I Switched to Firefox and Never Looked Back • Hacker News Board

Re: I Switched to Firefox and Never Looked Back

#291

Post by vianneychevalie » Tue, Jan 14, 2025, 4:00 PM UTC

pxoe wrote: post #229

Vinnl wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And for those who do actually feel they want to separate their extensions and passwords and such as well, there's a Profiles revamp coming up that's looking really good in Nightly: https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/here-s-what-we-re... But yes, people should learn about Multi-Account Containers if they haven't, yet. It's a killer feature that no other browser has. This is the extension to enable the UI for i…

Finally, it only took them 10 years to get around to updating that decades old UI. Wonder which other decade old UI parts are they gonna tackle next? ooh, will they finally do something about Library and the whole bookmarks/history menu/sidebar/window mess? It's a little insane how so much time has passed and so many versions were released, and some interface stuff still remains unpolished and disparate. Firefox simp…

As a consultant, switching between my many clients, testing, and home accounts is simply Alt+F+B+Arrow down ("Open new container tab"), all within the same UI, in the same window, with colored tabs, with the same extensions, and same password manager.

I've been in situations needing up to half a dozen different Microsoft accounts (multiple Teams clients in Firefox, for instance), other browsers haven't solved this daily use-case for me.

It's an easier account management tool.

Re: I Switched to Firefox and Never Looked Back

#292

Post by WorldMaker » Tue, Jan 14, 2025, 4:01 PM UTC

asabla wrote: post #136

Vinnl wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And for those who do actually feel they want to separate their extensions and passwords and such as well, there's a Profiles revamp coming up that's looking really good in Nightly: https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/here-s-what-we-re... But yes, people should learn about Multi-Account Containers if they haven't, yet. It's a killer feature that no other browser has. This is the extension to enable the UI for i…

> there's a Profiles revamp coming up that's looking really good in Nightly Oh wow! I totally missed this. Thank for sharing! I've been using multiple browsers for as long as I can remember. But always liked Firefox ocer the others. Especially now with container tabs. And the only thing I keep wishing for, has been a better experience with profile management, but also running the browser in different profiles. I'm re…

I've been using the silly hack of using two versions of Firefox side-by-side (so, multiple browsers but they are both Firefox today), one which is Default in the OS and focuses on a single profile and Container Tab management. The other launches into the ProfileManager at startup to choose a Profile and doesn't pick up random links because it isn't Default.

Better Profile Management tools may be nice to see. Maybe I won't need dueling builds of Firefox. Or maybe I'll keep it, we'll see.

Re: I Switched to Firefox and Never Looked Back

#293

Post by ubermonkey » Tue, Jan 14, 2025, 4:02 PM UTC

I'm on a Mac, so I use Safari, too, but were I on any other platform I can't imagine NOT using Firefox.

How did we get to a point where the dominant browser is designed to be hostile to user choice?

Re: I Switched to Firefox and Never Looked Back

#294

Post by cj » Tue, Jan 14, 2025, 4:03 PM UTC

samuellavoie90 wrote: post #280

ethbr1 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Developers will always be time crunched / lazy. Why target multiple platforms when you can just support one?

The goal of a standard is to not be forced to code specific things for each implementation out there. This is failure of the web standards that the google implementation has become the standard.

We have web standards, but one area they breakdown is adoption of those standards.

Each browser seems to pick and choose which standards they want to adopt and when. Sometimes Chrome will support a new CSS syntax for months or years before another browser finally picks up support (or vice versa).

For web standards to truly work, there would need to be better coordination between browsers to adopt new standards in unison. Until then, developers (should) keep track of whether the syntax they're using is supported by all major browsers. Or, develop just for Chrome, which seems to be favored by most.

Re: I Switched to Firefox and Never Looked Back

#295

Post by nyarlathotep_ » Tue, Jan 14, 2025, 4:06 PM UTC

seems ff has been relegated to strictly technical users now.

