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Arc Browser Company: Chrome and Safari face a new challenger

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Re: Arc Browser Company: Chrome and Safari face a new challenger

#81
post #8
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The majority of browsers that were commercially closed software didn’t make it Keep in mind that the last time this was tried, free/open-source alternatives were on-par if not better and the web was much less hostile. Nowadays, not only is the web teeming with hostility that can best be addressed by a browser, but the closest free/open-source solution (Firefox) is half-baked and doesn't actually solve many of these…

how is Firefox half-baked? i'm using it every day along with Safari and don't see any significant differences

With something as wide scoped as a browser this inevitably comes down to "well the 200 things I think are relevant do/don't work the same in favor of a/b" out of tens of thousands, if not more, of things implemented.

For me Firefox is about as good as any. Upsides here, downsides there, and nothing truly outstanding overall. It seems severely far behind in modern color (e.g. HDR videos or all of the wide gamut CSS specifications coming out), ahead in terms of single profile compartmentalization (containers), but behind in profile management (the profile manager sucks if you even know how to get to it). For as much as it champions being the last bastion of the free web it comes default with a decent amount of crapware (pocket, vpn) and has lost its way in terms of power user flexibility (UI customization, mobile extension limits, removal of power user flags). That said it's still better than the alternatives in those spaces, just not as good as it used to be.

For another none of these might matter but a lot of other reasons I don't even think about might. In the end even Firefox's own usage statistic point to the vast majority seeming to agree it doesn't have anything compelling enough to be worth switching to/evangelizing for anymore though.

Re: Arc Browser Company: Chrome and Safari face a new challenger

#83
dead on arrival, nobody is looking for a new browser

chrome proved that people give no shit about browsers

the UI/UX haven't changed since day 1, still minimalist AF

firefox usage dropped massively, as they kept iterating on their UI/UX, forgetting the reason why people needed a browser in the fist place, instead they kept raising the salary of their CEO, as if he/she/it was the reason why people wanted to use firefox :')

the focus is on the websites

people literally only want an address bar and sync-able bookmarks/history with their phone, that's exactly what chrome/safari provide

firefox can't even provide this, and they keep push their AD/sponsored articles about how sweet firefox is, nobody cares

every other browsers from shady companies like this one are just cash grab (including firefox)

the only logical evolution of browsers is literally ChromeOS, you boot to browse people's places (websites)

Re: Arc Browser Company: Chrome and Safari face a new challenger

#84
post #39

How is this unknown company a challenger? How is this even worthy of Bloomberg to report on

A lot of stuff you see in Bloomberg (and elsewhere) either gets paid to be put there (some via agencies that specializes in things like that), or put on there via connections. They are not reporting on underdogs for the fun of it.

Do you have a source for this? Not in any way saying it's not true but would be interesting if there was some analysis somewhere.

Re: Arc Browser Company: Chrome and Safari face a new challenger

#85
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of stuff you see in Bloomberg (and elsewhere) either gets paid to be put there (some via agencies that specializes in things like that), or put on there via connections. They are not reporting on underdogs for the fun of it.

Do you have a source for this? Not in any way saying it's not true but would be interesting if there was some analysis somewhere.

Unfortunately no, only personal experience working in bunch of different companies (some US based, some EU) where they've employed agencies like that and gotten the result they wanted (an article published).

Re: Arc Browser Company: Chrome and Safari face a new challenger

#86

>A Startup Wants to Rescue You From Browser Tab Hell Vivaldi, Edge and Firefox already do this with vertical tabs. Vivaldi also has the excellent tab search.

Checkout Fast Tab Switcher in firefox. Far preferable to vertical tabs. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fast-tab-swit...

Re: Arc Browser Company: Chrome and Safari face a new challenger

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would this be solved by an up and coming browser that isn’t based off Blink/Chromium and why can’t Firefox do the solution?

Firefox's problem is the company behind it, not the rendering engine. Firefox is actually a pretty fine browser if you pair it with uBlock Origin and neuter its wide range of user-hostile "features" and keep maintaining that as updates often introduce new "features" you'll need to disable.

What's your top three user hostile feature? Have you looked at LibreFox?

Edit: I see there is a LibreWolf and a LibreFox

Re: Arc Browser Company: Chrome and Safari face a new challenger

#88
post #6

“It will be free upfront; the team is looking at developing premium subscription features for enterprise users, perhaps somewhere around $12 a month, echoing the freemium model of Slack Technologies Inc., Dropbox Inc., and other productivity services.” Good luck with that. The majority of browsers that were commercially closed software didn’t make it. If it’s open source then it will be ridiculed for not having an op…

> The majority of browsers that were commercially closed software didn’t make it Keep in mind that the last time this was tried, free/open-source alternatives were on-par if not better and the web was much less hostile. Nowadays, not only is the web teeming with hostility that can best be addressed by a browser, but the closest free/open-source solution (Firefox) is half-baked and doesn't actually solve many of these…

Firefox is half baked? What does that mean? I’ve used Firefox as my primary browser for many years, including for my full time job as a web developer, and have never had any issues. The only time I ever use Chrome is when I need to put in my PTO at work since their time-off web app doesn’t work with Firefox.

Re: Arc Browser Company: Chrome and Safari face a new challenger

#90
post #22
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which issues do Firefox fail to solve?

I frequently cannot log in to my bank with Firefox. The problem is that my bank's website was made by a bank, but as a Firefox user this impacts me in my daily life.

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