If you’ve been waiting for an official release to install the latest Firebug, wait no more. Version 1.2 of the popular web developer extension for Firefox is no longer in beta. You can download Firebug at the Firefox add-ons site.
John Resig, one of the new Firebug team members, has a great rundown on what’s new. Resig is always on the lookout for performance issues and he brings up an important one with JavaScript debugging. Whenever script debugging is on anywhere, every page runs JavaScript about 25% slower, even those without Firebug enabled. Now you can right-click (or ctrl-click) the Firebug icon and choose “suspend Firebug” when you’re done using the script console. Expect the Firebug team to look into this performance issue.
Those who haven’t been enjoying the beta will need to completely remove the previous version before installing Firebug 1.2. Otherwise, the update is just a click (maybe three) away. If for some reason you’ve avoided Firefox 3, the new Firebug even works in Firefox 2, but you’re still missing out on FF3.
Want to get down to business with Firebug and learn how to use Firebug extensions, too? We have an excellent Firebug tutorial.
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