Firefox 2.0 Feature Preview: Session Management

The next new feature for Firefox 2.0 is Session Management. First thing I noticed is this is NOT quite the same as the session management features available in Tab Mix Plus, Session Manager or SessionSaver. If anything it is more similar to Crash Recovery. So…what’s the difference? Well, Session Management like these above mentioned extensions will recover your browser (tabs & windows) session exactly as it was in the event the browser crashes. However, unlike the above (Crash Recovery excluded) it does not recover your browser if you accidentally (or intentionally) close it. That is what I liked about Session Saver, it would save everything exactly as it was when I closed the browser. This is very useful when switching between FF 1.5.0.3 and Bon Echo (since I can’t run both a the same time).

At least it will recover your browsing session in the even the browser crashes. I have already tested this by doing a force shut-down of Bon Echo. The browser treated this as a crash and it performed exactly like SessionSaver does in a browser crash. Also there is no ‘snap-back tab/window’ option as in SessionSaver if you accidentally close a tab or window.

Click Image For Large View
This Session Recovery Pop-Up Box will appear when your restart Firefox after a simulated crash.

So the Session Management feature may not eliminate those above name extensions, but that could change. After all, this is only the Alpha 2 release. I’ll have do some digging around mozillaZine and the Bon Echo forums and see what I can find out about the future of this feature.

Well, this just leaves the ‘Inline spellcheck’ feature to preview.