9 ms·

Switched to Firefox a few months back. Havn’t missed Chrome at all

by shadykiller 7y ago

quickthrower2 7y ago
What about Chrome's F12 debugging? I miss that when I use Firefox.
- robin_reala 7y ago
  Depends what you’re doing. Firefox’s dev tools are definitely better at CSS debugging for example.
  - tannhaeuser 7y ago
    Indeed. I always wondered why folks praise Chrome devtools which are pretty meh at CSS.
    - iforgotpassword 7y ago
      As a non-webdev to me they look pretty much identical. I only ever need them for a one off static site or some jQuery, or when trying to figure out why some page looks broken.
    - jdnenej 7y ago
      I find the FF Dev tools to be much better but they don't have a way to inspect web sockets which I don't use but if you do.
      - robin_reala 7y ago
        Nightly can inspect WebSockets now.
      - quickthrower2 7y ago
        Ok I might be suffering from bias due to familiarity. I'll give FF more of a fair shot for debugging.
    - dcbadacd 7y ago
      Try debugging CORS, CSP or SRI failures in FF. Much much more painful.
- rchaud 7y ago
  A minor quibble I have with Firefox's Dev Tools is that in Responsive Design Mode, there's no way to simply select "Fit to screen" as a Zoom level. If you're on a laptop, you'll have to scroll to see the full emulated viewport. I think touch recognition is better on Chrome too, as sliders and other touch-sensitive UI elements feel a bit more laggy in FF. On mobile, I'm happy using Brave, which is Chromium but allows you turn off scripts if you want to (goodbye autoplaying videos). On desktop, FF all the way. Except when I need to use Dev Tools.
distant_hat 7y ago
I did that a year back though I do miss a few things. One major one is task manager. Being able to identify rogue tabs is useful. Also, in general Firefox uses a lot more resources compared to Chrome. Another is the ability to smoothly zoom in/out of pages. But overall, the privacy benefits are easily worth it.
- throwaway8941 7y ago
  >task manager about:performance
  - falcolas 7y ago
    It's even easier now: Hamburger->More->Task Manager
- Synaesthesia 7y ago
  I don’t have data to back this up, more just a hunch, but I feel like Firefox uses less resources than Chrome. Less hard drive thrashing and deals with lots of tabs really well.
  - throwaway8941 7y ago
    Yep, this hasn't been my experience at all (quite the opposite). I've been reading this FUD for as long as Chrome has been around (10 years?), and when you ask the person for concrete numbers, all you get back is "I don't know, it just feels like it". I stopped engaging at this point. Edit: not to mention that you can configure the number of webrender processes Firefox uses to render web pages. If you have a fast enough processor, just set it to one or two and call it a day. Chrome uses a more complicated algorithm based on the source domain and the tab "dependency" tree. You have pretty much zero control over this.
    - Synaesthesia 7y ago
      When I first used Chrome in the beta, it surpassed every browser in performance, from launch time to new tab performance etc. I don’t feel that’s the case anymore. Chrome is a lot more bloated and Firefox has made a lot of strides. I don’t heavily use tabs like 50+ but people who do say Firefox uses less RAM. Either way it’s fast enough now for me not to have any performance complaints.
lrem 7y ago
I work at Google, but use Firefox for all my private things... Except when I run into a page that's broken in Firefox. And except when I need developer tools. And except when I need the browser to translate sites for me. And except when I'm shopping, as Google does a good enough job with payment details. And except Google properties, because who knows what weird HTTP 3.7 will Chrome use to save some ocean boiling?
- jdc 7y ago
  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/to-google-translate https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/to-google-tra...
- stiray 7y ago
  I have developed another strategy. If the site doesnt work in firefox I will just leave. Most of the content is available elsewhere and it is internet way of "voting with my wallet".
  - newscracker 7y ago
    That's what I do too. I believe that the more the people who don't tolerate this nonsense (and tell others to do likewise when possible), the quicker we can achieve positive change for everyone. And by "positive change" I mean challengers to Chrome and Google's attitude of bulldozing things (including invading privacy).
    - nightfly 7y ago
      That doesn't convey to site owners /why/ you left. You need to tell them. From their perspective they'll just see an even lower percentage of Firefox users and maybe make even less effort to support it.
      - Joakal 7y ago
        Might be mean but tying up their support costs with browser compatibility complaints would make it obvious to them.
bluehatbrit 7y ago
This is me as well, but the one issue I have noticed is that windows updates have started screwing around with my ability to watch videos (netflix, youtube, even things on twitter) and I can't figure out why. Firefox works perfectly on my linux and macos machines but on windows it seems to crumble after most Windows updates which is a shame. I imagine this is mostly due to Windows rather than Firefox but it's meant I've had to start using Chrome for a lot of things at home on my game / leisure machine.
a254613e 7y ago
To offer a bit of an opposite view here on HN: I give firefox a shot from time to time. I switch all devices to it, and then I use it exclusively all the time. My most recent attempt failed few days ago, after a bit more than a month with it. Firefox performance just doesn't feel the same as chrome, from constant small freezes, to using 100% CPU pretty often. And just overall experience on some platforms - especially macOS doesn't feel native at all. On top of that some websites don't support it that good (not Firefox's fault here - but I don't want to deal with that day to day). Firefox also seemed snappier on the first few runs, but as the time went on I didn't find it faster or feeling less bloated than chrome as a lot of people like to portray it. Chrome for me, as an average user, does not have any of these downsides. The closest to a downside for some people you could pin to chrome is that it's owned by google. At the end of the day, chrome gets the job done, and does it without being in my way, on all the platforms I use, - and that's what I want from a browser, so for now I'm sticking with chrome.
- Barrin92 7y ago
  on windows I don't notice any performance difference, but on linux (which i use most of the time) in particular on my laptop firefox performance seems (at least subjectively) significantly worse than chrome if my fans are any indicator. I don't know if this is site dependent or just a general issue but it bugs me too much to use firefox right now.
- pweezy 7y ago
  Same here. I use a 12" MacBook "retina" (not air), which is an ultraportable with a weak CPU. Firefox is borderline unusable, even with uBlock Origin, unless you stick to only 1 or 2 tabs. High def video in YouTube really struggles, Google Maps struggles, and other Google properties like Flights have a habit of freezing up. Plus the non-native feel you mentioned. No pinch-to-zoom, moving tabs between windows feels clunky, and scrolling feels different than almost every other app. I try Firefox for Android from time to time, and I also have a lot of issues with polish that make me stop using it every time. Tab management is extremely clunky, the address bar is inconsistent with virtually every other Android text input (e.g. there's a big X that I expect to clear the address bar, but in Firefox this escapes me from input mode). Even getting the toolbars to reappear by scrolling is troublesome - infuriating. It sucks, because I care about privacy and web diversity, and have been a Firefox user since back in the Phoenix days.
ozim 7y ago
I would like that as well but I am watching youtube and debbuging angular applications. So I still have to use chrome for those things. I do my gmail via thunderbird.
baud147258 7y ago
I switched on mobile a few months ago and I'm finding FF much slower/less reactive than Chrome. But I think I'll keep using it.
cmrdporcupine 7y ago
Things I miss after having switched a couple machines at home: Stored credit card / payment information. Chromecast because of the ecosystem devices in my house that use it. There are extensions to do this but they're not great. (Disclaimer: I work @ Google on Chromecast platform stuff.) Other than that, it's great.
- larrik 7y ago
  Firefox supports stored payment information... You may have to turn it on manually, though.

