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Mozilla launches voice search, file-sharing and note-taking tools for Firefox

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Re: Mozilla launches voice search, file-sharing and note-taking tools for Firefox

#191

Post by dingo_bat »

addicted wrote: post #181
noisem4ker wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The Vertical Tabs test pilot thing was [...] to test these APIs Except that Tab Center wasn't a way for them to test the new WebExt APIs, as it was still based on XUL. See here: https://discourse.mozilla-community.org/t/whats-all-this-abo... >maintaining [the old extension API] ate up a crap ton of resources, so don't come up with that move being a waste of resources Arguably not a waste if that meant preserving the…

The old extensions were not compatible with e10s. If the Firefox team wanted to improve speed/security/modularity, etc. they had to ditch the old extension model. It sucks, but necessary.

"Not compatible" is just another way of saying "we don't have the resources and/or the inclination to support your programs". Look at what Microsoft does to ensure backward compatibility. They simulate specific windows bugs for specific old games that were coded to expect the original bug in Win95. Just so users' programs keep working. It's a matter of priorities and resources. And I believe both are out of whack at Mozilla right now.

Re: Mozilla launches voice search, file-sharing and note-taking tools for Firefox

#192

Post by dingo_bat »

tomc1985 wrote: post #124
notheguyouthink wrote: post #2

I just wish it was .. faster. Lately I've been moving away from Google everywhere I can. I moved everything but Google Voice. Yes, even Google Search - I've moved to DuckDuckGo. On windows however, I had to fall back to Chrome, because I was just shocked at how slow Firefox was. Opening pages like Twitch.tv proved to be shockingly slow. Furthermore, my habit of opening many tabs in the background like I do in Chrome/…

Oh c'mon it's not that much slower. Some things feel chunkier (scrolling) but JS performance is 80%-90% of the way there.

Oh so apart from the one thing that needs to be perfect, everything is fine? Sorry but if scrolling is not smooth af you don't have a viable browser.

Re: Mozilla launches voice search, file-sharing and note-taking tools for Firefox

#193

Post by GuB-42 »

romanovcode wrote: post #20

I hope Firefox succeeds and destroys Chrome.

It won't happen unless Google decides to abandon Chrome.

Mozilla really needs to outdo themselves just to regain the market share they lost to Chrome. Compared to IE, Firefox was clearly the better browser, but it took many years just to become significant.

Re: Mozilla launches voice search, file-sharing and note-taking tools for Firefox

#194

Post by coldtea »

newscracker wrote: post #150
dmitriid wrote: post #142

Didn't they say not a few months ago that "the reason Firefox has fallen behind is that we focused on stuff that wasn't browser-related like MozillaOS etc."? Learning from own mistakes anyone?

Quoting from the article: "These are obviously experimental tools and there’s no guarantee they will ever make it into a release version of Firefox. Indeed, the idea behind Test Pilot is to allow the Firefox team to test new concepts." The efforts on making Firefox faster and more responsive have been going on for a few years (e10s/electrolysis being one of them) and are appearing in the releases as fast as the team…

>I personally believe Mozilla has a highly capable core team on this, and to insinuate otherwise, to me, seems like accepting commercial interests of other browser makers as higher than FLOSS interests.

There's only one interest in the browser wars: prevail or perish. If Firefox cannot secure a large enough market share, it will be insignificant, lose funding, and die off.

Re: Mozilla launches voice search, file-sharing and note-taking tools for Firefox

#195

Post by Tharkun »

dingo_bat wrote: post #189
addicted wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is how they are adding features to the browser. This is a smart way of doing it. Make it experimental, gauge the feedback, and integrate it if the feedback makes it seem useful. As an example, they tried vertical tabs, and it appears it didn't work as well as they needed it to be so it has been left out. On the flip side, the empty tab page was also an experiment, and that worked well and made it to the default…

Vertical tabs used to work so well on Firefox that I held on for just that, even when everybody had already left for Chrome. Then they killed it. Now you're saying they dropped it because they couldn't get it to work again. Kind of sad.

