I'm used to Firefox 3.6 on Win7. There are a few reasons why it's my go-to browser when I'm using Windows:

1) Plug-ins like Firebug, web dev toolbar, greasemonkey, and resizeable textarea

2) Tabs are well-placed and readable, and you can simply double-click next to tabs to open a new tab

3) A proper status bar that's always visible

4) A full menu bar

5) No Adobe Flash built-in

I've installed Firefox 4 RC. The colors are loud. Tabs are on top, tab text is illegible, and double-clicking next to tabs doesn't create a new tab (it simply resizes the browser window). The status bar and the menu bar are gone. I couldn't even find Firebug and Greasemonkey.

Luckily, a few of these unfortunate decisions can be reversed. Apparently, you can turn on an "add-on bar" to show the controls for Firebug and Greasemonkey. You can also opt for a top menu bar, which has the added benefit that it re-enables the "double-click to create new tab" behavior.

IMHO, the new UI sucks balls. If Mozilla wanted to copy Chrome/Safari's UI, they've succeeded.

EDIT: After viewing some of my websites in Firefox 4, I must say that CSS3 and text rendering is a lot better than in FF 3.6. From what I can tell, it's on par with Chrome. I just wish it didn't have its UI as well.

Serious question here... I now use Chrome, my parents use Chrome, and almost everyone I know has converted. Most HN users seem to use it too: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2105954.

Is there anything compelling in Firefox 4 to get excited about?

Wow...I must say...as someone that abandoned FF for Chrome, FF4 feels SOOO much faster and cleaner than 3.6.

Will definitely continue testing it out.

One thing that FF3.x has had on chrome is total memory footprint. About a month ago, when I was testing FF4, I noticed that the memory usage for FF4 and Chrome were pretty close. I personally think Chrome consumes a bit too much memory for my liking, and I was disappointed to see FF4 following suit. Has anyone noticed if the new RC is more conservative with its memory consumption?

Firefox: Chrome

Emacs: Vim

I guess different browsers for different types of people. I still use Firefox on occasion but mostly as a runtime for Firebug. Otherwise, I switched to Chrome more than an year ago and haven't looked back.

Since beta 10 or 11 FF4 has been really sluggish for me when opening new tabs, and at startup (aka opening lots of 'new' tabs). I don't know what changed, but it's enough to make me consider switching to Chrome. I don't want to, but RC1 is still sluggish to the point of being nearly unusable, given my browsing patterns.

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I'll try it later and edit this comment, but have they changed the way it stores passwords? Currently, without a master password, you can view a user's passwords in plain text.

Ideally, a master password should be a requirement, or passwords should go in the keychain on OSX. Many, many Firefox users do not know about the master password, so if you can sit at their computer you can see their passwords. It's terrifying.

How long after the release candidates do they usually releases the final product? Does anyone know the history of their release periods?

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I admire Firefox for what it's accomplished, but Chrome has stolen my heart. I had to use Firefox today actually to test something, and discovered a Bing bar that I'm pretty sure I didn't consent to, taking up valuable real-estate.

I switched to chrome after trying to use Minefield for about a month. Minefield was ugly - I just couldn't get it to look perfect. Chrome has all the extensions I need now. Firefox doesn't have anything special in my opinion. Chrome is faster and light weight. I just wish it had a tab preview like Firefox's "Tab Scope" and a proper title in the titlebar.