I actually rather like the updated UI.
As usual, I would guess the loudest people commenting on it will be the ones who don’t like it, rather than the ones who do like it or don’t care.
Two more things I don’t like are the context-sensitive disappearing forward button, and the reload button that’s on the other freaking side from the back button.
I feel the need to nitpick here:
Android does not natively have any “crapware” (unless you think the default apps like GMail and Chrome are “crapware.” But those are capable of being uninstalled.)
All of the crap you’re likely referring to is installed by manufacturers (like Samsung or LG,) and carriers (like Verizon and AT&T.)
And it’s worth noting that in recent version of Android, Google has done a lot to force manufacturers to allow users to remove unwanted apps.
In addition, it’s possible to get several phones that are “pure Android” and have none of this bloatware. Either a nexus phone, one of a couple Motorola versions (X and G,) or the Google Play Edition versions of flagship phones (like the S5, HTC One, etc…)
This likely is the best solution to fixing Firefox 29. It ain’t perfect, and I’ll stay with 24ESR (See Post 13) as long as possible.
How to Change the New Firefox using extensions.
At the bottom of the page:
I doubt it.
Like what?
The fact that there’s “only” two versions to go makes me think I might just grin and bear it until then, and then perhaps investigate the ESR.
Apparently the Profile folder sometimes screws up when people try to revert to older versions. There are posters at the Mozillazine BB site I’ve read over the years who report it happening.
It may have something to do with the random alpha-numeric code assigned the folder full of files within the Profile folder. I think the alpha-numeric code may be set up to reject reversions.
When I reverted previous versions, I quit Firefox, dragged the Profiles folder onto the desktop, started Firefox and let the application create a new folder. Then I quit Firefox again, opened the new alpha-numeric folder, trashed all the files and moved them from the old folder on the desktop to the new one. That worked.
What didn’t work was simply changing the alpha-numeric’s folder name to the old one’s. Maybe because the old name clashed with the new name in the cache folder and anywhere else they might exist.
But I know nothing about Windows or Linux, so that trick might not work with those platforms.
That site, by the way, isn’t Mozilla’s. It’s run by volunteers.
The people who don’t care shouldn’t matter, since they’d be just as happy if it didn’t change. The only people who matter are the people who like it versus the people who don’t.
I also seriously doubt that anyone who likes it actually realizes what’s been removed. Is there anyone out there who actually thinks “That bottom toolbar sucked! I’m so glad I can’t have one anymore, and all my icons are shoved up into the navigation toolbar.” Or “It was just too easy to create a new toolbar. I’m so glad I can’t do that anymore.” Or even “I’m so glad my tabs are stuck on top now, and I can’t go back to the old standard Windows application interface.”
About the only thing they removed that people seem to actually be positive about is the ability to move the address bar, since apparently some people would do that by accident and have no idea how to fix it.
It’s really shouldn’t be just a contest between who likes the new UI, when it’s not really just a UI change. It’s fundamental shift in how Mozilla expects people to use the browser. They want to lock down a default way of doing things and require addons for even the slightest changes.
The UI doesn’t just look like Chrome. Their way of doing things is more like Chrome. And the reason is that they want to try to get Chrome users back. What will people who dislike it do? Move to Chrome, which does it worse? Go back to Internet Explorer, which does the same thing? It’s entirely marketing.
What does that mean? I haven’t noticed any differences in the adverts I see with FF29. (I tried Googling “Firefox 29 advertising panels” - well, actually, under the circumstances, I used StartPage - and this thread was the first hit. The other hits did not seem helpful.)
The “team” is putting the user first by “embracing” the best thing since the Big Bang — ads. They’re so excited about it all.
The flack who wrote that dreck drowned in his own treacle.
How do ads relate to Firefox 29? I use AdBlock and never see ads while using the browser…
From the link:
Tabs haven’t always been on top for Firefox? I switched to Chrome a couple years ago, but I always remember tabs being on top for Firefox when I used it. Same with Opera. Tabs on the bottom seems weird to me, so maybe it was something I changed myself.
OK, what are Directory Tiles, and where would I see them in Firefox 29? I use FF all the time, but for time reason none of this makes any sense to me!
They’re the tiles that come up when you open a new window or tab.
The reason you haven’t seen any ad content is because they’re full of previously visited sites; as the link says, the “ads” would only appear when those tiles are pretty much empty.
29 is annoying me to no end. I installed the classic theme add-on, but it doesn’t give me what I really want, which is a refresh button! It adds a refresh button icon, but it doesn’t WORK! No, the one all the way over in the middle of my screen at the right of the address bar is a pain in the ass to find and click.
Not all web sites are written in HTML5. This is a typical example of programmer blindness - THEY would write a web site in HTML5 so they ignore all the forums written in PHP.
