5 ms·

My experience with Firefox Quantum [as compared to Chromium]

40 points by vifon 9y ago

harrygallagher4 9y ago
I have really been enjoying Quantum. It's noticeably faster on almost every page I use daily, or maybe it's just placebo. I have noticed that on pages that are very JS and video heavy (YouTube, KhanAcademy) it is quite a bit slower than Chrome, so I've just been using chrome for those.
- _virtu 9y ago
  I had to switch back because of this. For example Google docs was dog squeeze slow.
  - arbie 9y ago
    It is odd. Web sites load noticeably faster, but web _apps_ take longer to load than Chrome. Only tested on Google SPAs so far, though, so it may be a lack of optimization.
    - dannyw 9y ago
      That is easily explained by faster rendering / CSS (Stylo) but a slower JS engine (vs V8)
    - joojia 9y ago
      Google sites load faster in Google Chrome. It makes sense.
  - breakingcups 9y ago
    Hmm, Google Docs and Gmail are fine for me. Are you using any extensions?
- DKnoll 9y ago
  Noticed this as well, granted it may be because I had to lose about 20 legacy extensions...
Asturaz 9y ago
I started to use Firefox Quantum after a 8 years long breakup. I'm impressed, so impressed that Firefox Quantum is the first browser I'm paying for every month, there is a donate link on Mozilla's homepage in the footer.
Dolores12 9y ago
switched to Firefox because Mozilla was the only company that was against inclusion of DRM into w3c standard.
blckshd 9y ago
About the profiles, Firefox supports "Multi-Account Containers" [1], it's like profiles but per-tab. You can also force some websites to open in a tab (like facebook.com in a "Social Media" container). You should definitely give it a try! [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15256603 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15256603
- vifon 9y ago
  I did give them a try and I use them for a different purpose. I use profiles when I want a separate set of bookmarks, browsing history and/or addons (like a work/home separation). I use containers if I want a different set of cookies, so usually if I need to log into a single service with multiple identities. Maybe I should have mentioned that in the article but I totally forgot about the containers when writing. They are nice but I wouldn't miss them much if they were gone. How can I force a specific website to always open in a specific container? I cannot find it.
  - blckshd 9y ago
    With the website open in a container, click on the Multi-account containers' icon (the 3 squares with a +) and check "Always open xxx in yyy".
    - vifon 9y ago
      I needed to install this addon[1]. Somehow I enabled the containers on Firefox 55 or 56 previously (possibly with about:config) and I didn't have this button. Thanks! [1]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account... EDIT: Yes, it was privacy.userContext.enabled in about:config.
- Lurkars 9y ago
  About the profiles, check out the about:profiles site in FF. For sure not as handy as described for chromium, but maybe easier than scripts.
revmoo 9y ago
I've stopped using Chrome and switched to Quantum. Google's blantantly-anti-trust blocking of Ad Naseum (ok it's not blocked but they sure make it super annoying use) was the last straw. Quantum is great, seems faster too. I don't want my browser vendor dictating which extensions I run on _my_ browser.
FichteFoll 9y ago
Might as well plug my update experience as well, although you in particular have already seen it: https://gist.github.com/FichteFoll/903baad8447ce83e81dee17892e59ec2 https://gist.github.com/FichteFoll/903baad8447ce83e81dee1789... Regarding multiple tabs, I use this: https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/multiple-tab-handler/ https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/multiple-tab-han... It also cooperates with Tree Style Tab (since it's from the same developer)
discreditable 9y ago
One area I think Firefox could improve is site-level permissions. For example, when third-party cookie blocking is enabled, Chrome will display an icon in the URL bar when cookies are blocked. Using that icon, you can allow cookies if you need to. In Firefox, there's no way to tell that cookies are being blocked, and the procedure to unblock them (for me) involved finding the origin setting the cookie and manually setting the site permissions to allow cookies. Another example: clicking the information icon for any site in Chrome allows me to quickly enabled/disable permissions. Have a site that is loading really abusive Javascript? In Firefox, there's no way to disable JS for the page outside of using your adblocker or globally disabling it. In Chrome, just click the site icon, click the Javascript menu, and choose disable.

