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This isn't Google's fault. In Firefox, if you type a non-address directly into the address bar, it automagically directs you to the top Google hit for that quer
by thaumaturgy 17y ago
This isn't Google's fault. In Firefox, if you type a non-address directly into the address bar, it automagically directs you to the top Google hit for that query.
The real failure here is Mozilla, for releasing a "feature" that, as usual, appeals to computer power users, and royally fucks over computer novices.
- robryan 17y agoIn this case novices which assume it is the all powerful magic bar which they can type anything into and it will take them where they want to go.
- blasdel 17y agoIt's much, much worse on the GTK version of Firefox -- inspired by the X default of mouse3==paste, on such platforms they make the middlemouse.contentLoadURL config default to true. This means that if you middle click anywhere in the window that isn't a link, it instantly redirects you to the "I'm feeling lucky" result for the contents of the last text selection you made. I cannot think of a single creepier usability clusterfuck. Added fun: until a few years ago, http://www.microsoft.com http://www.microsoft.com was the first google search result for "http". This meant that malformed links (missing the colon, for instance) almost always pointed directly to Microsoft, on all platforms. It's a bit less baffling than it used to be, as not the wikipedia article on HTTP is the first result.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- cubicle67 17y agoYou've no idea how much I hate that 'feature' You should try scrolling through large source files with a mouse that has a sensitive click switch on the scroll wheel. The number of times I've found errors due to random stuff pasted into my code because I pressed too hard on the scroll wheel. grrr Please, please if anyone knows how to disable this, let me know :/
- Sapient 17y agoType about:config in the address bar and accept the consequences. Then find the general:autoscroll property and enable it. Doing this should disable that feature and enable autoscroll as a bonus.
- dale-cooper 17y agoI love this feature. I miss it when i have to work on other systems/browsers. Like you say, it's standard.. You might like chrome, it compromised on the feature by only allowing you to paste+go on the new-tab-button. I think ubuntu "helps" you by disabling this feature by default though.
- fragmede 17y agoI didn't say it was solely Google's fault; you make a good point re:Mozilla/Firefox, but they're both complicit. Google is the one that added the 'feature' to show recent news at the top, instead of just search results, and Mozilla is the one that added the feature you noted. However, what leads you to conclude they're using the address bar? The default Firefox homepage is a Google search page. You open a Firefox window and start typing and the text will be entered in the main text box on a Google search page. I'd actually argue that Firefox's awesome bar feature is actually _for_ computer novices. Start typing 'facebook login' and before you even hunt-and-peck your way to the double O it shows a list of Facebook related pages. Hell, what's got me confused is type in "facebook" into the Firefox address bar and press enter. It goes to http://www.facebook.com http://www.facebook.com. I'm curious then - why add the "login"? (That they should be forcing ssl is a whole 'nother problem.)
- imd 17y agoDid you actually try this? "facebook login" in the address bar takes me to the Google results. It only takes you to the first search result if it calculates you had a high probability of wanting to go there, like typing "yahoo". Occasionally, it does the wrong thing, but not in this case.
- marilyn 17y agoI highly doubt that the majority of these users are using Firefox. More likely they are using the default browser available on their operating system.
- fragmede 17y agoI thought about that too... but I'm rather sure that 'operating system default browser' is going to be Internet Explorer, and uh, Google's not the default there.