iBook - Firefox on Intel Mac

Zoolook · Zoolook #1 (**permalink**)

09-24-2006, 12:25 AM

Hi - This is my first post.

I bought a an iBook for my wife only yesterday. 1.83ghz Core Duo, 1 gig of Ram etc. Anyway, yesterday we finished setting it up and she wanted to carry on using Firefox as she'd used that both on my Windows laptop and her previous G3 Mac.

I initially downloaded the latest full release of FF for Mac, version 1.5.0.2 I believe (which is supposed to be a Universal Binary). Whilst it worked fine, I noticed the scrolling was very slow and jerky, a lot slower than on my 2 and a half year old Windows machine, running an ageing A64.

So then I downloaded FF 2.0b which, although very slightly improved, was still luggish for such a fast machine.

Everythink else works perfectly, the machine is stupidly fast - but FF seems to crawl. Safari doesn't seem nearly as bad, but neither her nor I really like it.

If I was to jump to the dark side (Apple :spook: ) this scrolling issue would annoy me.

Is this something FF users just have to live with, or is there a workaround?

PS - As a Windows user, I am very impressed with OS X...

todd51 · todd51 #2 (**permalink**)

09-24-2006, 12:41 AM

Well, if your not reliant on FF for all the plugins and ways to change the appearance, I would suggest trying Camino. I like it very much and use it for all my web browsing, it's nice and simple and seems faster than Safari for me. I use FF when I'm on a windows PC and I now use Camino on my Macs :mac:

Zoolook · Zoolook #3 (**permalink**)

09-24-2006, 12:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by todd51

Well, if your not reliant on FF for all the plugins and ways to change the appearance, I would suggest trying Camino. I like it very much and use it for all my web browsing, it's nice and simple and seems faster than Safari for me. I use FF when I'm on a windows PC and I now use Camino on my Macs :mac:

Are there plugin issues with Camino? She listens to BBC radio on the internet (we're Brits living in New York) so Realplayer embedded i a must. Obviously QT will be ok.

I have to say, I've heard bad things about Camino, bugs etc, but I might check it out.

novicew · novicew #4 (**permalink**)

09-24-2006, 03:14 AM

FF can slow down due to certain extensions. I am using FF 1.5 on my Intel Mac and don't have any problem. Having said the, I would suggest you to try Camino if you want a simple but fast alternative for FF. There won't be any problem watching BBC on Camino. All you have to do is, install Real Player.

There are some plugins available for Camino but not as much as for FF. You can download them at PimpMyCamino.

Aptmunich · Aptmunich #5 (**permalink**)

09-24-2006, 05:15 AM

Firefox isn't really a native mac (i.e. cocoa) application, I believe it's currently implemented in java somehow, similar to neooffice/j. (though I'm probably waaay off there

I just know it isn't an optimal mac version yet).

They're planning a more mac native version for the future though, but for the time being Camino is a nice mozilla alternative.

dtravis7 · dtravis7 #6 (**permalink**)

09-24-2006, 05:49 AM

FireFox is smooth on my iMac G5 iSight. Very smooth page scrolling. I will try it on my Core Duo Mini in the morning and report back.

maz94protege · maz94protege #7 (**permalink**)

09-24-2006, 09:56 AM

never had a problem with firefox, its much faster then safari in alot of aspects! and the awsome tabbing is the shiznit

cazabam · cazabam #8 (**permalink**)

09-24-2006, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoolook

Are there plugin issues with Camino? She listens to BBC radio on the internet (we're Brits living in New York) so Realplayer embedded i a must. Obviously QT will be ok.

I have to say, I've heard bad things about Camino, bugs etc, but I might check it out.

I've never had any problems with FireFox on my macbook, but I opt to use Camino anyway. BBC streams work fine with realplayer :-)

redmelons · redmelons #9 (**permalink**)

09-24-2006, 11:33 AM

I use Firefox 2.0b2 on my 1.66GHz core duo, 512MB ram mac mini with no problems at all. It is fast and smooth. I think your problem must lie elsewhere?

dtravis7 · dtravis7 #10 (**permalink**)

09-24-2006, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redmelons

I use Firefox 2.0b2 on my 1.66GHz core duo, 512MB ram mac mini with no problems at all. It is fast and smooth. I think your problem must lie elsewhere?

Ditto and it's smooth as can be. I normally use Safari on that machine, but tried Firefox Latest non beta version and it's smooth.

dtownley1 · dtownley1 #11 (**permalink**)

09-25-2006, 03:41 AM

Firefox has always done that for me - on my new macbook and old iBook. I think it's just the way it is, with/without skins, plugins etc. I just accepted it, as it didn't bother me. I don't use Firefox all that much, only for deviantart browsing and message management.

Alexis · Alexis #12 (**permalink**)

09-25-2006, 06:32 AM

Try Safari.

andy_st200 · andy_st200 #13 (**permalink**)

09-25-2006, 07:26 AM

its fine on my intel powerbook

Rambaud · Rambaud #14 (**permalink**)

09-27-2006, 06:51 AM

I use Opera as the main browser on my PC, although I use FireFox too.

