Firefox 8 is the final straw.
Hi, I just want to say, I'm done. For the past several years, I've put up with one detrimental change after another from the Firefox design team without any noticeable improvements. Firefox is more bloated than ever and extensions still require Firefox to be restarted. These two changes people have actually clamored for for years. Instead we get UI redesigns that do not enhance an already functional browser.
There are very few things that I actually want from a browser.
1. '/' to search within page 2. drag tabs to create bookmarks 3. extensions that are not broken every six weeks by browser updates
Up until about year ago, that's what Firefox gave me. Now the only one left is number 1. I refuse to switch to Chrome, because it does not support '/' to search. And at the rate Firefox is changing to be more like Chrome, I expect it to be gone in 6 months.
Firefox 8 does away with number 2, so I'm done with Firefox. It's been a good run. I've loyally supported Firefox since 2004. I've promoted it to family and friends and convinced people to convert. Other than Microsoft Word, there is no computer program I have used longer. I hate to change now, but I just can't put up with it any more.
It feels like the designers suffer from the same arrogance lots of businesses display. I feel like the Firefox designers care more about the customers they are trying to get than the customers they already have.
Firefox 8 gave me the impetus to see what other browsers fit my needs. Opera 11 does that, so I am switching. I just wanted you to know why you have driven one loyal user away.
All Replies (9)
In my Firefox 8 installation:
- "/" opens the Find Bar at the bottom of the window for about 4-5 seconds, then closes if there is no input from the user
- with CTRL+drag-tab, I can drag a tab and create a new Bookmark, by dragging it to
- the Bookmarks drop down icon (on the Bookmarks Toolbar; see image below), or
- the Bookmarks Sidebar (CTRL+B to open or close the Bookmarks Sidebar)
- Extension updates are the responsibility of the developer.
- Extensions have a hard-coded line in them to indicate the Firefox versions with which it is compatible and only the developer can change that.
- Developers have 6 weeks during the beta testing period before a new Firefox version release to test and update the extensions that they install into Firefox.
- If the product is one for which you have paid, you and other users need to scream very loudly at them, or find another company that cares about keeping their paid users happy.
- Some third-party extension developers are attempting to find a way to correct the update situation with Firefox.
- You can try installing Add-on Compatibility Reporter to try to force compatibility.
- Add-on Compatibility Reporter: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/add-on-compatibility-reporter/?src=search
- Would you supply the names of the incompatible Add-ons so that someone here can do some reasearch?
If items #1 and #2 are not working in your installation, it could be a conflict with a Add-on that you have installed:
- See --> Troubleshooting extensions and themes
- See --> Troubleshooting plugins
- See --> Basic Troubleshooting
If this reply solves your problem, please click "Solved It" next to this reply when signed-in to the forum.
Not related to your question, but...
You may need to update some plug-ins. Check your plug-ins and update as necessary:
- Plug-in check: https://www-trunk.stage.mozilla.com/en-US/plugincheck/
- Adobe Shockwave for Director Netscape plug-in: Installing (or Updating) the Shockwave plugin with Firefox
- Adobe PDF Plug-In For Firefox and Netscape: Installing/Updating Adobe Reader in Firefox
- Shockwave Flash (Adobe Flash or Flash): Updating Flash in Firefox
- Next Generation Java Plug-in for Mozilla browsers: Installing or Updating Java in Firefox
Modified by SafeBrowser
Thank you for your response, but none of those suggestions solve my problem.
- Typing '/' to search in page works fine (all though I do worry that it will be removed since Chrome does not support that feature).
- Pressing Ctrl before I drag a tab is not a solution. It is a work-around. I appreciate the suggestion. A solution would be a setting that enables dragging tabs to bookmarks. If that setting also disables the new tab tear-off animation, that would be fine.
An even better solution would be for the developers to not break functionality in an effort to look pretty. Tab tear-off worked fine before without an animation. The animation does not improve the functionality of tab tear-off, but it does break the functionality of dragging tabs to create bookmarks.
- I agree that developers are responsible for their extensions, but that does not absolve the Firefox developers from their culpability in changing the major revision schedule. It very much appears that the new numbering schedule was implemented because Firefox appeared to be "behind" Chrome. Now there is talk that Firefox updates will hide the version number or in some other way try to fly under the radar. Why? Is it because a year from now we will have Firefox 16? In 2 years we will have Firefox 25. Dropping Firefox 25 two and half years after Firefox 4 seems ridiculous, so I'm not really surprised that the developers might wish to downplay the version number.
New version numbers no longer represent major changes to Firefox, so they are essentially cosmetic. Animations are also cosmetic changes. Cosmetic changes do not make the product inherently better. Breaking existing functionality makes the product worse. Breaking existing functionality to implement cosmetic changes is poor design philosophy.
