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Reverting to 5

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Firefox 6 seems to be incompatible with almost every add-on I have. Without the add-ons I may as well use Chrome which is much faster. Is there a way I can go back to 5? I tried Googling 5 but the download always seems to be for 6. Any suggestions.

Firefox 6 seems to be incompatible with almost every add-on I have. Without the add-ons I may as well use Chrome which is much faster. Is there a way I can go back to 5? I tried Googling 5 but the download always seems to be for 6. Any suggestions.

All Replies (13)

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Try ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/

I don't know if FF 5 will be there yet but they're a great resource for older versions of freeware and shareware.

I think users should turn OFF the auto-update, as long as Mozilla is playing these "rapid update" games, ONLY updating after a long enough period to ensure everything works.

It would also be a protest to them to quit rushing through releases.

edit: removed random unofficial third-party link.

Modified by James

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I think they've learned a trick from Microsoft - beta testing by releasing a product on an unsuspecting world. Still can't find a download site for FF5

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Would you believe there were (not counting the Release Candidates for the Betas) six Betas for Firefox 5.0 and five Betas for Firefox 6.0 so along with the development testing they were tested quite a bit.

It is not the Firefox browser that is incompatible but rather the Extensions that are incompatible as you may be using older versions as they likely had one or more updates since then.

https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Add-ons+are+disabled+after+updating+Firefox

Also RonQ is incorrect in suggesting one should disable updates and as a result risk themselves with insecure versions.

Modified by James

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Fair enough, but this displays an arrogance that says what our users want it what we want to give them - if they want anything else tough (maybe I was wrong about Microsoft, this sounds more like Apple!) Some of the add-ons that don't work on 6 saved me tons of time and effort on 5. New versions are coming out so fast it is impossible for Add-on developers to keep up. All I am asking for is a way to revert to a previous version until the Add-ons catch up - a way of rolling back or having a 5 downloads available?

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now it's possible for upgrade or downgrade: just put another version on your version!

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That seems to be a solution for BristolPete but you don't say where to find the earlier installation files. I have several clients that share his sentiments so we would all appreciate hearing more from you about that dafmat71.

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Indeed the comments from dafmat71 are good news - could you please tell me where to find these earlier download. Can I also say despite my gripes on updates, I basically think Firefox is a great piece of programming and I would hate to change to something else.

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I am anxious to hear too. I am the webmaster for a website and can't view the changes I have made in version 6! I can see the changes in IE, but I DON'T want to go back to that! It has been suggested that I downgrade to version 5. Help!!

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The total lack of any reply as to the whereabouts of any reversion downloads tends to indicate that you are wrong on this one.

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The total lack of any reply from dafmat71 as to the whereabouts of any reversion downloads tends to indicate that he is wrong on this one. There is no reversion being offered - once you're gone to 6 you're stuffed! I am very happy to be corrected on this one, but I'm not holding my breath.

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Did you even bother to look at the ftp link that is posted in the first response? Every version of Firefox that has ever been released is available there.

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You are absolutely right - I apologise totally - on my behalf and on behalf of all the others who missed this link too! For the rest of the blind out there the link is - ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/ If I am going to revert to 5 which update would you recommend? Logic tends to suggest the last one, but is that too obvious?

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I don't recommend going back to Firefox 5.0 or 5.0.1 period, they are lacking security fixes that are in 6.0 & 6.0.1 and Firefox 3.6.21. No difference between 5.0 and 5.0.1 except for the numbers, 5.0.1 was a fix version for Mac Lion, and the Win / Linux versions had to be number bumped for the download mirror array around the globe.

In all honesty, if you have add-ons that haven't been updated yet for Firefox 6.0, a full two weeks after 6.0 was released, it is time to forget about them and look for alternative add-ons that are being maintained and updated in a timely fashion. Why be a slave to the whims of add-on developers? They had 6 full weeks of beta testing to fix their crap, where other than fit & finish & polishing the UI, nothing was changed in Firefox 6. IMO, if they aren't serious enough in what they are doing or have enough pride in their endeavor with Firefox add-ons, it's time to move on and not frustrate your self any longer.