If I want to see new stuff on the Dope, I have to refresh. So when I read the Dope, I’m hitting the refresh button. No, I don’t want to hit F5, I want to click the mouse.
And if I wanted to use fucking Chrome, I’d use fucking Chrome! I don’t like Chrome’s interface, so I don’t use Chrome. Again, this is programmers who want everyone to use keyboard commands for everything thinking everyone should think as they think and do as they do.
ETA: The Unmerge link in the OP worked.
Personally, I’m using more keyboard commands with my browsing (refreshing, shutting tabs and windows, etc). I usually don’t touch buttons for that stuff — I find it easier, myself, especially now that my trackpad has suddenly had a few difficulties with responding to taps. (Hopefully, that’s not due to the long overdue cleaning I gave this thing.)
Um, OK. I agree that that is horrible, hypocritical, business-speak glurge, that goes against everything that I thought Mozilla (as a non-profit, volunteer sustained organization) was supposed to stand for. The arrogance on display there, and the hypocritical pretense that by giving corporate what they want, and by removing options, they are being “user-centric”, reminds me of the arrogance I encountered from the Mozilla spokesman in the discussions over the loss of the escape key functionality (see my post in the parallel thread). If this is the way they are going, I should think coders will be leaving in droves.
However, I still do not know what they are talking about. I see no such panels, filled with advertising or otherwise, when I open Firefox, or when I open a new tab. I didn’t see it before I upgraded to 29, and I don’t see it now. (I see something like it in Chrome, where I regard it as one minor annoyance amongst many, but one of the least significant of them.)
Perhaps I do not see this in Firefox because of some setting I tweaked in an earlier version, so long ago that I have quite forgotten about it, but in this case (unlike with the tab position, for instance) at least 29 has not taken it upon itself to override my setting or to deny me the option.
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For those who still do not get it about the tab position: yes, tabs on top, like Chrome, has been the default option in Firefox for some time now. However, up until version 29, it has been very easy to change that option, with just a couple of clicks, and a lot of us took advantage of that easy customizability. Indeed, the customizability of Firefox (in many respects, not just this one) has for quite some time been its main advantage over Chrome. It has not altogether gone away: you can still, for instance, bring the tab bar back below the toolbar by downloading, and setting options in, an extension (provided you know about the extension and can find it, of course - thanks Big T), but this is a much more complex process, it leaves you at the mercy of volunteer extension writers, and, given the way that FF upgrades regularly break extensions, it is likely to be unreliable, and the source of more hassles in the future.
That said, after downloading a couple of extensions, after good advice from BigT in the other thread, and after a good deal of futzing with the settings in those extensions, I now have the UI for 29 pretty much how I like it. My one remaining significant problem is the lack of a throbber on the toolbar. I find the little one on the individual tabs quite inadequate. Does anyone know how I can get my proper throbber back? <Kenneth Williams>Oooh, no, you can’t say that 'ere!</Kenneth Williams>
Bumping this to report what happened to me: I have updates turned off on my Firefox 28 (Advanced, Update, Never check for updates). Sometime over the weekend Firefox updated itself to 29.0.1, despite this setting. To add insult, the setting of “Never check for updates” is retained.
Bastards.
Crap. Like Google, Firefox isn’t ol’ reliable any more.
That setting has always been far from trustworthy. I have “Never check for updates” turned on, as well, but way back when Firefox was still Netscape, I also changed or added code to prevent updates, through the about:config coding.
Years ago, though, I created a file called user.js that avoids the about:config mess (explained in the last paragraph).
user.js (no capital letters) is a plain text file a user drops into Firefox’s alpha-numeric folder whose name ends with .default and is inside Firefox’s Profiles folder.
I call that folder the slush pile, for short.
Quit Firefox after making sure “Never check for updates” is, indeed, checked. Don’t just close all windows. Quit the program.
Create a plain text file, call it user.js and copy and paste the following three lines of code into it.
user_pref(“app.update.auto”, false);
user_pref(“app.update.autoUpdateEnabled”, false);
user_pref(“app.update.enabled”, false);
Firefox will never update itself again. My umpteen generations of Firefox never have.
A user.js file changes the code in the built-in prefs.js file (also in the slush-pile folder), which, in turn, changes the code in about:config.
You can open the built-in prefs.js file with a text reader (or a browser). Simply opening and reading it will not change it.
user.js-file changes are easier to keep track of, rather than remembering them separately after making the changes in about:config, especially if you have a ton of others, as I do.
Again, user.js must be a plain-text file.
If you are unfamiliar with about:config and wish to see it, type about:config in the URL strip and hit the return key, then click on “I’ll be careful.” You’ll see the coding commands that make Firefox/the ancient Netscape/SeaMonkey/Thunderbird work.
You can’t damage it by simply looking.