Firefox 3.0 RC2 - AppleScript still broken, Safari 3.1.1 to the rescue

I've got a confession to make. Safari 3.1.1 is a really good browser.

Mozilla is losing me over this AppleScript issue with Firefox 3.0. Sure I use FF3 from time to time, but not for MacSurfer work or general browsing any more, unless I'm on my XP box, that is.

In my previous post back in March, I placed Safari 3.0 at the bottom of my browser list and for good reason, 3.0 was not a good browser, unable to handle the beating I give a browser for MacSurfer work. But 3.1 changed everything. It doesn't choke, and with extensions like Saft, Safari Tabs and others (along with my AppleScripts), I can almost do everything Firefox did.

In fact, I've gotten so used to Safari 3.1.1 that Firefox seems somewhat foreign now - even a bit clunkier on the UI front, IMHO, while Safari is smooth and clean. Purely subjective, YMMV. And speed-wise, they're similar - both are, IMO, faster than Camino now as well as more compatible with plug-ins and general web suff.

Regarding AppleScript and FF3, I'd like to say thanks to Luis at WebnoteHappy for writing a post about Firefox - he references this blog and the entry I made in the Mozilla forums under "rdm44". Yeah, both are mine. He's obviously got connections so that's a great thing. I'm just glad someone with clout is taking the ball and running with it. Thanks, Luis!

I won't recap the script problems, you can find 'em here. Suffice it to say, RC2 fixes nothing, and since it's technically been out since 5/30 (at least that's the date that was on the FTP site and the file date) it is no surprise that Luis' patch hasn't been applied yet. I'm curious to know if his patch fixes ALL of the issues I mentioned...

Obviously Firefox does things that Safari can't do, namely the plug-in architecture, but for my uses Firefox can't do what Safari does and that's support AppleScript.

Folks who don't use AppleScript will find Firefox 3 a great browser. My issue shouldn't dissuade anyone from using it. Especially on Windows, FF3 rocks.Now, FWIW, I do have workarounds for Firefox 3 so I can use AppleScripts to gather titles and URLs; however, they involve GUI scripting and the use of the excellent Copy URL + extension. Not the prettiest workarounds, and because they make several GUI calls they're a little slower than usual.

If Mozilla gets around to fixing AppleScript support, I may use FF more frequently again, but I don't think Dave Hyatt and the Safari team will be idling around. I expect both FF and Safari to make continued strides towards excellence, so with that I'm optimistic.

Oh, if you're interested in helping Luis get the bug(s) fixed, he has a list of ways you can assist.

For those of you who use the MacSurfer submission AppleScript for Firefox, realize that it will not work with FF3.  You'll need to either stay with FF2, or switch over to Safari or Camino for submissions.  You can write me for submission scripts.

Leopard: CAPS anomaly fixed

UPDATE: It occurred to me that I had installed TypeIt4Me 3.2 this morning ... I feel like a jerk, but perhaps my faux pa will help someone else. A new feature in TypeIt4Me is "No DOuble CAps". Of course I assumed this was after an expansion, not in the typing of the expansion. Alas, it is in the typing, thus it has fuddled up CAPS in every app. Until I turned it off.

So this entry has turned into a TIP - if your attempts to type words in CAPS is failing, and you have TypeIt4Me 3.2 installed, UNcheck the "No DOuble CAps" option. :-)

Old entry below.

I deserve any frustrations at this point that I get from Leopard for being an early adopter. I know better. But I couldn't resist. Like the monkey getting his fist caught in a jar, here am I, caught with weird issues.

Suffice it to say, I've not had a blue-screen crash, but I have seen the Finder ... or some service fall to its knees a few times requiring a reboot. Odd thing here is that "Force Quit" has not worked much. Those apps I try to FQ kind of look at me and say "yeah, so what?" turn and ignore me.

The real fly in the ointment right now, as odd as this may seem, is typing and using the shift key. This has become a royal pain in the butt. Why? I'm a fairly speedy typer and make a lot of use of the shift key - not just at the beginning of sentences or when typing proper names, but when typing abbreviations like "PDF' (which I suppose is proper), or "GPS", or to CAP a word for emphasis.

In Tiger, and in XP, and in Vista, and in every other OS, and on every typewriter I know of, when you hold down the shift key, every letter you type will be in CAPS until you let go (assuming you've not pressed the CAPS LOCK key).

But not in Leopard. I only get the first letter in Caps ... if I hold shift down (like now) to type "GPS" I get "Gps" - you see, only the G is in CAPs.

So I figure letting go of Shift for the next letter, then quickly pressing before I type it will give me a capital P... but no. It is still lower case. Repeating that will sometimes give me a capital "P".

Same thing goes with punctuation. I type two quotes in a row and I get "' - not always, but enough that my typing speed is no longer in the 80+ wpm range.

I've looked at the keyboard prefs, and anywhere else I can think of, but I come up zeros.

Is anyone else having this problem? Occurs on my system in every single app - even here in Firefox as I write this entry. Happens in text input dialog boxes from AppleScript, you name it, it happens.

Apple cannot release a 10.5.x upgrade fast enough in my book.

In case you were wondering, I did an Erase and Install, then selectively restored my data (not using a backup program) as well as selectively copying or installing applications from backup or a new .dmg.