FireFox 3.1 required so much memory that it cannot run correctly on this machine. For example, it cannot display gmail correctly, claiming that it does not have enough memory to run scripts. I ran this test on a laptop with 512 MB of ram and running Vista Home Basic.
The local library computers run XP in 256 MB.
To be portable, FireFox must run in these configurations. If people need more security, they can stop clicking through--type it in by hand--, and stop opening attachments without first verifying they came from the purported senders. Do not keep e-mail addresses on your computer--use an e-mail service such as gmail, Yahoo or Excite. These simple steps will stop 99% of viruses, something anti virus software can't do.
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I just tried it on a Windows XP box with 256MB of RAM and I could use GMail just fine with it. Not sure what error you were seeing.
Keep in mind that 3.1 is a *beta* release and should not be used as your primary browser. If you have bugs to report, those are best reported at bugzilla.mozilla.org as we're not responsible for Firefox itself, just making it portable. Things like memory usage fall under the auspices of Mozilla et al.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I could use gmail just fine also, as long as I didn't need anything using Java applets or Javascript. One problem may be that too many anti-virus protections are preventing Firefox's Java interpreter from being able to use MS Window's virtual memory. The simple procedures I outlined in my original post block more viruses than all these protections combined.
Thanks for the note about where to send a bug report.
Gmail is using Javascript all the time and doesn't use Java. So that wasn't the issue. Something else is up with the library computers.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
In any case, the problem lies with conflict between Firefox's java and/or javascript interpreter and excessive security.
One good reason for using portable apps is that they have more resistance to malware. Even when one is infected, just replace it from backup; no big deal.
Besides, I actually like OpenOffice Word better than MS Word, but that's another story.
If the computer is complaining it's out of memory, that means the administrator (quite foolishly) disabled the pagefile. Under normal circumstances, Windows will just create more RAM by using the hard drive, which will slow things down a lot to be sure, but everything should still work.
Unfortunately, if the pagefile is turned off, you'll see lots of "out of memory" errors instead. On a system with only 256MB of RAM, there's no way the pagefile should have been disabled. Especially not on XP, which requires at least a gig of RAM for everything to run optimally.
Pagefile was active and set at 4 gigs on my local laptop which runs Vista in 512 megs. I don't know about the library's computers' pagefiles. I have no control over them. No other program gives me an out of memory error even when I have several open at once. Programs like PhotoShop with 15 photos open take a lot of memory. The problem most likely comes from FireFox's Java and/or javascript interpreter. If there are too many anti-virus protections in place, then some of these interpreters cannot use MS Windows virtual memory and those protections need to be removed.