Switching from Chrome to Firefox • Hacker News Board

Re: Switching from Chrome to Firefox

#131

Post by redkoala » Tue, Aug 22, 2023, 4:09 PM UTC

luuurker wrote: post #18

matsemann wrote: post #4

I feel this article almost do more harm than good. It paints a picture that you need to "sacrifice" something to use Fx and lists various "problems". For instance it mentions how troublesome it is to use profiles as a "problem". Don't. Use containers. Hundred times more smooth than profiles. Hence why no one cares about making profiles in Fx better, there is already a better solution to the problem profiles solve. Ne…

(I'm replying to the original version of your comment.) How can you have different bookmarks, extensions, and maybe even a different theme (so you know you're using the right window) with containers? The answer is: you can't. Because containers and profiles are different things. That's the "sacrifice" you're asking users to make. To change the way they use browsers, to adapt to something that is useful, but not a com…

Chrome still has buggy behavior working with multiple Google account profiles. Firefox with containers works smoothly for that use case.

Re: Switching from Chrome to Firefox

#132

Post by cvladan » Tue, Aug 22, 2023, 4:10 PM UTC

Nobody mentioned "Ctrl+Tab cycles through tabs in recently used order" Firefox option that is almost impossible to replicate on Chrome even with extensions. And there is huge user need for this option as there are bunch of Chrome extension for this, mostly using external executables to achieve this.

Re: Switching from Chrome to Firefox

#133

Post by boredhedgehog » Tue, Aug 22, 2023, 4:12 PM UTC

matsemann wrote: post #4

I feel this article almost do more harm than good. It paints a picture that you need to "sacrifice" something to use Fx and lists various "problems". For instance it mentions how troublesome it is to use profiles as a "problem". Don't. Use containers. Hundred times more smooth than profiles. Hence why no one cares about making profiles in Fx better, there is already a better solution to the problem profiles solve. Ne…

> Or how the address bar ("awesome bar") in Firefox is so much greater than Chrome's in finding stuff (probably because Google wants you to do a google search, not find stuff from your own history or bookmarks).

What exactly does Firefox do differently? I find that the Chrome bar learns very quickly which results to prioritize, based on my input.

Re: Switching from Chrome to Firefox

#134

Post by Semaphor » Tue, Aug 22, 2023, 4:12 PM UTC

AnonC wrote: post #122

mariusor wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try this extension: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-CA/firefox/addon/profile-switc...

Not GP, but this extension seems to only allow switching profiles. Is there something that allows opening a new window using a different profile? People who use Chrome with multiple profiles may have multiple windows open at the same time, with some windows using (or possibly) sharing profiles.

No sharing, but I can easily open different profiles in a new window in about:profiles (I rarely use profiles, preferring containers, so I don’t care about other ways to open/switch profiles)

Re: Switching from Chrome to Firefox

#135

Post by asciimov » Tue, Aug 22, 2023, 4:13 PM UTC

folkrav wrote: post #116

asciimov wrote: post #98

My Profiles tips: 1. You can have multiple profile sessions running at the same time. 2. It is best to theme your alt profiles with a different color so you don't confuse them. For example, green one is for one profile and the red one another. 3. "firefox -p 'profile-name'" launches directly into a profile 4. "firefox -p 'profile-name' -private-window" launches a profile in a private window 5. I use keybindings on li…

I use Mozilla's Container Tabs extension for most of this. Unless you specifically want to keep settings/extensions/etc in specific, separate profiles, they're a good in-between solution. In my case, having a single FF instance is desirable as I would juggle between too many profiles which would need similar extensions for completely switching profiles and windows to be a good experience.

I use container tabs in my main profile as well, as like you, I'd have too many profiles if I didn't.

My profile use is about big concerns and work modes. For example my work profile has some developer plugins, separate password managers, bookmarks, and snippets. Doing so keeps everything nice and removed from my home life.

Re: Switching from Chrome to Firefox

#136

Post by sameerds » Tue, Aug 22, 2023, 4:15 PM UTC

thesuitonym wrote: post #81

prmoustache wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people don't use chrome profiles either, this is definitely a power user functionnality.

I'm not entirely certain this is true. Maybe at one point it was, but nowadays since signing into any Google site signs you into Chrome, a lot of folks have their work and personal email addresses as profiles in Chrome.

So the real problem is that Google forces you to sign in to your browser with your Google account?

Re: Switching from Chrome to Firefox

#137

Post by jwells89 » Tue, Aug 22, 2023, 4:16 PM UTC

I have a considerable number of tweaks I apply to my Firefox installs, too and the process is a little cumbersome.

I wonder if it would be a reasonable task to set up an “opinionated” fork of Firefox with all the changes being UI/UX-related and keep it up to date with mainline… that would make fresh installs more effortless and allow improvements that aren’t practical with regular Firefox.

Re: Switching from Chrome to Firefox

#138

Post by asciimov » Tue, Aug 22, 2023, 4:21 PM UTC

AnonC wrote: post #122

mariusor wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try this extension: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-CA/firefox/addon/profile-switc...

Not GP, but this extension seems to only allow switching profiles. Is there something that allows opening a new window using a different profile? People who use Chrome with multiple profiles may have multiple windows open at the same time, with some windows using (or possibly) sharing profiles.

You can directly launch a firefox profile with "firefox -p 'profile-name'"

This will create a separate firefox instance running with that profile. It's not as nice as having a button in firefox to accomplish this, but if you use different shortcuts or keyboard commands to launch things it works quite well.

Re: Switching from Chrome to Firefox

#139

Post by cvladan » Tue, Aug 22, 2023, 4:22 PM UTC

davidhaymond wrote: post #65

neals wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair enough. I just started the latest version and must say, it has really improved. Quality of life probably means I have to look a bit more for where stuff is. And hey, they might have some stuff that Chrome doesn't have, right? So my first one is 'Chrome devtools has a little button to instantly switch to mobile view, where you simulate (more or less) the viewport of various mobile devices'. I don't see this in Fi…

It's called Responsive Design Mode, and it's the third button from the the right on the top bar. Even better, use the shortcut Ctrl-Shift-M, which works even when devtools is closed.

Chrome is inferior here in this area.

Because you can activate mobile view in Firefox WITHOUT devtools opened, but in Chrome that's impossible.

Lot of times I hated this at Chrome.

Also, that shortcut in Firefox will immediately give you mobile view, and in Chrome not as you first need to type shortcut for Devtools.

Re: Switching from Chrome to Firefox

#140

Post by Dwedit » Tue, Aug 22, 2023, 4:25 PM UTC

boredhedgehog wrote: post #133

matsemann wrote: post #4

I feel this article almost do more harm than good. It paints a picture that you need to "sacrifice" something to use Fx and lists various "problems". For instance it mentions how troublesome it is to use profiles as a "problem". Don't. Use containers. Hundred times more smooth than profiles. Hence why no one cares about making profiles in Fx better, there is already a better solution to the problem profiles solve. Ne…

> Or how the address bar ("awesome bar") in Firefox is so much greater than Chrome's in finding stuff (probably because Google wants you to do a google search, not find stuff from your own history or bookmarks). What exactly does Firefox do differently? I find that the Chrome bar learns very quickly which results to prioritize, based on my input.

Chrome's bar is restricted to word boundaries, while Firefox's is not.

You can type three characters from the middle of a word, and Firefox will match it, while Chrome will not.