Firefox 4 Beta 10 has been released by Mozilla.  This update, on the heels of the Beta 9 release, really only brings more stability to an already amazing new browser interface.  The official release notes as far as changes go have been pretty sparse, but it seems stability is the big update this time around.

Here is the official word from Mozilla themselves:

This release continues our work to improve performance and stability in Firefox 4 Beta by including improved memory usage, remote blacklisting for hardware acceleration and better Flash support for Mac OS X users.

How Do You to Upgrade to Firefox 4 Beta 10?

You can go download the new beta to try it for yourself or if you are already using Firefox 4 Beta 9, click on the Firefox button, then go to Help > About Firefox to get the update.

Notice any other big changes? Let me know!  Also, be sure to keep giving Mozilla feedback through the Feedback button in the Firefox 4 interface.

For Windows and Linux users, Firefox 3.6.4 provides what they called "uninterrupted browsing". So, what does this mean?  Firefox loads certain plugins (like Adobe Flash, Quicktime, and Silverlight) in a separate process  to provide you uninterrupted browsing even when certain plugins stops working.

How can I disable plugin-container.exe?

I would not recommend disabling this feature because it is there for a pretty good purpose.  However, some people have had issues with it using a fair share of memory.  So for those who want to stop plugin-container.exe – here are the steps to do so:

1. In the Firefox address bar, type in about:config
2. In the filter box, type in dom.ipc
3. Ignore dom.ipc.plugins.enabled and dom.ipc.plugins.timeoutSecs. Toggle (double-click) each of the four remaining preferences to change the value from true to false

So to translate of of the technical jargon here – this is a feature of Firefox and will do you no harm.  It is not malware or something else that is nasty and causing problems for your PC either.  It is mainly there just to keep plugins like Adobe Flash, Apple Quicktime and Microsoft Silverlight from crashing the browser.

There has been a pretty cool update to Firefox in the past 24 hours.  If a plugin crashes or freezes, it will no longer affect the rest of your browser.  You will be able to reload the page, restart the plugin and try again.

So, the next time Adobe Flash, Apple Quicktime or Microsoft Silverlight plugins give you trouble, Firefox has you taken care of.  Say your watching a video or playing a flash game in the browser, and the plugin crashes – rather than taking the whole browser down with it – you simply just refresh the webpage.

Here is a little more information from Mozilla:

Mozilla recognizes that third-party plugins provide important functionality in many of today’s websites. At the same time, plugins can lead to problems for users as they browse. With the ability to automatically alert users when they have out of date plugins, and now crash protection, Firefox 3.6.4 allows users to experience all the content they love without any of the hassles.

To get this new update, if it hasn’t downloaded already, just go to Help in your menu bar and then “Check for Updates”.  A more secure and stable browsing platform is coming your way.  Who doesn’t like that?

So what is the solution?  Time to visit our good friend, the about:config…

The quick fix for this problem, at least for my own sake, is to increase the time between each of the saves performed by session restore. By opening about:config in your Firefox address bar, then typing browser.sessionstore.interval in the filter box, you’ll see a value of 10000, which is in milliseconds. (Meaning your session is saved every 10 seconds.) I changed this to 300000, or every 5 minutes, as I don’t have the urgent need for tab restoration. If you feel like being more on the safe side, try increasing it to something a bit lower, say 120000, or every 2 minutes.

I gave it a shot, and it might not be a life changing experiance after doing so, but it does seem to make the videos play faster, especially if you have several Firefox tabs or windows open at the same time.

Tired of finding mp3 files on the Web, that have no inline player so you can simply check them out as you find them?  Well, thanks to the Lifehacker team you can now use Google’s inline mp3 player to stream any mp3 on any web site.

For those you have Greasemonkey installed, the Google Inline MP3 Player script inserts the Google flash mp3 player next to any linked MP3 file.  Want to give it a shot?  Go check out the Lifehacker page on the topic, and click there to get it installed.

As a bonus, for those of you who might want the opposite of this, we have the Give me the MP3 user script. Once you install this into Greasemonkey, you can pull the mp3 link out instead of using a flash player that is embedded on the web site you are browsing.

So to play, or not to play – you now have the option to do both!

So who really needs Pixlr?  It is a great alternative for us normal people out there who may not need the entire Photoshop suite of tools, just a simple and easy to use editor.  Having it online and with easy access via Firefox makes it an even handier tool for the web developers out there to have access to.  The only thing you need to have to make it work is Flash. 

One more nice feature about the service is it is super quick.  Just playing around with the editor on its own, it loaded up in under two seconds easily.  To pick up the Firefox add-on for Pixlr, go check out the Firefox Add-on site.  To learn more about the Pixlr editor, be sure to visit pixlr.com.

Here are some of the most popular plugins that help with increasing the privacy or security for your Firefox installation.

