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Easily run Firefox 2 and Firefox 3 beta side-by-side in OS X
So, you want to try out Firefox 3 and get a feel for the new features, but you don't want to risk corrupting, deleting or otherwise messing up your stable Firefox 2 installation. Sure, you can hit the command line, create a new profile and then customize the shortcut to each version of Firefox so that it launches the correct profile (or manually choose what profile you want at the start of each Firefox session), but that can be a pain -- especially if you want to try out different plugin configurations in Firefox 3.
Enter MultiFireFox, the fantastic little launching application created by Dave Martorana. Just download the DMG (the source file is also available if anyone wants to try to port this to Windows) and not only will you get Firefox 3 beta 3, but a very tidy little launching application. Upon running MultiFireFox for the first time, you will be instructed to create a second profile if you do not already have one (and the profile manager will start up automatically, no going into the command line to get it started). From that point, you can choose what profile and what version of Firefox you want to launch. You can even run the two side-by-side to test performance.
Although this program is Mac only, you can replicate the same functionality (if not the finesse) by following these instructions.
Comments
12
Subscribe to commentsJoshFeb 22nd 2008 6:08PM
Honestly... if Mac users are still using Fx2, there is a problem. The improvements (especially graphically) are imense. Bugs are few and far between. All you need is Nightly Tester Tools and you are all set.
Christina WarrenFeb 22nd 2008 6:11PM
For most users, this might be true - but that certainly isn't 100%. For instance, here at Weblogs, Inc., we cannot use Safari to write blog posts - we have to use Firefox. However, Firefox 3 beta 3 does not work properly with our web software, meaning we have to either use Camino or keep a copy of Firefox 2 around.
I agree that the improvements are great, but it is still in beta and not appropriate for all users to use full time.
Big JohnFeb 22nd 2008 6:21PM
Except that not all extensions work with Firefox 3 beta (whatever). Foxmarks and Google Browser Sync are the big ones that come to mind. Multiple systems? Too bad, sucka, deal with it! Until this came around, anyhow.
Also, the new GUI isn't that great. The address bar has curved sides like a search box and the buttons are pillbox (Mail.app) style instead of rounded corner box (Safari) style. Firefox 2 with an appropriate theme installed is still my choice.
I still have Minefield (nightly trunk application name) installed to play around with, but a lot of users still very much need Firefox 2.
Big JohnFeb 22nd 2008 6:24PM
Also, if you really want to be on the bleeding edge, try out the latest nightly builds from the team.
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/
These may not compile or run, use at your own risk etc. and they reset your security choices in your standard Firefox install (such as "alert me when I leave an encrypted page" boxes). It does install as a separate .app (Minefield) so they can coexist without this switching program.
AndrewFeb 22nd 2008 7:24PM
Why not just run them individually as portable apps on your computer, then they don't interfere with each other
rustmanFeb 22nd 2008 7:29PM
Andrew.
please say more. (your comment seems to make
sense here, but I don't know why - please elaborate.)
rustmanFeb 22nd 2008 7:38PM
addendum - this is with all due respect to Christina Warren's article, and to the comments prior to Andrew's. please don't misunderstand the intention.
(however, this comments tool really does leave much to be desired.) (such as potential for posting, prior to author's review, and potential for alienating those who wrote original article (Christina Warren) or those who commented. )
Christina WarrenFeb 22nd 2008 7:57PM
You might want to check this out: http://portableapps.com/news/2008-02-13_-_firefox_portable_3_beta_3
They also have a version for Firefox 2.0.12. This is designed to be run off of a USB drive, but you can run it straight from Windows. It's self-contained, so it won't conflict with your other settings.
AndrewFeb 22nd 2008 8:19PM
Sorry for the short comment, I hadn't read the whole article and just wanted to point out that there were easier ways of achieving the same outcome. I will further explain what Christina has just mentioned.
Portable Applications are designed to run from a removable drive and do not change any of the computer settings and usually just unzip and run from the folder.
So whilst I wanted to test the latest versions of Firefox Betas but keeping my own Firefox 2 running and unaffected as my main stable browser, so I just downloaded the convenient Firefox 3 Betas from Portable Apps and used it straight from its folder on my computer.
Firefox 3 Beta 3 portable
- http://portableapps.com/news/2008-02-13_-_firefox_portable_3_beta_3
Allowing me to keep my main browser and then just delete and re-download the new Betas as portables to play with with out having any conflicts.
Or you could just run both of them as portable apps
Firefox 2 portable
- http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable
Christina WarrenFeb 22nd 2008 8:30PM
Thanks Andrew!
For Windows users I think that doing it as a portable app is absolutely the best solution.
AndrewFeb 22nd 2008 8:34PM
No worries glad to be of help,
keep up the good blog!
lakiolenFeb 22nd 2008 8:54PM
Speaking of Firefox 3b3, has anyone else noticed that ctrl-e/ctrl-a no longer work? They worked in 3b2....