Download of the Week: Firefox (x64)
PrintI realize that it seems somewhat self-serving to have both a Firefox extension of the week and a download of the week feature that, itself, references Firefox. If that's too much alternative browser craziness for you, allow me to apologize in advance. However, this week, I'm taking a look at a unique little variant of the Firefox Web browser that is pretty similar in its overall look and feel to normal Firefox.
Huh?
I won't bury the lede: Firefox has no official 64-bit version of the browser. Or, rather, Mozilla itself only releases a 32-bit binary for said application. Thus, it has fallen to third-party developers to fashion up a proper x64 version of the popular Web surfing tool and, of course, they have! I haven't run the benchmarks myself, but I have definitely seen other benchmarks that reference the 64-bit version of the browser as a faster application for those running likeminded operating systems / processors.
However, it would be remiss of me to not mention one of the key issues that a 64-bit version of Firefox brings to the table. In a word, Flash. Adobe hasn't released a 64-bit version of Flash for browsers and, thus, you will not be able to run or look at any Flash elements in the 64-bit version of Firefox. That's going to be a big turn-off for some people--it almost was for me, until I realized that YouTube (yes, good ol' YouTube) now renders in HTML5.
Perhaps this will add fuel to your fire and cause you to rise up against proprietary Flash technology a la Steve Jobs or Google or what-have-you. Honestly, as long as you give the 64-bit browser a whirl, you've made me happy enough. One small caveat as well--since the 64-bit version of Firefox isn't officially supported by Mozilla, you'll want to bookmark the app's Web site for manual downloads of Firefox updates!
Each week, Maximum PC picks a new free or shareware download as its favorite of... the week. Have a nifty application that you can't live without? Twitter David Murphy @acererak with your latest suggestions.
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SuperiorBeing
May 28, 2010 at 2:07pm
I'll stick with my 32 bit custom compiled version of Firefox. http://www.palemoon.org/
Bik72
May 27, 2010 at 3:11pm
Firefox only supports ogg as far as html5 goes. Youtube only supports h264 so your still screwed.
ZayLay
May 27, 2010 at 7:37am
No Flash App released to the jail broken wild to prove Apple wrong?
Late release of Flash for Android, finally here.
And all you can say is you expect to provide native support for 64-bit platforms in an upcoming
release of Flash Player following the release of Flash Player 10.1.I guess 64bit browsers are fairly new, maybe a year now. I'll cut you some slack. But I won't use a browser without flash support, that's what the phone is for :(
Deanjo
May 28, 2010 at 1:52pm
"I guess 64bit browsers are fairly new, maybe a year now."
64-bit browsers have been out for years. Only in windows is it "fairly new" and even then there has been a 64-bit version of IE since 2005.
thunderclap82
May 27, 2010 at 7:17am
I tried this 64-bit version about a year ago. After a couple of weeks of using it, and not seeing much of a speed increase, I decided to remove it. Unfortunately it's a pain to get off. Unless the uninstaller has been improved since then I'd suggest holding off on this program until an official x64 Firefox is released.
Cache
May 27, 2010 at 7:15am
Adobe is the one making Flash an essentially useless product. They cannot keep up with modern web browsers in x64 flavors--and to date they have not even bothered to try. I like a lot of flash stuff, I really do, but Adobe is the company that is lining up the nails in the coffin so that Apple, Microsoft, and other corporations can bury this technology.
Adobe failed the internet. It's not Apple, it's not anyone else. Until Adobe proves it can be more secure, and at least technologically nimble with respect to modern web browsers--it is a dead on arrival technology that is barely hanging on.
praetor_alpha
May 27, 2010 at 4:37am
But the perils of a 64 bit browser on Windows is no Flash support. Unlike what The Jobs says, Flash isn't evil, so I'll be sticking to ff 32 bit for now.
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