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How Firefox Got Fast Again

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451–460 of 713 posts

Re: How Firefox Got Fast Again

#451
post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firefox has supported multiple profiles for ages. Just run it with -P. It allows you to have separate history, extensions, bookmarks, everything. The new panel containers are also handy. They allow you to have shared history and bookmarks but separate cookies and sessions. You can be logged into the same site on different accounts in two tabs in the same window.

Just playing with profiles and I can't see in way to make the different windows stand out, which are in different profiles. Anyone know how to make the windows visually distinct?

Yes, use a different theme for each profile?

Re: How Firefox Got Fast Again

#452
post #428

There are so many Firefox features that I love, and Mozilla is an awesome company that I want to support, but Safari and even Chrome are both still significantly faster than Quantum on my Mac. Even with 50+ tabs open in Chrome, it still loads uncached pages 2-3 seconds faster than FF Quantum, with fewer flashes of unstyled content as well. I had high hopes for this refactor, but it looks like I'll have to wait to swi…

You can maybe find a alternatives here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1TFcEXMcKrwoIAECI...

I think you replied to the wrong comment, mine isn't about extensions/add-ons.

Re: How Firefox Got Fast Again

#453
post #5

I have been using 57 in beta, and I have to say, I'm impressed. It is a huge improvement. Whether it keeps me off Chrome in the future remains to be seen though!

Why shouldn't it keep you away from Chrome ? It's faster, uses less memory, and the "maker", Mozilla is more trustworthy compared with Google. What's missing ?

Chrome has a better security model. That's big for some.

Re: How Firefox Got Fast Again

#454
I have tried to switch back to ff from chrome several times now (first try was when developer edition came out, second try was when multi-tasking came out) but failed, because ff has been too slow in comparison.

Downloading the new developer edition now... Hope it can stay on my dock this time!

Re: How Firefox Got Fast Again

#455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BTW: if using Android, if FF is not for you, try Brave instead of Chrome. It feels exactly like Chrome (it's Chromium-based), but has a built-in adblocker, tracker blocking, HTTPS everywhere, no nagging to sign in, and does not throw "suggested news" (with no opt-out) upon you. Brave's founder is ex-Mozilla's CEO (Brendan Eich). However latest FF on Android is actually not bad, at least if you have a modern phone (th…

From what I've read, Brave doesn't block ads -- it replaces them with other ads. I don't think that it's a good idea. Firefox for Android also allows browser extensions, which gives some control of the software back to the user.

Except that it does actually block ads and doesn't replace them. Don't believe everything you read on the Internet when you can just try the product :)

Re: How Firefox Got Fast Again

#456

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i would be using FF on Android if the scrolling was not so crappy. It's pretty terrible :(

... ... What do you mean?

There are two distinct problems I've noticed with FF scrolling vs. Chrome on Android.

First is that certain elements block scrolling. I use FF primarily for Facebook (since FF allows me to use my – shameless plug – idle-time faker extension [1]). If my scrolling thumb lands on the "Like" button of a post, the screen just stays put. So about 1/3 of my "scroll" gestures are in vain.

Second is that "flinging" motions don't register very well with Firefox. With Chrome, "flinging" sends the web page flying at a predictable speed; with Firefox, it lags for a fraction of a second before scrolling at a random speed which is usually much slower than that in Chrome. It's as if Firefox doesn't register the final thumb flick of a "fling", but Chrome does. Since "flinging" is my primary method of browsing longer web pages, ultimately my thumb has to physically do more work, and gets exhausted more quickly, when using Firefox than Chrome.

A third nitpick is that, while (non-flinging) page scrolling keeps up with my thumb, it does so in a jerky manner, like it can't quite keep up with rendering, or it doesn't see all the touch events. Reminds me of an old PDA. In contrast, scrolling in Chrome is very smooth. This looks ugly but I could live with it.

It is the first to two issues that prevent me from using Firefox on Android for anything but Facebook.

[1] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/android/addon/social-networ...

Re: How Firefox Got Fast Again

#457
post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The signing into an account in chrome is the killer feature for me. I have work and a couple of personal accounts that I have signed in in different browser windows. That allows me to keep things separate (extensions, mail, browsing, bookmarks, etc). How do FF users do this?

The signing into an account in Chrome almost got someone fired at a small customer of mine a few weeks ago. Fortunately they called me first to look into it, I pointed out that the porn bookmarks in question were years old and that since Chrome was signed into a personal account it was pretty likely that the same account had been used by other family members at home. I also wrote this up for the owners to send to the…

This story would deserve a blog post of its own. Google might not realize it, but the ease of being tracked by them is also a risk in work place.

Re: How Firefox Got Fast Again

#458
post #411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Use FF nightly on Android. It's got the quantum update and it's great. I haven't had it break on me yet, but I keep a working APK just in case.

Do you have to install the nightly build manually or can you opt-in via the default version?

Nightly and beta releases are available as separate apps.

Re: How Firefox Got Fast Again

#459
post #408
post #376

How long will it take to forget about this again? The whole story reminds me of something a project manager, who worked at the Google homepage, once said. They worked their asses off to get the page smaller and smaller so the UX was unbeatable. Then, after they got enough users, they focused on different things, and more and more stuff was included. Somehow Firefox went the same way, right? First they created it so i…

The article mentions they're adding automatic tracking of performance to their tests. > we’re adding lots of new tracking, including improvements to CI automation running performance tests, telemetry to track what users experience, and regression management inside of bugs.

I'm not saying this is a technical problem.

I'm saying, what prohibits them in the future from stopping to care again?

Re: How Firefox Got Fast Again

#460
post #376

How long will it take to forget about this again? The whole story reminds me of something a project manager, who worked at the Google homepage, once said. They worked their asses off to get the page smaller and smaller so the UX was unbeatable. Then, after they got enough users, they focused on different things, and more and more stuff was included. Somehow Firefox went the same way, right? First they created it so i…

Performance is usually death by a thousand cuts, and (imo) the best way of mitigating this is by standardizing some measurements and making that automated. Block changes that move performance past this bar, make sure the organization buys off on this approach. Any changes to a critical area that impact performance need to be zero-sum - if you add something, you need to take something away.

I'm not saying they can't do this.

They are all real smart people.

I just have the fear they will forget about it in a few years again.

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