Opera works fine on my MacBook - although I have not tried FireFox on it yet.

websyndicate · websyndicate #15 (**permalink**)

09-29-2006, 12:02 AM

Firefox funs fine for me. Do you have alot of stuff or plugin going at the same time?

novicew #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 04, 2006 Location: Hamburg, Germany Posts: 1,385 Mac Specs: MacBook Pro \| iMac(2.1 G5) \| MacBook(2.16 C2D) \| MacMini (1.67 CD) \| iPhone 4 \| iPad (3rd Gen)	09-24-2006, 03:14 AM FF can slow down due to certain extensions. I am using FF 1.5 on my Intel Mac and don't have any problem. Having said the, I would suggest you to try Camino if you want a simple but fast alternative for FF. There won't be any problem watching BBC on Camino. All you have to do is, install Real Player. There are some plugins available for Camino but not as much as for FF. You can download them at PimpMyCamino. finiteloops.com
	QUOTE Thanks

Aptmunich #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Mar 09, 2004 Location: Munich Posts: 9,075 Mac Specs: Aluminium Macbook 2.4 Ghz 4GB RAM, SSD 24" Samsung Display, iPhone 4, iPad 2	09-24-2006, 05:15 AM Firefox isn't really a native mac (i.e. cocoa) application, I believe it's currently implemented in java somehow, similar to neooffice/j. (though I'm probably waaay off there I just know it isn't an optimal mac version yet). They're planning a more mac native version for the future though, but for the time being Camino is a nice mozilla alternative. Mac-Forums Twitter \| Mac-Forums Blog My Twitter \| Jetplane Journal
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dtravis7 #6 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 04, 2005 Location: Modesto, Ca. Posts: 25,802 Mac Specs: iMac C2D Late 2007 20" with 10.8.3, Macbook Santa Rosa 4GB Ram OSX 10.8.3	09-24-2006, 05:49 AM FireFox is smooth on my iMac G5 iSight. Very smooth page scrolling. I will try it on my Core Duo Mini in the morning and report back. ...Dennis Mac-Forums Community Guidelines
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andy_st200 #13 (permalink)
Member Since: Sep 12, 2006 Location: UK Posts: 33 Mac Specs: MacBook Pro 15, 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo	09-25-2006, 07:26 AM its fine on my intel powerbook Line1:My Mac.. Line2:MacBook Pro 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo, 1GB 667 DDR2, 100GB Serial ATA drive (7200rpm), SuperDrive (DVD-RW/CD-RW), 15" Glossy Widescreen Display Line3: Line4:... born 11/09/2006
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iBook - Firefox on Intel Mac

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Zoolook #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Sep 24, 2006 Location: Brooklyn, New York Posts: 2,743 Mac Specs: 15" MacBook Pro, i7 2.66Ghz, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD; iPad 32GB, iPhone 3GS	09-24-2006, 12:25 AM Hi - This is my first post. I bought a an iBook for my wife only yesterday. 1.83ghz Core Duo, 1 gig of Ram etc. Anyway, yesterday we finished setting it up and she wanted to carry on using Firefox as she'd used that both on my Windows laptop and her previous G3 Mac. I initially downloaded the latest full release of FF for Mac, version 1.5.0.2 I believe (which is supposed to be a Universal Binary). Whilst it worked fine, I noticed the scrolling was very slow and jerky, a lot slower than on my 2 and a half year old Windows machine, running an ageing A64. So then I downloaded FF 2.0b which, although very slightly improved, was still luggish for such a fast machine. Everythink else works perfectly, the machine is stupidly fast - but FF seems to crawl. Safari doesn't seem nearly as bad, but neither her nor I really like it. If I was to jump to the dark side (Apple :spook: ) this scrolling issue would annoy me. Is this something FF users just have to live with, or is there a workaround? PS - As a Windows user, I am very impressed with OS X...
	QUOTE Thanks

todd51 #2 (permalink)
Guest Posts: n/a	09-24-2006, 12:41 AM Well, if your not reliant on FF for all the plugins and ways to change the appearance, I would suggest trying Camino. I like it very much and use it for all my web browsing, it's nice and simple and seems faster than Safari for me. I use FF when I'm on a windows PC and I now use Camino on my Macs :mac:
	QUOTE Thanks

maz94protege #7 (permalink)
Member Since: Nov 09, 2005 Location: Northern VA Posts: 514 Mac Specs: MacbookPro 15.4, 2.2ghz i7 (Late 2011), Macbook 1,1 1.83ghz CoreDuo	09-24-2006, 09:56 AM never had a problem with firefox, its much faster then safari in alot of aspects! and the awsome tabbing is the shiznit
	QUOTE Thanks

redmelons #9 (permalink)
Member Since: Aug 05, 2006 Posts: 11 Mac Specs: Mac mini, 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo, 512MB RAM, OS X 10.4.7	09-24-2006, 11:33 AM I use Firefox 2.0b2 on my 1.66GHz core duo, 512MB ram mac mini with no problems at all. It is fast and smooth. I think your problem must lie elsewhere?
	QUOTE Thanks

dtownley1 #11 (permalink)
Member Since: Sep 09, 2006 Posts: 690 Mac Specs: macbook	09-25-2006, 03:41 AM Firefox has always done that for me - on my new macbook and old iBook. I think it's just the way it is, with/without skins, plugins etc. I just accepted it, as it didn't bother me. I don't use Firefox all that much, only for deviantart browsing and message management.
	QUOTE Thanks

Alexis #12 (permalink)
Member Since: Apr 20, 2006 Posts: 2,255 Mac Specs: Al iMac 20" 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo	09-25-2006, 06:32 AM Try Safari.
	QUOTE Thanks

Rambaud #14 (permalink)
Member Since: Sep 15, 2006 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 236	09-27-2006, 06:51 AM I use Opera as the main browser on my PC, although I use FireFox too. Opera works fine on my MacBook - although I have not tried FireFox on it yet.
	QUOTE Thanks

websyndicate #15 (permalink)
Member Since: Jun 27, 2006 Location: Spokane Valley Posts: 34 Mac Specs: MacBook 2ghz Core Duo 2gb Ram 160gb Hard Drive	09-29-2006, 12:02 AM Firefox funs fine for me. Do you have alot of stuff or plugin going at the same time?
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