I have a plugin for vertical tabs. Works great. Wouldn't want to use my 28" 4k monitor without it.

Re: Mozilla launches voice search, file-sharing and note-taking tools for Firefox

#196

Post by coldtea »

482794793792894 wrote: post #126
jacquesm wrote: post #88

Browsers should be browsers, not a way to get a whole bunch of trojan horse software installed on your machine. If I wanted voice search, file sharing and/or note taking I would find the appropriate piece of software for that task and install it separately. All this does is increasing the attack surface of the browser in a ridiculous manner providing features that only very few will use. File-sharing? What could poss…

The title is misleading. These are not part of Firefox. They are in the Test Pilot program, which is a way for Mozilla to gather feedback on what features they should include, how they should change them if they do include them and all in all is completely open-ended. They might also release these as extensions or somesuch. They are all coded as WebExtensions (except for that file-sharing thing, that's just a webpage…

>The title is misleading. These are not part of Firefox.

Doesn't matter. They shouldn't be part of Mozilla's output either...

Re: Mozilla launches voice search, file-sharing and note-taking tools for Firefox

#197

Post by Vinnl »

yAnonymous wrote: post #165
dmitriid wrote: post #142

Didn't they say not a few months ago that "the reason Firefox has fallen behind is that we focused on stuff that wasn't browser-related like MozillaOS etc."? Learning from own mistakes anyone?

Seriously. They're behind in speed, security, quality of the developer tools etc. and introduce new useless toy features and one re-design after the other. I appreciate a lot of stuff Mozilla do outside the browser for the open internet, but the development of Firefox is pretty bad and it looks like the project leaders are incompetent. Firefox is a sad example of how a successful software can be overtaken by a new co…

> speed, security, quality of the developer tools

Coincidentally, all of the examples you mention have been a major focus for far more people within Mozilla than their experiments are, and improvements in these areas have really been noticeable if you've been using Firefox lately.

Re: Mozilla launches voice search, file-sharing and note-taking tools for Firefox

#198

Post by Vinnl »

jacquesm wrote: post #88

Browsers should be browsers, not a way to get a whole bunch of trojan horse software installed on your machine. If I wanted voice search, file sharing and/or note taking I would find the appropriate piece of software for that task and install it separately. All this does is increasing the attack surface of the browser in a ridiculous manner providing features that only very few will use. File-sharing? What could poss…

I wonder which browser you're using, because there are plenty that come rather close to your definition (e.g. Midori), but odds are really high that you're not using them - because nobody is.

Thing is, if Mozilla wants to stay relevant, it has to find out what users want and deliver that. These experiments are one way to do that.

Re: Mozilla launches voice search, file-sharing and note-taking tools for Firefox

#199

Post by Vinnl »

paulio wrote: post #147

I find it hard to believe that speed is really the issue here. I suspect it's more likely it's the aggressive advertising scheme in which Google push for Chrome. I think these projects which Mozilla test/launch are an indication that even they don't know how to stop the eroding of Firefox market share. If I were Mozilla I'd be seriously worried about Electron.

I really hope Mozilla take Servo and prop it up as an Electron competitor, as it might actually make a chance there and its incomplete compatibility with hacks used in the old days of the web are not that much of a problem there.

Re: Mozilla launches voice search, file-sharing and note-taking tools for Firefox

#200

Post by Vinnl »

6ak74rfy wrote: post #100
SwellJoe wrote: post #97

Somehow, I assumed "Notes" would be "notes for this page". But, it's just a notepad...no awareness of where I am. That's much less interesting/useful than I thought it would be. Is there a browser plugin out there that provides a notes sidebar for the page you're currently on, and allows flipping through the notes with a link to the pages they relate to? Because that'd be awesome. Googling only reveals some kitschy "…

Look at Hypothesis, which does something better : it allows you to annotate your web pages.

Note that Hypothes.is notes are public.
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