Thank you again for your response. I regret that the Firefox developers have changed their design philosophy in a effort to mimic Google Chrome. For the past 7 years Firefox has grown to a very impressive 25% market share by being different and better than Internet Explorer, despite Windows integration and Microsoft marketing. That growth will not continue if developers no longer wish to be different and better.
You can still drag the icon at the left end of the URL into your Bookmarks Toolbar, position it, and drag it into subfolders. Not much difference, IMO.
I agree with you that breaking functionality for cosmetic reasons is bad.
Joy, I appreciate your suggestion of dragging the favicon rather than the tab. The difference between dragging the tab and the favicon is the relative size. A tab is usually much wider than the favicon, which makes it easier to click on. This can be especially true for people with certain disabilities.
I have used Mozilla since Netscape version 2.0. Now it looks like it's trying to be chrome, msie, or some other browser. What kind of response is, the old status bar is dead, long live the new status bar, when someone asks how to get the FUNCTIONALITY BACK? It's a response I'd expect from Microsleeze!
cosmetics for functionality is a trade like freedom for safety. I'd much rather take the risks that go with being free. I like to open and close things when I want, not when your programme decides. I'd like to see things at a glance. I'd like things to work BETTER, not have the functions stripped to mimic someone else's product. How long since version four FLOPPED? And now you're up to EIGHT? Why? Can't break things fast enough?
I find it HELPFUL to glance down at the bottom of my screen to see how much longer I have to wait, like the OLD status bar allowed. I DO NOT want to squander system resources by opening up a separate window! I CLOSE the download window until I NEED to reattempt a download, or to cancel a download in progress.
Your WONDER BARS leave me wondering where your common sense went.
You've systematically stripped the functionality with each new update. Why is Google Chrome, a browser so devoid of anything worth while so popular? You're messing up! That's why.
Mozilla was something I touted proudly to all who would listen. I bragged that it was what was included with Linux, a SMART operating SYSTEM, as opposed to an operating environment. With the advent of FireFox 4, I've been FORCED to acknowledge Firefox is fast becoming GARBAGE, as witnessed by the flippant responses to the pleas for help.
It's time to find a browser that delivers, rather than suffering with garbage. I abandoned Microsleeze when they started stepping on the little guy. Your response to the person who wanted their old status bar functionality back shows me your attitudes are very much the same. Open source? Maybe. However, you have been VERY closed-minded and abusive to your users who have been very faithful for ages.
I fear it's time to say goodbye to what was once looked upon as a very dear friend.
With much disappointment and despair,
Wendy
Modified by Wendy-J
Well, I suspect part of the problem is that, as a 'non-profit', Mozilla is funded by companies like Google and Microsoft, rather than sales. These companies are Mozilla's real customers, and they don't care how usable Firefox actually is. Mozilla's focus is on keeping them happy, and if that pi$$es off actual users, so be it.
Add in the goof balls up in the Ivory Tower who keep chasing unicorns and rainbows, and the result is blunders like Places and that appalling AwuSomeBar.
Regarding the Find bar, I've always used Ctrl+F. I wasn't aware of the "/" option. Ctrl+F happens to work nicely for me because I use it a lot in Word and Adobe Reader I have arthritis in my hands, so I use a lot of standard shortcuts that work in many programs. (People often don't realize how much wear and tear the mouse buttons can have on the finger joints, for those who the mouse keys a lot).
However, if the "/" searching feature was in previous Firefox versions, I can't see why they couldn't have just left it in the new version. Maybe there's some technical reason why they did this? But so far I haven't seen any good suggestions as to why they dropped this feature.
Another thing I sometimes do (but then I have to re-do it sometimes after Firefox updates), is to go into Options and select the setting that says something like "find text as I type". When this feature is on, then as soon as you start typing it starts searching. The only downside to this is if you are trying to type into a text box (e.g. filling in a form), and if you accidentally aren't "clicked" into the text box, then when you start typing, the find-text-as-you-type function can jump you to someplace else on the page. If it's a short page, it's not a big deal, but for longer pages, it's a bit of a hassle. (I'm not sure I explained that very well...)
I guess the only remaining Search shortcut is Ctrl+F, unless they decide to get rid of that, too.
I Totally agree that the Firefox 8 "improvements" are more an effort to look pretty and trendy. This is less (much less!) of an effort to improve the usefulness. Why take away some simple features that many users find helpful? I can't imagine it would've been so difficult to just leave these as-is.
You mentioned that other companies are behaving this way, and I completely agree! Google has been doing the same thing lately, and I've just about had it with Gmail's latest epidemic of "improvements". What $ucks even more is that these things are free, so when you complain about anything, a common response is that it's free, so quit your complaining. And there are always the cult-following type of people who tell you to just go away, 'cause this thing is awesome! (they take it way too personally, it's kind of creepy)
To be honest, if Firefox would create a browser that went back to their original emphasis on functionality, I'd might be willing to Pay for the software, depending on the price.