Release notes Firefox Alpha 3 - Known Issues

This list covers some of the known problems with Gran Paradiso Alpha 2. Please read this before reporting any new bugs, and watch for updates as new bugs are discovered.

All Systems

• The browser may consume excessive amounts of memory after prolonged browsing. In order to better handle memory issues, a new garbage collection system has been implemented. However, as the process of integrating Gecko into this system is still ongoing, there are some known leaks that result in large memory usage when the browser is used for a long period of time. A restart should resolve the problem, which will be fixed in Alpha 3.
• The Cairo graphics system has drastically changed the way all text and images are rendered from previous versions of Gecko, so occasional misrenderings of non-latin scripts and fonts may occur.
• The Phishing Protection notification bubble is hidden by the content area (see bug 341950.)

Windows

• Upscaling images can result in misrendering, causing the edges of the image to appear blurry.

Mac OS X

• The user's choice of a default font may not always be honored.
• Font decorations such as underline and strikethrough may be drawn incorrectly.
• Complex script (ex: Indic) may be misrendered.

Linux and Unix systems

• Loading any page with Chinese, Japanese or Korean text can hang the browser (see bug 357637).
• Performance on complex script (ex: Indic) may be slower than previous versions of Gecko.
• Compatibility issues have been reported when users are not running Xorg 7.0 or better.
• Users may experience problems when attempting to print complex pages.

Troubleshooting

• Poorly designed or incompatible Add-ons can cause problems with your browser, including make it crash, slow down page display, etc. If you encounter strange problems relating to parts of the browser no longer working, the browser not starting, windows with strange or distorted appearance, degraded performance, etc, you may be suffering from trouble with your Add-ons. Restart the browser in Safe Mode. On Windows, start using the "Safe Mode" shortcut created in your Start menu or by running firefox.exe -safe-mode. On Linux, start with ./firefox -safe-mode and on Mac OS X, run:

  cd /Applications/GranParadiso.app/Contents/MacOS/
./firefox-bin -safe-mode

  When running in Safe Mode, you can disable the add-ons that are causing trouble and then restart to try again.

If you uninstall an extension that is installed with your user profile (i.e. you installed it from a web page) and then wish to install it for all user profiles using the -install-global-extension command line flag, you must restart the browser once to cleanse the profile extensions datasource of traces of that extension before installing with the switch. If you do not do this you may end up with a jammed entry in the Extensions list and will be unable to install the extension globally.

If you encounter strange problems relating to bookmarks, downloads, window placement, toolbars, history, or other settings, it is recommended that you try creating a new profile and attempting to reproduce the problem before filing bugs. Create a new profile by running Firefox with the -P command line argument, choose the "Manage Profiles" button and then choose "Create Profile...". Migrate your settings files (Bookmarks, Saved Passwords, etc) over one by one, checking each time to see if the problems resurface. If you do find a particular profile data file is causing a problem, file a bug and attach the file.