40 points by vifon 9y ago

I have really been enjoying Quantum. It's noticeably faster on almost every page I use daily, or maybe it's just placebo. I have noticed that on pages that are very JS and video heavy (YouTube, KhanAcademy) it is quite a bit slower than Chrome, so I've just been using chrome for those.

_virtu 9y ago
I had to switch back because of this. For example Google docs was dog squeeze slow.
- arbie 9y ago
  It is odd. Web sites load noticeably faster, but web _apps_ take longer to load than Chrome. Only tested on Google SPAs so far, though, so it may be a lack of optimization.
  - dannyw 9y ago
    That is easily explained by faster rendering / CSS (Stylo) but a slower JS engine (vs V8)
  - joojia 9y ago
    Google sites load faster in Google Chrome. It makes sense.
- breakingcups 9y ago
  Hmm, Google Docs and Gmail are fine for me. Are you using any extensions?
DKnoll 9y ago
Noticed this as well, granted it may be because I had to lose about 20 legacy extensions...

Asturaz 9y ago

I started to use Firefox Quantum after a 8 years long breakup. I'm impressed, so impressed that Firefox Quantum is the first browser I'm paying for every month, there is a donate link on Mozilla's homepage in the footer.

Dolores12 9y ago

switched to Firefox because Mozilla was the only company that was against inclusion of DRM into w3c standard.

blckshd 9y ago

About the profiles, Firefox supports "Multi-Account Containers" [1], it's like profiles but per-tab. You can also force some websites to open in a tab (like facebook.com in a "Social Media" container). You should definitely give it a try! [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15256603 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15256603

vifon 9y ago
I did give them a try and I use them for a different purpose. I use profiles when I want a separate set of bookmarks, browsing history and/or addons (like a work/home separation). I use containers if I want a different set of cookies, so usually if I need to log into a single service with multiple identities. Maybe I should have mentioned that in the article but I totally forgot about the containers when writing. They are nice but I wouldn't miss them much if they were gone. How can I force a specific website to always open in a specific container? I cannot find it.
- blckshd 9y ago
  With the website open in a container, click on the Multi-account containers' icon (the 3 squares with a +) and check "Always open xxx in yyy".
  - vifon 9y ago
    I needed to install this addon[1]. Somehow I enabled the containers on Firefox 55 or 56 previously (possibly with about:config) and I didn't have this button. Thanks! [1]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account... EDIT: Yes, it was privacy.userContext.enabled in about:config.
Lurkars 9y ago
About the profiles, check out the about:profiles site in FF. For sure not as handy as described for chromium, but maybe easier than scripts.

revmoo 9y ago

I've stopped using Chrome and switched to Quantum. Google's blantantly-anti-trust blocking of Ad Naseum (ok it's not blocked but they sure make it super annoying use) was the last straw. Quantum is great, seems faster too. I don't want my browser vendor dictating which extensions I run on _my_ browser.

FichteFoll 9y ago

Might as well plug my update experience as well, although you in particular have already seen it: https://gist.github.com/FichteFoll/903baad8447ce83e81dee17892e59ec2 https://gist.github.com/FichteFoll/903baad8447ce83e81dee1789... Regarding multiple tabs, I use this: https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/multiple-tab-handler/ https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/multiple-tab-han... It also cooperates with Tree Style Tab (since it's from the same developer)

discreditable 9y ago

One area I think Firefox could improve is site-level permissions. For example, when third-party cookie blocking is enabled, Chrome will display an icon in the URL bar when cookies are blocked. Using that icon, you can allow cookies if you need to. In Firefox, there's no way to tell that cookies are being blocked, and the procedure to unblock them (for me) involved finding the origin setting the cookie and manually setting the site permissions to allow cookies. Another example: clicking the information icon for any site in Chrome allows me to quickly enabled/disable permissions. Have a site that is loading really abusive Javascript? In Firefox, there's no way to disable JS for the page outside of using your adblocker or globally disabling it. In Chrome, just click the site icon, click the Javascript menu, and choose disable.