Firefox has definitely been getting better over the past year or two.
I've always used Firefox, since Chrome doesn't have the ability to scroll through tabs, they just get smaller and smaller on the tab bar. I've never understood why the feature hasn't been added, it seems pretty minor. Firefox also lazy loads existing tabs on startup.
Anyway, for a while, around 2011-2012, Firefox had terrible memory and stability issues. It's good that they've largely been fixed. Firefox is the most extensible and free browser, I'm surprised more tech people don't use it, considering the tech communities love for power and the ability to customise things.
I would love it if Chrome could enable hiding the tab bar and real panel support for extensions so I could have tree style tabs. I use both browsers in tandem for different things, although primarily Chrome at work.
I have been on Firefox Quantum for the past couple of months.
Previously, when I used Chrome on my Dell XPS 13, core i7, 16gb Linux laptop, it used to hang and kill everything almost every week. And suck battery power like no tomorrow.
I've not rebooted my laptop in 2 months now and battery life is much much better.
That's the complete opposite of the way Chrome was designed. I've rarely seen Chrome do a complete lock-up and close everything. The point of Chrome spinning up a new process per tab is that when one Tab crashed it doesn't take out the whole browser.
Firefox on the other hand did this constantly. In fact the only thing that has prevented me going back, and I have regularly given it a try as I support their overall approach and support of web. So I am excited to see how Quantum feels.
But if Chrome was constantly locking up and crashing completely I have to imagine its something wrong with your computer/OS.
Maybe these are silly things to complain about with fellow techies, but the things that prevent me from switching to Firefox:
The menu bars are enormous even on a compact theme. Bigger than on Chrome. I only have so much vertical space to spare.
When opening a new window, the address bar isn't the first thing to receive focus, unlike on Chrome. With Chrome, I just bang out WINKEY + C + H + R + ENTER + part of query + ENTER and I'm pretty much there
I manage a world where you can read the title of your tab as you open more. Long gone is the world your curiosity is punished! And the in the tree case, you can track where your tabs came from!
Looks like in Firefox v56 you need to change the start page to "blank" in the preferences (edit: to get the address bar focused after opening a window).
However in current Nightly (which is on v58) the input focus goes straight to the address bar, even in the default settings, so looks like more users complained ;)
I'm just using Ctrl-L to focus the address bar, works on all operating systems and browsers.
Are you running Linux by any chance? For some reason, huge paddings are now very popular in GTK applications with... the result you mention. All GTK3 applications seem to have huge widgets for me, even with compact themes. Frankly, I stopped trying to solve this.
> When opening a new window, the address bar isn't the first thing to receive focus, unlike on Chrome.
Do you have a non-default home page? I can reproduce the problem with Firefox 58 on Windows 10 in my regular user profile but not a brand new profile. My regular user profile had a non-default home page URL.
I'm not sure what the focus behavior should be in that case. If you set your home page to a website, would you still want the address bar to have focus?
> When opening a new window, the address bar isn't the first thing to receive focus, unlike on Chrome. With Chrome, I just bang out WINKEY + C + H + R + ENTER + part of query + ENTER and I'm pretty much there
I'm very impressed by Firefox 57 (have been on the beta for a while now). I never used Firefox really, but Quantum really made me move over.
I still do my dev in Opera simply because I'm used to the dev tools, but if you haven't checked out Firefox Quantum yet, I really urge you to. It's just faster.
Updated my develper edition FF today, and the first 58 beta came along! I'm impressed it consumes about 300MB of memory only. It's not that much more than when my Emacs has been running for some weeks.
> I’m sure Firefox 57 will also get a fair share of sour feedback and comments written in uppercase.
I might be part of that crowd (though in lowercase) because none of the WebExtensions mouse gesture addons work on macOS/Linux anymore due to this outstanding bug: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1360278
No official dev seems to look into it, and the community patches from the tracker only fix the Linux case.
