4 ms·

I downloaded an extension to spoof my user agent this morning, haven't tried doing much yet, but messages certainly seem to work and that's 99% of what I do any

I downloaded an extension to spoof my user agent this morning, haven't tried doing much yet, but messages certainly seem to work and that's 99% of what I do anyway. I don't know why I couldn't have be treated to a "this might not work 100% warning" instead of being completely locked out.

emilfihlman 8y ago
It's a top down decision, probably, and probably related to internal quality requirements of software and support. Also possible (but unlikely) is that Firefox doesn't support some certain thing, the absence of which might corrupt some state or data (error handling ain't exactly a thing javascript land, unfortunately.
- jakub_g 8y ago
  This is like a highway operator saying "You can only enter our highway with a ford or a fiat. We didn't take time to test if an opel can properly ride our highway, so opels are not allowed". (Yeah I get it that they don't want to have people complaining that a niche corner case that was never tested in Firefox doesn't work. But this is a ridiculous way to do it.)
  - akvadrako 8y ago
    Not really - it's about the surface area of the interface. It's pretty easy to know if a car will work on a road - it needs tires and the ability to control it's own movement. But if the road had thousands of different connections to the car, there certainly would need to be testing for each manufacturer.
- gnomewascool 8y ago
  > Also possible (but unlikely) is that Firefox doesn't support some certain thing, the absence of which might corrupt some state or data (error handling ain't exactly a thing javascript land, unfortunately. Considering that it works with current Edge (which hasn't switched to Blink, yet), it's unlikely, as you say.
- asdff 8y ago
  It's probably my plugin settings, but I regularly run into issues logging into random websites like for bank or credit cards on firefox. You input your credentials into the log in window, and absolutely nothing happens when you hit login. For these websites, I'm still shackled to chrome.
jarfil 8y ago
Because anything less than "100% working" is considered a failure, and it might be a preventive measure to avoid bug reports or clueless user outrage.
- oblio 8y ago
  And because, "accidentally", it cements the Chrome monopoly, at least in regard to Google web properties. That can't be just a coincidence. "It Is Difficult to Get a Man to Understand Something When His Salary Depends Upon His Not Understanding It" and all that.
  - Vinnl 8y ago
    I don't think Microsoft is particularly happy about Chrome's dominance. It's more that they figured they're unable to make a dent there.
    - geezerjay 8y ago
      > It's more that they figured they're unable to make a dent there. Considering how Microsoft has been shifting to support open platforms (I mean, .net now officially runs on linux and Microsoft even integrates Docker) my guess is that they decided to focus on core businesses and don't waste resources implementing redundant support infrastructure.
      - pritambaral 8y ago
        .NET runs on Linux because the developers are here. I wonder why Skype for Web doesn't run in a browser on Linux, given how much 'Microsoft ️:heart: Linux'.
        oblio 8y ago
        I haven't tried, doesn't this work on Linux? https://preview.web.skype.com/ https://preview.web.skype.com/ Worst case, after changing the user agent.
Asooka 8y ago
I get a crash when I try to paste text in the chat, but it otherwise works. As an aside, it's wild seeing an "App has crashed and needs to reload" on a damn javascript application. You would think it would be able to recover and continue serving content.
rdsubhas 8y ago
Great, but let's understand it's not going to tilt the scales. It's still going to count Chrome as the final winner since popularity is measured more by User Agent in visits, and less by download stats (atleast that's what I have seen so far, would be very happy to know otherwise).

emilfihlman 8y ago

It's a top down decision, probably, and probably related to internal quality requirements of software and support. Also possible (but unlikely) is that Firefox doesn't support some certain thing, the absence of which might corrupt some state or data (error handling ain't exactly a thing javascript land, unfortunately.

jakub_g 8y ago
This is like a highway operator saying "You can only enter our highway with a ford or a fiat. We didn't take time to test if an opel can properly ride our highway, so opels are not allowed". (Yeah I get it that they don't want to have people complaining that a niche corner case that was never tested in Firefox doesn't work. But this is a ridiculous way to do it.)
- akvadrako 8y ago
  Not really - it's about the surface area of the interface. It's pretty easy to know if a car will work on a road - it needs tires and the ability to control it's own movement. But if the road had thousands of different connections to the car, there certainly would need to be testing for each manufacturer.
gnomewascool 8y ago
> Also possible (but unlikely) is that Firefox doesn't support some certain thing, the absence of which might corrupt some state or data (error handling ain't exactly a thing javascript land, unfortunately. Considering that it works with current Edge (which hasn't switched to Blink, yet), it's unlikely, as you say.
asdff 8y ago
It's probably my plugin settings, but I regularly run into issues logging into random websites like for bank or credit cards on firefox. You input your credentials into the log in window, and absolutely nothing happens when you hit login. For these websites, I'm still shackled to chrome.

jarfil 8y ago

Because anything less than "100% working" is considered a failure, and it might be a preventive measure to avoid bug reports or clueless user outrage.

oblio 8y ago
And because, "accidentally", it cements the Chrome monopoly, at least in regard to Google web properties. That can't be just a coincidence. "It Is Difficult to Get a Man to Understand Something When His Salary Depends Upon His Not Understanding It" and all that.
- Vinnl 8y ago
  I don't think Microsoft is particularly happy about Chrome's dominance. It's more that they figured they're unable to make a dent there.
  - geezerjay 8y ago
    > It's more that they figured they're unable to make a dent there. Considering how Microsoft has been shifting to support open platforms (I mean, .net now officially runs on linux and Microsoft even integrates Docker) my guess is that they decided to focus on core businesses and don't waste resources implementing redundant support infrastructure.
    - pritambaral 8y ago
      .NET runs on Linux because the developers are here. I wonder why Skype for Web doesn't run in a browser on Linux, given how much 'Microsoft ️:heart: Linux'.
      - oblio 8y ago
        I haven't tried, doesn't this work on Linux? https://preview.web.skype.com/ https://preview.web.skype.com/ Worst case, after changing the user agent.

Asooka 8y ago

I get a crash when I try to paste text in the chat, but it otherwise works. As an aside, it's wild seeing an "App has crashed and needs to reload" on a damn javascript application. You would think it would be able to recover and continue serving content.

rdsubhas 8y ago

Great, but let's understand it's not going to tilt the scales. It's still going to count Chrome as the final winner since popularity is measured more by User Agent in visits, and less by download stats (atleast that's what I have seen so far, would be very happy to know otherwise).