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Reasons to ditch Chrome and use Firefox

pcworld.com

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Re: Reasons to ditch Chrome and use Firefox

#151

Post by elcapitan »

I've been using FF as my main browser again since (I think) Quantum, and kept it at version 91 to avoid the constant breaking UI changes. Performance since Quantum is generally good, but for more intense things like video or apps I am going back to Chrome now. FF keeps my CPU 20C higher than Chrome for some simple Youtube videos, which is just ridiculous (Macbook 12, 2017).

For daily non-performance relevant use, I still like the Container feature a lot though, doesn't look like Chrome will get it anytime soon.

Re: Reasons to ditch Chrome and use Firefox

#152

Post by piaste »

guerrilla wrote: post #120
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if the entire HN community would switch to Firefox, it would still be a drop in the ocean to curbing Chrome's market share. Also Firefox hasn't been doing itself any favors by alienating both the average Joe consumers and the professional devs over the years.

No it wouldn't, that's just pessimism. The entire HN community switching would have massive second-order effects. People would see experts (us) using it, we'd promote it and install it for people, we'd speak positively about it, we'd develop with it, etc. (I won't write the whole list.)

> People would see experts (us) using it, we'd promote it and install it for people, we'd speak positively about it, we'd develop with it, etc. (I won't write the whole list.)

I wasn't super paying attention at the time, but wasn't that basically how Firefox initially established itself at the expense of Internet Explorer?

Re: Reasons to ditch Chrome and use Firefox

#153

Post by adhesive_wombat »

Synaesthesia wrote: post #15
amanzi wrote: post #10

I'm still using Firefox as my primary browser on desktop and mobile. I have minor complaints, but nothing to make me consider switching to something else.

It's really nice on Android to have extensions like YouTube background player and uBlock origin.

I use Vanced for YouTube, but I cannot imagine barebacking the modern web without an ad blocker.

Re: Reasons to ditch Chrome and use Firefox

#155

Post by dbg31415 »

Firefox is my default browser.

That said... I now use Chrome for all video calls. Firefox just isn't battery efficient for those. Blame Google, blame Zoom, blame whoever. On EVERY service I've tested (check my post history, complained about this to nauseam)... I can call one browser from the other, and no matter what Firefox on Mac uses at minimum 50% more power according to Apple's power use tool.

Also, any time I take or receive a streaming call on Firefox, my MBP gets very hot. Much hotter than Chrome. Wish someone at Mozilla would take battery usage / CPU usage on Mac more seriously. It's been a problem for years.

Re: Reasons to ditch Chrome and use Firefox

#156

Post by andrepd »

was_a_dev wrote: post #144
andrepd wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any YouTube I watch on android I watch on NewPipe. It's amazing.

I've always stuggled with NewPipe, not because of NewPipe itself, but because YouTube and it's algorthim. People act as if the algorthim is some sort of evil entity, but my viewing habbits follow recommended videos and content aware search. I find sticking to subscriptions and trending videos to be very trapping.

Funny, for me it's the opposite. I'm very glad to have only default un-personalised suggestions, plus my hand-curated subscriptions.

No more watching one chess video and being bombarded with chess content for a month, or watching one harmless satirical video about a politician and being bombarded with videos from the local right-populist party propaganda channel (yes, this has happened to me exactly as described).

Re: Reasons to ditch Chrome and use Firefox

#157

Post by sidjor »

My reasons for switching to Firefox were IT related. IT security divisions in some orgs are so paranoid that they won’t allow saving form data or passwords. Or even let sessions persist and will make work hell. They do this for corp standard browser - Google Chrome it is. Firefox saves the day.

Re: Reasons to ditch Chrome and use Firefox

#158

Post by richardw »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #117
prox wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope you become a full time user, lets curb the direction Google wants to go in.

Even if the entire HN community would switch to Firefox, it would still be a drop in the ocean to curbing Chrome's market share. Also Firefox hasn't been doing itself any favors by alienating both the average Joe consumers and the professional devs over the years.

HN community represents a very attractive economic segment. If we switched, advertisers and web designers would pay attention. Firefox would instantly be getting paid for our searches by Google.

Re: Reasons to ditch Chrome and use Firefox

#159

Post by beebeepka »

shadowgovt wrote: post #145
zelphirkalt wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google sites have long been suspected to do things intentionally in a way that is only optimizing for Chrom(e/ium), maybe even intentionally slow on other browsers, which is mostly Firefox. No surprise there at all. However I do not see this stuff about JS init to take that long on amazon. It might be a special thing in your case. Did you try things like a new profile, to test, whether it still happens?

It's not so much "intentionally broken on Firefox" as it is "between adding features and debugging Firefox performance issues, one gets you promoted and one doesn't." Because the former benefits all users and the latter benefits about 5% of users at most. The banal evil of neglect vs. intentional maliciousness.

That may be a small part of the truth but even a 12 year old me wouldn't believe such a fairy tale to be the whole reason.

MS also used to optimize DOS in ways that clearly hurt their competitors. We've seen Intel aggressively optimize their compiler to slow down AMD... I am sure people have been "optimizing" in such ways for as long as there have been people.

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