Yep. I'm not excited about this release at all. Firefox should support gestures natively. Mouse gestures is the only legacy addon I really can't live without so I have turned off automatic updates. Really, it doesn't matter how much faster the new version is if it had to take away so many of the features I've come to rely on over the years. (I have 3 other legacy addons still activated that I really like but that I can live without: classic theme restorer, status 4 evar, and stylish [to control the url bar display, unsupported in the "stylus replacement"].) I have tried Vivaldi but it's not fantastic and it's not open source (but the gestures are more responsive than even the old firegestures).
It seems like the new firefox is just racing to be just like Chrome.
I still use the Firefox ESR for the dev tools, the new dev tools are missing things like the network response preview, the debugger is not working right for me, and the Chrome look does not appeal to me, I prefer the old dev tools.
Other then this as a user I like the fact the Firefox is moving again and in a right direction most of the time. I hope they respect the user privacy more and the new privacy invading feature should be opt in.
> the new dev tools are missing things like the network response preview
Do you mean the content of the response or something else? Because I'm on FDE and they're definitely there ("Response" tab when selecting a network entry)
Is there a way to opt out of the data collection? I haven't used Firefox in a long time but always liked it for its privacy progress. I'm enjoying Aurora so far, but that's not cool.
Firefox 57 will also allow users to enable Always-on Tracking Protection by default (you could sort of do it before, too, but you had to enable the Private Mode by default, which also deletes cookies and other stuff).
This should make it easier for people to enable. It's what Do Not Track should have been all along. We asked advertisers nicely to stop tracking us with DNT, and they didn't care. Now we're going to just block their trackers and there's nothing they can do about it (I'm talking about more mainstream users in general. Of course some of us have already been using ublock origin or similar extensions).
... and almost all my extensions will cease to work.
16 legacy, 4 ready for 57. a few of them i use very often: automatic save folder, save file to, video downloadhelper, downthemall!, search by image for google, image zoom, copy links
I've been on Firefox Nightly for a while now and the difference to my FF56 vanilla install, it behaves much more like chrome and has become my daily driver.
It can and has fully replaced Chrome (after the KeepassHTTP Connector was ported) in all matters (development, daily usage, hackernews).
I used nightly regularly, then stopped. With quantum I used it again. It has shown strong improvements, massive ones, I spent two weeks in nightly. But at point it has perf issues that I don't have with chrome. I'll stay on it for a while to see if it goes away.
I was heavy FF user back in the day, then switched to Chrome and now I'm back to FF. I've been using beta version for a few months and improvements are massive!
While it's going to be a great release (have been trying the Quantum beta on side), I'm very sad to see many of the extremely useful extensions that will just stop working as soon as I switch.
I switched to Beta 3 weeks ago just to run version 57 and I couldn't be happier on my Windows 10 machine. Firefox starts much faster, is more responsive and I haven't seen a single crash.
However, on my Mac, I really don't like the default black chrome. It just looks as out of place as Firefox always did on the Mac, which is just sad :-(
And, I miss Self-Destructing Cookies (SDC). Cookie-AutoDelete (CAD) is fine, but the white list of SDC was automatically shared with Firefox Sync, while CAD settings aren't.
I have been using it for 1 month now and have to say Quantum is the first time i have been actually impressed with the speed of a browser. Great job Mozilla, hopefully some Chrome only users will at least try Firefox now.
Firefox stable is v56, Beta v57, Nightly v58+. Next week, Stable will be v57, Beta v58 and Nightly v59.
v57 is a vast improvement over v56. Can't really say about Chrome because I haven't used it for a while. Main difference between v57 and v58 (performance-wise) is that WebRender (the "Quantum Renderer") didn't make it to v57, so you may want to wait for Beta v58.
I've been using the beta channel for years now, it was better than Stable for my browsing habits -- never had an issue.
