snip> I believe that some of the hype about stopping add on support is just that! A more secure and faster development environment is being proposed by Mozilla. The developers will have time to adjust. Your cherished add on functionality should survive just fine. |
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Post by Lillias on Jan 25, 2016 21:49:39 GMT
I believe that some of the hype about stopping add on support is just that! A more secure and faster development environment is being proposed by Mozilla. The developers will have time to adjust. Your cherished add on functionality should survive just fine. Thanks for that info Pete not that I understood a lot of it LOL. I guess only time will tell whether the hype is true and we lose our beloved addons/plugins or not! |
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Post by Peterj on Jan 25, 2016 22:29:31 GMT
I believe that some of the hype about stopping add on support is just that! A more secure and faster development environment is being proposed by Mozilla. The developers will have time to adjust. Your cherished add on functionality should survive just fine. Thanks for that info Pete not that I understood a lot of it LOL. I guess only time will tell whether the hype is true and we lose our beloved addons/plugins or not! Here's another quote from Mozilla about browser functionality and NPAPI plugins
I honestly believe that Mozilla wants to increase functionality without plugin use.
For those interested NPAPI = Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface; Mozilla is a free-software community, created in 1998 by members of Netscape. This community's main focus is now FireFox.
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