Switch from Chrome to Firefox • Hacker News Board

Re: Switch from Chrome to Firefox

#971

Post by horsawlarway » Fri, May 31, 2019, 4:56 PM UTC

opencl wrote: post #808

ColanR wrote: post #795

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How close do you think webrender is to landing in stable? I've not heard much about it before.

Hard to say. It's actually already in stable but currently limited to a very specific set of OS/hardware combinations and they're working on gradually adding more. FF67 enabled it in stable for desktop NVIDIA hardware on Windows. AMD and Intel GPUs on Windows and Linux are currently enabled in the nightly channel, presumably MacOS is next on the list once those are stable. Webrender is mostly done and at the stage wh…

Yeah, I went and installed Firefox on my home machine after this landed in 67 since I have the right hardware and...

It's SO much fucking better.

Lots of folks on here claiming that Firefox has been just as good as chrome in terms of performance for years, and frankly that's an utter load of BS.

On top tier hardware (and honestly - most hardware in general) chrome was always blindingly fast, and Firefox just wasn't. It was perceptibly slower at just about everything.

It was just annoying enough that I'd always switch back to chrome for personal use.

Not anymore. This last week is the first time I can remember that I honestly can't tell the difference in speed. If anything, Firefox may actually be legitimately beating chrome in terms of speed.

It's been a pleasant breath of fresh air. Google may lose me as a chrome user (personal use at least), which is something I just couldn't have imagined a year ago.

Re: Switch from Chrome to Firefox

#972

Post by Stormwalker » Fri, May 31, 2019, 5:03 PM UTC

_opc6 wrote: post #667

dror wrote: post #636

It is so clear to me that we need to support and promote mozilla and Firefox. They're not perfect, but they, wikipedia, eff, archive.org (who else?) are such an important part of the Internet guardianship in the face of the monopolies, that it's our duty to support them. Doesn't hurt that Firefox is actually a great product.

I would switch today if Mozilla added tab completed search in the address bar that Chrome pioneered. It's very intuitive and difficult to give up.

You're good to go! Just enable it in settings!

Re: Switch from Chrome to Firefox

#973

Post by dhritzkiv » Fri, May 31, 2019, 5:16 PM UTC

sorum wrote: post #540

dhritzkiv wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. On macOS, Safari is fastest, hands down. All while preserving battery life better than Chrome, and even Firefox. PiP, swipe to peak navigation, pinch to zoom, better 1Password integration, Apple Pay, etc. are all more than just nice to have features. However, my biggest gripe about Safari has to be the developer tools. They're noticeably slower, clunkier, and the network tab is unpredictable at times. I think…

> better 1Password integration Am I using it wrong in Safari? Because to me the Chrome integration with 1Password X extension is by far the easiest, you get the dropdown right there in the field. In Safari, I have to click the 1Password extension button next to the address field and then select Autofill.

No, that's right. It doesn't pop up next to input fields like it does on Chrome; I have to click the menu icon, or right-click > 1Password, or use a keyboard shortcut. I haven't found it a nuisance however.

The one thing about 1Password X is it doesn't integrate with the installed 1Password app on your system, which means no TouchID, for one.

Re: Switch from Chrome to Firefox

#974

Post by PascLeRasc » Fri, May 31, 2019, 5:38 PM UTC

asadotzler wrote: post #498

PascLeRasc wrote: post #442

I really want to switch to Firefox. I don't need it to be better-performing than Chrome on my work PC or Safari on my home machine - I want to support free software. But Firefox's text just looks bad, like really bad. On both a retina Mac screen and 24" 1080p monitors on Windows at work, the fonts look pixelated and blurry, like there's something around the edges of the characters. Contrast seems off too, much lower…

Can you share some screenshots? IMO, text looks somewhat better in Firefox than in other browsers.

Here's an example: https://imgur.com/a/fWRwTf7

Chrome is on the left, Firefox is on the right. In my opinion, Firefox's text looks terrible.

Re: Switch from Chrome to Firefox

#975

Post by techntoke » Fri, May 31, 2019, 5:43 PM UTC

truth_seeker wrote: post #882

techntoke wrote: post #736

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brave is based on Chromium.

So what ? It gives me optimum performance Desktop and Mobile. On my Mac its upto 2 times faster and in my android phone it's upto 4 times faster.

Using Brave will provide no benefit regarding the extension changes you are mentioning, unless Brave forks and stays on an older version of Chromium. Where are you seeing speed enhancements? When it comes to loading pages, or in task manager?

Re: Switch from Chrome to Firefox

#976

Post by rc_kas » Fri, May 31, 2019, 6:09 PM UTC

techntoke wrote: post #739

rc_kas wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was a major upgrade to Firefox. Most extensions have since done the fixes needed to handle the upgrade.

No, Firefox forgot to renew their certificates and it broke all extensions.

Oh yeah, that was a separate instance. I did forget about that.

Re: Switch from Chrome to Firefox

#977

Post by rc_kas » Fri, May 31, 2019, 6:11 PM UTC

unsignedint wrote: post #428

mtgx wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He was asking for the reverse -- what does Chrome offer extra?

Oops ;-) Well... I have that one, too... Chromecast.

I use the apple Screen Sharing

Re: Switch from Chrome to Firefox

#978

Post by papito » Fri, May 31, 2019, 6:13 PM UTC

Why? After trying Opera many times in the past, now that it's using Chromium and supports the plugins, I am now a die-hard fan.

Re: Switch from Chrome to Firefox

#979

Post by iggldiggl » Fri, May 31, 2019, 6:49 PM UTC

nine_k wrote: post #720

ChikkaChiChi wrote: post #688

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct. Firefox's profiles are not the same as Chromium. What benefit do the Firefox containers have that Chromium profiles are missing?

Mostly, you can't have different profiles in the tabs of the same window in Chrome, and you can have different containers in the tabs of the same window in Firefox. E.g. you can run your email tab in the default container, and a bank app in a separate "money" container next to it. Or you can run one gmail (or outlook, etc) account in one tab, and an another gmail (or outlook, etc) account in another tab next to it.

Also if you only want to separate (log-in) cookies, local storage and that kind of things for certain sites, but don't want separate history, bookmarks, settings, add-ons, etc., which is what you'd also get if using completely separate profiles.

Re: Switch from Chrome to Firefox

#980

Post by nostalgk » Fri, May 31, 2019, 7:27 PM UTC

jrochkind1 wrote: post #686

nostalgk wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mozilla uses Google Widevine as well, I believe. The path forward is to license Widevine from Google, and they've already shut down other FOSS projects by refusing to give them licenses.

Wait, Mozilla has a license to a Google product to display video... that they won't give to any other OSS projects? Like, if you forked FF, you wouldn't be able to display video either ? That is EVIL. It means effectively there will never be another open source browser that can be display commercial-popular video, Firefox is IT, they have an open source monopoly? Oh geez.

Well, from what I understand, Google insists on any project that uses that solution license it. If Firefox were to trickle this down, they could get their license revoked. The onus is on Google to stop being asshats.