It's 90% of my personal browsing, and effectively the only option considering UBO is a requirement for the modern web. I've always loved the `user.js` configurability, extensions for actual tree-style tabs, etc.

Re: I Switched to Firefox and Never Looked Back

#296

Post by carlosjobim » Tue, Jan 14, 2025, 4:06 PM UTC

basilgohar wrote: post #179

dismalaf wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using an ad blocker ( and not paying for a subscription in the case of YouTube) isn't the "user making their own choices", it's stealing content. If a creator puts up ads or a paywall, it's because they want to be compensated. You should either respect their wish or simply not view their content.

I understand this perspective, but I disagree with it. If someone wants to use a public space (i.e., the Internet), then they have accept that technological solutions to annoyances are also part of that. Block it with a subscription if you don't accept this reality. But getting the benefits of a free, global audience doesn't entitle the artist to any means of revenue they choose, including what annoys and harms peopl…

A restaurant is also a public space. But you can't eat for free or behave as you wish there.

Re: I Switched to Firefox and Never Looked Back

#297

Post by pkilgore » Tue, Jan 14, 2025, 4:06 PM UTC

jampekka wrote: post #28

Firefox on Android is a no-brainer because of the extension support. It was a bit rough experience few years ago but has been solid for a long time.

Best Android browser hands down, entirely because of the extension support.

I don't know how people use phones with ublock or leechblock. I guess "with less battery life" and "more".

Re: I Switched to Firefox and Never Looked Back

#298

Post by lxgr » Tue, Jan 14, 2025, 4:07 PM UTC

ethbr1 wrote: post #216

lxgr wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sometimes do have several Youtube tabs open to line up things I want to watch next.

To this, have you tried running a no-autoplay style extension? (Not exactly this scenario, but lists might be modifiable) I expect YT is probably doing some preloading or heavyweight running in a loaded-but-not-playing tab. Convert that to load-on-click, and you'll likely fix your issue.

No need – Firefox does that out of the box for tabs opened in the background (I open tabs via middle/command click)! So there is no problem for me.

Re: I Switched to Firefox and Never Looked Back

#299

Post by mvdtnz » Tue, Jan 14, 2025, 4:07 PM UTC

Sanctor wrote: post #110

I really want to switch to Firefox but cannot because it doesn't sync bookmark favicons. My bookmarks bar is filled with bookmarks without names that I can recognize by the icons. I refuse to re-visit every bookmark when I login from a new PC, which is often. This has been requested for 17 years: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=428378 Every other browser sync solution has this feature. Firefox insists on…

The thing is that Firefox has SO MANY papercuts in this category. They all seem minor but they all represent a deal breaker for one user or another. For me it's the address bar on the bottom on mobile (ludicrous decision, whoever came up with that should leave the industry and I mean that) and their refusal to auto fill credit cards on mobile even though I know it works on desktop and I know it works in other regions.

Firefox badly needs someone who gives a shit about user experience.

Re: I Switched to Firefox and Never Looked Back

#300

Post by immibis » Tue, Jan 14, 2025, 4:13 PM UTC

HunOL wrote: post #115

ustad wrote: post #23

Currently the main attack facing Firefox is coming from advertising companies such as YouTube. It’s crazy to think that some software engineers might actually intentionally degrade user experience on non-Google browsers or for people using adblockers. The mentality here is pretty disturbing: it’s almost like punishing users for making the choice to browse the web without ads, or without the surveillance mechanisms th…

> It’s crazy to think that some software engineers might actually intentionally degrade user experience on non-Google browsers or for people using adblockers. Pretty sure that was happening back in a days when Opera was using own engine (Presto). They shipped browser with scripts to fix some popular sites. Actually Firefox also has some fixes for particular sites about:compat

Even market-dominant companies do this. Windows ships a bunch of backward compatibility patches. Graphics card drivers (especially Nvidia) wholesale replace shaders in popular games.