So Firefox 29 changes the UI in a lot of ways that in my opinion, sucks. The tabs are on top, the (useful) add-on bar is gone, the new buttons are frigging small and weird. I think they are trying to be more like Chrome, which I don’t really like either.
I notice some changes in appearance but, frankly, it makes no difference to me. I’m not bothered by the changes, apparently I’ve managed to adapt to the changes within 24 hours, and I guess I’m just not experiencing the same level of distress as others.
That said - thanks for the links on how to restore to a prior version of UI. I have had times when “improvements” weren’t and I’ve always appreciated people trying to help others deal with the changes. I agree, too often change is just for the sake of change and it’s annoying at best.
Is “mandatory” really the best term if the changes can be easily undone? It seems closer to a new default look, plus shifting some types of UI customizations from a check-box within Firefox to an add-on.
I think that’s been part of Firefox’s approach from the beginning: Have robust support for add-ons, so they can make all kinds of changes, and then use that to simplify the base product, to make it easier both to develop and to use. So if something can be done as an add-on, it should be (with some exceptions for very widely desired options, or stuff that just can’t be done with an add-on).
The opt-out options you asked for are the very add-ons you mentioned.
Interesting. I’m with Broomstick. My work computer got updated and it’s fine. I guess I don’t customize much or whatever changed so drastically for people. I’m waiting for my home one to update, just to see if the couple of custom changes I made stick or if they will be in that hamburger menu. It’s fine if they change to that, it’s not much different.
“Easily” is not really the right description. People had to write all these add-ons, or adapt the ones already out there. Then we have to find them, apply them, adjust the options in each of them, hope none of them clash or contradict each other, and then wait until Firefox decides to restore half those options after an outcry, which would mean even more readjustment.
It can be done, partially, and with struggle and wrenching and familiarity with what’s possible, but it’s not “easy.”
I had everything where I wanted them, where I know them, and that was after lots of swapping in and out and around of various buttons and menu bars, and I have it skinned so that it’s not default Windows colours. If I was one of those who do not do those things and use Firefox out-of-the-box, then the new UI probably wouldn’t bother me too much, but I take advantage of the infinitely adjustable Firefox, so it sucks when the infinity gets reduced down to not just finite but almost none without hitting it with a hammer.
I use a vertical taskbar and a vertical tab tree, both located on the right, and find the status/addon bar useful for a few different other mods. The new UI doesn’t work as efficiently with my other customizations. Classic Theme restorer corrects all that.
The changes I disliked the most were putting the page titles into the tabs instead of having a proper title bar, and lack of File, Edit, etc. pulldown menus. Luckily both can be fixed by right-clicking on the Home button and picking Customize. At the bottom is a button for Title Bar and under Show/Hide Toolbars you can turn on the menu bar.
It hasn’t been changed for change’s sake. Google bankrolls Mozilla, which is also why the Firefox GUI has turned into a rebranded Chrome (and now, like Chrome, changes its version numbers faster than the odometer in the International Space Station).
I reverted to Firefox 24 ESR, the extended-service release meant for institutions/companies that don’t want to do major updates to a zillion machines every time Mozilla scratches its bum. Security and other fixes are kept up to date on ESR versions. It was bumped to 24.5 from 24.4 when 29 was released.
Apparently, 24 ESR will be kept up to date until Version 29 becomes Version 31, at which point 31 will be the ESR version.
Firefox 29 fixed a bunch of security issues. Four of them were deemed “critical”, meaning “Vulnerability can be used to run attacker code and install software, requiring no user interaction beyond normal browsing.”
Since Firefox is open-source, it’s particularly easy for hackers to see exactly what was changed to fix each bug, and how they might exploit unupdated copies to take over those computers.
I don’t understand this. Given that they have Chrome, and seem anxious to to push it, why is it in Google’s interest to keep Firefox alive, and (assuming there is some sensible answer to that) why would they want it to look and feel more rather than less similar to their own browser?
I went to double check again that 29 hadn’t been installed on my system yet, and going to the version screen starts the update process. Fortunately many years of watching porn has given me lightning reflexes to kill a browser session.
Google owns Mozilla in everything but name. It’s forcing Firefox to look more like Chrome with every iteration so that if it pulls the financial plug on Mozilla, users by the tens or hundreds of thousands would migrate to Chrome because there will be little or nothing to relearn.
Firefox 29 has advertising “panels.” Firefox running advertising was once a Mozilla heresy, the equivalent of PBS or NPR running 17 minutes of commercials every half hour, or the crapware that cannot be removed on Android devices. Google’s raison d’être is advertising, nothing else. Now, whether it pulls its Firefox funding or not, it can more easily track Firefox users who dislike Google and won’t use Chrome.
There are only four widely used browsers: Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome and Firefox. The others fill the “Other” space in pie charts.
Bankrolling Firefox is a good defence against any monopoly or misuse-of-monopoly allegations that may arise, much as Microsoft could point to infusing millions into Apple, back when MS was battling the U.S. government over the misuse of its monopoly.
But unlike Apple, which remains distinct, Firefox’s increasing resemblance to Chrome will give it a distinction without a difference — Chevrolet/Pontiac, Oldsmobile/Buick, Dodge/Plymouth differences. Smoke-and-mirrors rebadging.
With each iteration of Firefox more controls are removed in the name of “simplicity,” now even newer than new and brighter than bright advertising. And with Firefox 29.0, some changes cannot be made even with its “about:config” files accessed through the URL strip and its Chrome files (not be confused with the name stolen by Google for its tracker . . . er, browser).
There is every chance you are correct Kenm. Bother.
If so, we will have to rely on the enthusiasm and resourcefulness of the denizens of the net. All of the geeks out there who embrace open source and take joy from developing new browsers away from the mainstream.
I love FF and only hope it survives with all its myriad extensions.
