Windows 7: Mozilla releases Firefox 7 -- get it now!

Mozilla has placed the final, stable build of Firefox 7 on its FTP servers. This latest build has one major game-changing improvement to speak of, which should ensure that Firefox performs more efficiently and doesn’t gobble up system resources when left running in the background.

Version 7.0 also sees improved graphics performance in Windows, but as with the recent releases of Firefox 5 and 6, other changes are relatively minor, with a slightly tweaked Address Bar and faster bookmark and password changes during Firefox Sync operations being the most notable, visible tweaks of interest to end users.

The game-changing improvements in Firefox 7.0 surround its memory usage and optimization. Mozilla claims that Firefox 7 reduces memory usage by at least 20 percent, and as much as 50 per cent in some cases, while still delivering improved startup and page-loading times, as well as overall responsiveness.



Of equal importance is the fact the memory leak that has plagued earlier versions has finally been addressed with the Javascript garbage collector, which has been tweaked to run more frequently to free up memory no longer in use. It means the browser can now be left running for an extended period of time without quietly eating up more system resources in the background.

Better still, you’ll now be able to free up system memory simply by closing unwanted tabs as opposed to having to shut the browser down and restart it.

The full Firefox 7.0 release notes can be found here, for those interested in technical details. The update should be available to current FIrefox users now, and you can always get the latest version manually at getfirefox.com.

As big of a fan of firefox as I have been over the years. I've actually disabled updates and started using a older version again.
There are only two main reasons I haven't moved to chrome along with many
1 - my two favorite plugins are not available for it
2 - I simply do not like the difference in the interface.

If mozilla wants my loyalty back they are going to have to step up compatibility with plugins through these massive number of updates they've been releasing in an attempt to copy chrome.
Sadly my stance is there was nothing wrong with it before, they tried to fix something that wasn't broken.

yeah I did that already, I had no choice.
...that's actually the complaint.