AfterDawn: Tech news

Mozilla updates Firefox to appease Farmville users

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Jun 2010 2:13 User comments (5)

Mozilla updates Firefox to appease Farmville users Last week, Mozilla released Firefox 3.6.4 with "Crash Protection" which isolates third-party plug-ins when they crash, if you are using the Windows or Linux versions of the browser, allowing the main browser to remain stable.
Today, the company has had to rush out another small update, after the company was bombarded by complaints from Farmville players, the popular game available through Facebook.

The complaints mainly came from users with older computers, which were seeing the game crash from within their browser due to Firefox's update.

How "Crash Protection" works, explains Mozilla, is if Flash, QuickTime or Silverlight crash or become unresponsive for over 10 seconds, the browser kills the plug-in.



Users with older computers say the 10-second rule is too short, as they normally have 30 seconds or more of non-responsiveness, when playing any games requiring a plug-in.

Says Mozilla: "Following the release of Firefox 3.6.4 we heard from some users, mainly those using older computers, that they sometimes expect longer periods of non-responsiveness from plug-ins, especially with games. For these users, the default timeout of 10 seconds was too short."

The new update bumps the termination period to 45 seconds.

Bugzilla, Mozilla's bug-tracking database says complaints mainly came from Farmville players.

"Now that (Firefox) 3.6.4 has shipped, we are seeing an increasing number of reports that some users are unable to play Farmville, because Farmville hangs the browser long enough for our timeout to trigger and kill it," adds Mozilla developer Justin Dolske. "Let's hit this with a big hammer and make it 45 (seconds)."

Previous Next  

5 user comments

129.6.2010 14:51

Doh how long does it take to get bored with it? I played it for a while but after you make a few million it gets boring real quick. Better than Mafia Wars or the vamp one where you just keep clicking and watch bars go across....lol

229.6.2010 17:01

How about making the end user able to set the length of the time out huh?

329.6.2010 22:40

Help! What happened to downloading video from RealPlayer? I can still use IE but can't use FF at all. It wasn't until I did the update on FF that this happened. I tried reinstalling RealPlayer, but no dice. I heard that it's because the latest update is in beta form right but I don't know if there's truth in that statement. A little help is all I need.

429.6.2010 22:52

Wow...it times out for more than 10 seconds at a time and people still play it? That is rather amazing...almost makes me want to give it a chance; almost.

53.7.2010 00:58

if its there system i think its time to update

Comments have been disabled for this article.

Latest news

VLC hits milestone: over 5 billion downloads VLC hits milestone: over 5 billion downloads (16 Mar 2024 4:31)
VLC Media Player, the versatile video-software powerhouse, has achieved a remarkable feat: it has been downloaded over 5 billion times.
2 user comments
Sideloading apps to Android gets easier, as Google settles its lawsuit Sideloading apps to Android gets easier, as Google settles its lawsuit (19 Dec 2023 11:09)
Google settled its lawsuit in September 2023, and one of the settlement terms was that the way applications are installed on Android from outside the Google Play Store must become simpler. In the future, installing APK files will be easier.
8 user comments
Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets (06 Jun 2023 9:19)
Roomba Combo j7+ is the very first Roomba model to combine robot vacuum with mopping features. And Roomba Combo j7+ does all that with a very clever trick, which tackles the problem with mopping and carpets. But is it any good? We found out.
Neato, the robot vacuum company, ends its operations Neato, the robot vacuum company, ends its operations (02 May 2023 3:38)
Neato Robotics has ceased its operations. American robot vacuum pioneer founded in 2005 has finally called it quits and company will cease its operations and sales. Only a skeleton crew will remain who will keep the servers running until 2028.
5 user comments
How to Send Messages to Yourself on WhatsApp How to Send Messages to Yourself on WhatsApp (20 Mar 2023 1:25)
The world's most popular messaging platform, Meta-owned WhatsApp has enabled sending messages to yourself. While at first, this might seem like an odd feature, it can be very useful in a lot of situations. ....
18 user comments

News archive