Will the canvas mouse input lag also go down? I tried to program some small games once and noticed this was horrible on all my (Windows 7) desktop browsers. Just tried again using this demo [1] (not mine!), and now on Chrome it was OK.
Edit: I just took the plunge and tested the beta (57.0b14). Unfortunately, the input lag did not go down. I think subtle lags like this cause web-apps to feel so uncomfortable for me.
[+] [-] toomanybeersies|8 years ago|reply
I've always used Firefox, since Chrome doesn't have the ability to scroll through tabs, they just get smaller and smaller on the tab bar. I've never understood why the feature hasn't been added, it seems pretty minor. Firefox also lazy loads existing tabs on startup.
Anyway, for a while, around 2011-2012, Firefox had terrible memory and stability issues. It's good that they've largely been fixed. Firefox is the most extensible and free browser, I'm surprised more tech people don't use it, considering the tech communities love for power and the ability to customise things.
[+] [-] dingo_bat|8 years ago|reply
I used to be pretty fanatical about Firefox. But when it got so slow that simple scrolling started dropping frames, I had to switch.
[+] [-] naasking|8 years ago|reply
I don't want it. I don't like Firefox's approach, I much prefer the shrinking tabs paradigm.
[+] [-] lordlimecat|8 years ago|reply
Not after quantum.
[+] [-] malnourish|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nachtigall|8 years ago|reply
How can you scroll through tabs? What do you mean by this?
[+] [-] sandGorgon|8 years ago|reply
I've not rebooted my laptop in 2 months now and battery life is much much better.
Firefox Quantum is pure win.
[+] [-] kalcode|8 years ago|reply
Firefox on the other hand did this constantly. In fact the only thing that has prevented me going back, and I have regularly given it a try as I support their overall approach and support of web. So I am excited to see how Quantum feels.
But if Chrome was constantly locking up and crashing completely I have to imagine its something wrong with your computer/OS.
[+] [-] yogthos|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SimeVidas|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] marksellers|8 years ago|reply
The menu bars are enormous even on a compact theme. Bigger than on Chrome. I only have so much vertical space to spare.
When opening a new window, the address bar isn't the first thing to receive focus, unlike on Chrome. With Chrome, I just bang out WINKEY + C + H + R + ENTER + part of query + ENTER and I'm pretty much there
[+] [-] imple|8 years ago|reply
A screenshot from my screen just now, running FF58 and Chrome side by side. Firefox's menu bar is smaller.
[+] [-] eumenides1|8 years ago|reply
Vertical tabs are the way to go. I use Tree Style Tabs (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-ta...) and there is also Tab center, but the experiment has ended (https://testpilot.firefox.com/experiments/tab-center/). You gain a whole tab height in space and only lose a constant amount of horizontal space.
I manage a world where you can read the title of your tab as you open more. Long gone is the world your curiosity is punished! And the in the tree case, you can track where your tabs came from!
[+] [-] flohofwoe|8 years ago|reply
However in current Nightly (which is on v58) the input focus goes straight to the address bar, even in the default settings, so looks like more users complained ;)
I'm just using Ctrl-L to focus the address bar, works on all operating systems and browsers.
[+] [-] alxlaz|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cpeterso|8 years ago|reply
Do you have a non-default home page? I can reproduce the problem with Firefox 58 on Windows 10 in my regular user profile but not a brand new profile. My regular user profile had a non-default home page URL.
I'm not sure what the focus behavior should be in that case. If you set your home page to a website, would you still want the address bar to have focus?
[+] [-] JoshMnem|8 years ago|reply
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/959205
[+] [-] masklinn|8 years ago|reply
This is what I get on OSX, latest Chrome v FDE Compact: https://i.imgur.com/TA62OAN.png
[+] [-] bwat49|8 years ago|reply
This works for me with firefox 58/windows 10
[+] [-] daleharvey|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Siecje|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] skrebbel|8 years ago|reply
I still do my dev in Opera simply because I'm used to the dev tools, but if you haven't checked out Firefox Quantum yet, I really urge you to. It's just faster.
