The PortableApps.com release of Firefox 10 Beta3 is taking a long time so I decided to use the internal Firefox updater instead of waiting for and update to be available from the PA.c Updater.
I started PA > clicked on Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition (9 Beta) > after Firefox started, I clicked on Help > clicked on About Firefox > clicked on Check for Updates > Downloaded and installed the update in that window > restarted Firefox.
When I click on Help > About Firefox, it now appears "10.0" below Firefox logo.
However, I have some questions:
- I'm not sure that this is a real Firefox 10.0. The forward button in the navigation bar never hides itself, and that was supposed to be the "biggest" cosmetic change on Firefox 10 Beta;
- On PA, it still says Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition (9 Beta)!
Thank you for your attention.
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Updating an app (any app, not just FireFox) from a built-in updater is usually not advised.
While you will end up with an updated version of the app, if the app has changed the way in which it handles files, folders or the registry this will break portability, or in some cases may even stop the app from working.
The reason the platform still believes it to be FF 9 is that the associated files specifically for the platform and portability are not updated by the app's built-in updater as they are not part of the base app.
Best bet is to always wait for an official release here if you don't know 100% what you need to do to update the package properly.
Problem is, I had to update.
Firefox 9 Beta 2 has several security holes that were addressed on both current Firefox 9.0.1 and Firefox 10 betas.
IMO PortableApps.com should stop offering Firefox Portable Beta if it doesn't support the internal Firefox updater - because this leads users to end up with a vulnerable browser.
Unfortunately, when it comes to releasing updated packages betas are often overlooked when time is tight because it is more important to get out updated versions of stable apps, as those using beta versions use them knowingly, and thus must live with the possibilities that arise with apps that are still in beta.
PortableApps doesn't and probably won't support the internal updater of any app it offers. Does this mean John should drop all those apps entirely?
Basically, until John can get more developers on board who stop dropping apps (meaning he has to take them on), and who will pick up some of those he currently handles, there will be a backlog of outdated apps, of which betas are usually the lowest priority.
Why couldn't an exception be made for Firefox? I think PA should support Firefox internal updater, it was stated that PA would do so at some point: https://portableapps.com/support/firefox_portable#upgrading
"You can use the built in updater as well, but some non-personal files or directories may be left behind. This will be addressed in an upcoming release."
Firefox Portable is probably the most used portable app from this site (just compare the number of topics on this forum section with all the others!).
for different people and it is not possible to please everybody.
Many people here will tell you that only browser in the world is chrome and this has to be maintained incl all alphas etc.
Other will tell you that only the games are important.
As with all the betas, well no one can say if they work well or not, not even the authors at mozilla probably. Then someone will request nightly builds and so on. The next one will need some alpha urgently...
If I take my normal firefox, it will not even update from 9.0 to 9.0.1 by itself, nor will it update to anything beta.
Current released versions of paf firefox seem to cope well with the internal updater, but one never knows what mozilla changes and so in the next version it can again be a problem as it used to be earlier. It simply can break the portability. Particularly it can not be tested on all those betas and nightlys etc, so that is why you use all that on your own risk.
Otto Sykora
Basel, Switzerland
While FireFox may be pretty stable in its file and registry usage (and thus will usually be safe to update via the internal updater), there is no guarantee that changes to the way in which FF interacts with the OS won't take place in the future, so new versions of FireFox Portable have to be released to handle these changes. Unfortunately, one launcher can't be guaranteed to handle everything an app may do in the future.
And with the way the PortableApps Launcher currently determines the version of the app it is launching, there will always be a discrepancy between the actual version of the app and that shown by the platform if you use an apps built-in updater, unless significant changes are made to the PortableApps specification and/or FireFox itself.
packages have always had a lower priority compared to normal versions. And if I dont want to have a vulnerable or unstable browser, I'd use the stable branch.
"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate
Firefox has fixed the update bug since version 3.6. Of course, this doesn't update the launcher.
Beta apps have a lower priority than stable ones. Usually, we used to do Firefox betas within a few days of each beta being released. Now, however, it's new versions every week. And unlike Chrome which is dead easy to package, we have to package a copy of each version of Firefox for every single language we support because for some odd reason, Firefox is not a multilingual app (unlike every other app we do except Thunderbird). So, it's a ton more work. As a result, we won't be doing every Firefox beta at present.
At the moment, we're recovering from a backlog over the holidays and a couple dozen apps are out of date as well, which has further delayed the release.
Remember, betas are just for testing, they are not to be used as your everyday browser. This applies to Chrome as well.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
How about packaging Firefox Betas in English only?
That's unfair to our international users. And the argument that the beta is out of date and insecure is moot as once it goes stable, the beta is out of date and not updated to the stable version. It's only updated when another beta is released.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
A portable version is great for testing. It has always been my primary way of testing Beta versions of Firefox.
-It doesn't interfere with the current stable installation found on the machine.
-If needed, one can test several Beta version without much work
-No need to mess around with user profile nor anything.
-all the pros of a PA.com application.
in_vino_veritas,_in_aqua_sanitas.
Have you considered Sandboxie? The goals of portable software are unrelated to what you're using it for.