NoScript

The best security you can get in a web browser! Allow active content to run only from sites you trust, and protect yourself against XSS and Clickjacking attacks.

WOT

WOT, Web of Trust, warns you about risky websites that try to scam visitors, deliver malware or send spam. Protect your computer against online threats by using WOT as your front-line layer of protection when browsing or searching in unfamiliar territory.

Stealther

Do you like to pretend that you are a super secret spy when browing the Web? Maybe you just don’t want that nosy brother or sister looking in on what you have been doing. No matter the situation, if you want to stay secret – the Stealther Firefox extension is for you.

FoxyProxy

FoxyProxy is an advanced proxy management tool that completely replaces Firefox’s limited proxying capabilities. It offers more features than SwitchProxy, ProxyButton, QuickProxy, xyzproxy, ProxyTex, TorButton, etc.

Fire Encrypter

Want Firefox to help you encrypt your secret files and documents? Maybe you just want to learn more about the encryption process? No matter which camp you fall into, the Fire Encrypter Firefox extension is for you. It brings the top secret world of encryption right into your favorite little browser.

Sxipper

Forget your passwords! Sxipper accurately fills in forms, manages passwords and your OpenIDs.

CookieCuller

Want more control over your cookies? No, I’m not talking about the ones your grandmother loves to shove down your throat – I am talking about the ones that involve your browser. The Firefox extension CookieCuller gives you total control over which cookies stay on your computer by letting you protect cookies of your choice while automatically deleting the rest.

Flashblock

Flashblock is an extension for the Mozilla, Firefox, and Netscape browsers that takes a pessimistic approach to dealing with Macromedia Flash content on a webpage and blocks ALL Flash content from loading. It then leaves placeholders on the webpage that allow you to click to download and then view the Flash content.

TrackMeNot

With all this talk about your privacy being attacked and people snooping on what you have been searching about, you are bound to feel a little paranoid. You might be watching over your shoulder as you type. You might be turning the lights out before you get Online. How can you protect yourself from being tracked in your searches though? If you use Firefox, you need the TrackMeNot extension.

BugMeNot

Tired of web sites asking you to register to view the content inside?  Bypass compulsory web registration with the context menu via bugmenot.com.

Know of another Firefox security add-on that is well worth using, just not that popular yet?  Do any of these add-ons make you sleep a little easier at night?  Let me know what you think the best security add-on for Firefox is.

Firefox has some great add-ons to use when it comes to blocking, filtering or checking out the sometimes shady information that may be passing through it.

LeechBlock – This extension is much more for saving you from looking at random stupid links when you should be working.  If you can not keep yourself focused, you may need to add this to your own Firefox install.

Flashblock – Tired of seeing the offers to punch President Bush, the Pope or any other important person to win an iPod?  The Flashblock add-on has your back as it will block all flash until it is told not to.

Adblock Plus – How could you not love Adblock Plus?  Filter out the ads you don’t want to see – and automatically subscribe to filters so you don’t waste time setting these things up yourself.  Not to mention, I did interview the creator of the script a few months back (very awesome guy!).

NoScript – NoScript allow JavaScript, Java and other executable content to run only from sites you trust.  Some feel it is better to browse the Web this way to make sure you don’t get bit by something nasty by randomly surfing through pages.

CookieSafe – This extension will allow you to easily control cookie permissions. It will appear on your statusbar. Just click on the icon to allow, block, or temporarily allow the site to set cookies.

Know of another blocking or filtering tool that does a better job?

• Undress TinyUrl links with Greasemonkey script
• Australian retailer offers 5% off to Firefox users
• Five Firefox Tips You May Not Know About
• Mozilla Adds Live Chat Support: Eroding Microsoft’s Stronghold?
• The Netscape Story: From Mosaic to Mozilla
• Most Popular Themes for Firefox on Deviant Art
• Play Flash Games Offline Or FullScreen! Using Unplug
• Interclue for Firefox: Getting a clue is now easy (and unobtrusive)
• Mitchell Baker – Reflections on 2007
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• a mozilla ipo?
• Get More Control over JavaScript Windows

Have an interesting link to share or pass my way? Leave a comment or drop me an e-mail at mitch@mitchkeeler.com and I’ll be more than happy to share it with the masses.

Here are a few more details from the creator of the extension.

This is a must-have addon for all YouTube fans! YouPlayer is a YouTube video player with playlist similar to the one in Winamp. You may add/drag a YouTube link into a playlist window. When you double-click on it, it will be shown in the video window. You may drag a link to a browser window or right-click it and open in a new tab. You may also add/drag other links, thus the playlist will work as a bookmarker.

I would like to see this be opened up to other video services out there. I think it is a pretty neat idea all around. The only problem is YouTube is the biggest, but not the only one out there as far as Online video goes.