[+] [-] gkya|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zeotroph|8 years ago|reply
I might be part of that crowd (though in lowercase) because none of the WebExtensions mouse gesture addons work on macOS/Linux anymore due to this outstanding bug: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1360278
No official dev seems to look into it, and the community patches from the tracker only fix the Linux case.
[+] [-] saberworks|8 years ago|reply
It seems like the new firefox is just racing to be just like Chrome.
[+] [-] simion314|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] masklinn|8 years ago|reply
Do you mean the content of the response or something else? Because I'm on FDE and they're definitely there ("Response" tab when selecting a network entry)
[+] [-] swozey|8 years ago|reply
edit: Found it, very bottom of Privacy
[+] [-] cJ0th|8 years ago|reply
I agree. The new features, however, are not. They even ("temporarily") collect IP addresses by default when FF calls home.( https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox/ )
And, naturally, they also intend comply with the law. In other words, they hand over data to governments. ( https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/ )
What Mozilla are doing here is despicable.
[+] [-] fiatjaf|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mtgx|8 years ago|reply
This should make it easier for people to enable. It's what Do Not Track should have been all along. We asked advertisers nicely to stop tracking us with DNT, and they didn't care. Now we're going to just block their trackers and there's nothing they can do about it (I'm talking about more mainstream users in general. Of course some of us have already been using ublock origin or similar extensions).
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/software/firefox-57-to...
[+] [-] zaarn|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] werid|8 years ago|reply
16 legacy, 4 ready for 57. a few of them i use very often: automatic save folder, save file to, video downloadhelper, downthemall!, search by image for google, image zoom, copy links
[+] [-] km3k|8 years ago|reply
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/faq/
[+] [-] sheepdestroyer|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zaarn|8 years ago|reply
It can and has fully replaced Chrome (after the KeepassHTTP Connector was ported) in all matters (development, daily usage, hackernews).
[+] [-] agumonkey|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bojanvidanovic|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] piyush_soni|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mistermann|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] m_st|8 years ago|reply
And, I miss Self-Destructing Cookies (SDC). Cookie-AutoDelete (CAD) is fine, but the white list of SDC was automatically shared with Firefox Sync, while CAD settings aren't.
[+] [-] deno|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mariusmg|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Yliaho|8 years ago|reply
But please, for the love of everything that is holy, let developers customize scrollbar styles. Thank you.
[+] [-] jhasse|8 years ago|reply
Developers, for the love of god, please leave my scrollbars alone. Thank you.
[+] [-] jmarinez|8 years ago|reply
Sorry, had to say that. Incredible architecture changes were made, but without the language to support them it simply wouldn't have been possible.
[+] [-] Newky|8 years ago|reply
This really changes Firefox. Everything is incredibly snappy, at times more responsive that chrome.
The small amount of addons I use are now available.
Can't wait to get this by default in Ubuntu.
[+] [-] k__|8 years ago|reply
I tried the nightly a few weeks ago and it would always forget my logins so it was essentially unusable.
But the performance was much much better than with Chrome, so I would like to switch to Firefox :)
[+] [-] dr_zoidberg|8 years ago|reply
v57 is a vast improvement over v56. Can't really say about Chrome because I haven't used it for a while. Main difference between v57 and v58 (performance-wise) is that WebRender (the "Quantum Renderer") didn't make it to v57, so you may want to wait for Beta v58.
I've been using the beta channel for years now, it was better than Stable for my browsing habits -- never had an issue.
[+] [-] maho|8 years ago|reply
Edit: I just took the plunge and tested the beta (57.0b14). Unfortunately, the input lag did not go down. I think subtle lags like this cause web-apps to feel so uncomfortable for me.
[1] http://jsfiddle.net/Donk/5gXX8/2/embedded/result/