Switched to Firefox a few months back. Havn’t missed Chrome at all

quickthrower2 7y ago

What about Chrome's F12 debugging? I miss that when I use Firefox.

robin_reala 7y ago
Depends what you’re doing. Firefox’s dev tools are definitely better at CSS debugging for example.
- tannhaeuser 7y ago
  Indeed. I always wondered why folks praise Chrome devtools which are pretty meh at CSS.
  - iforgotpassword 7y ago
    As a non-webdev to me they look pretty much identical. I only ever need them for a one off static site or some jQuery, or when trying to figure out why some page looks broken.
  - jdnenej 7y ago
    I find the FF Dev tools to be much better but they don't have a way to inspect web sockets which I don't use but if you do.
    - robin_reala 7y ago
      Nightly can inspect WebSockets now.
    - quickthrower2 7y ago
      Ok I might be suffering from bias due to familiarity. I'll give FF more of a fair shot for debugging.
  - dcbadacd 7y ago
    Try debugging CORS, CSP or SRI failures in FF. Much much more painful.
rchaud 7y ago
A minor quibble I have with Firefox's Dev Tools is that in Responsive Design Mode, there's no way to simply select "Fit to screen" as a Zoom level. If you're on a laptop, you'll have to scroll to see the full emulated viewport. I think touch recognition is better on Chrome too, as sliders and other touch-sensitive UI elements feel a bit more laggy in FF. On mobile, I'm happy using Brave, which is Chromium but allows you turn off scripts if you want to (goodbye autoplaying videos). On desktop, FF all the way. Except when I need to use Dev Tools.

distant_hat 7y ago

I did that a year back though I do miss a few things. One major one is task manager. Being able to identify rogue tabs is useful. Also, in general Firefox uses a lot more resources compared to Chrome. Another is the ability to smoothly zoom in/out of pages. But overall, the privacy benefits are easily worth it.

throwaway8941 7y ago
>task manager about:performance
- falcolas 7y ago
  It's even easier now: Hamburger->More->Task Manager
Synaesthesia 7y ago
I don’t have data to back this up, more just a hunch, but I feel like Firefox uses less resources than Chrome. Less hard drive thrashing and deals with lots of tabs really well.
- throwaway8941 7y ago
  Yep, this hasn't been my experience at all (quite the opposite). I've been reading this FUD for as long as Chrome has been around (10 years?), and when you ask the person for concrete numbers, all you get back is "I don't know, it just feels like it". I stopped engaging at this point. Edit: not to mention that you can configure the number of webrender processes Firefox uses to render web pages. If you have a fast enough processor, just set it to one or two and call it a day. Chrome uses a more complicated algorithm based on the source domain and the tab "dependency" tree. You have pretty much zero control over this.
  - Synaesthesia 7y ago
    When I first used Chrome in the beta, it surpassed every browser in performance, from launch time to new tab performance etc. I don’t feel that’s the case anymore. Chrome is a lot more bloated and Firefox has made a lot of strides. I don’t heavily use tabs like 50+ but people who do say Firefox uses less RAM. Either way it’s fast enough now for me not to have any performance complaints.

lrem 7y ago

I work at Google, but use Firefox for all my private things... Except when I run into a page that's broken in Firefox. And except when I need developer tools. And except when I need the browser to translate sites for me. And except when I'm shopping, as Google does a good enough job with payment details. And except Google properties, because who knows what weird HTTP 3.7 will Chrome use to save some ocean boiling?

jdc 7y ago
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/to-google-translate https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/to-google-tra...
stiray 7y ago
I have developed another strategy. If the site doesnt work in firefox I will just leave. Most of the content is available elsewhere and it is internet way of "voting with my wallet".
- newscracker 7y ago
  That's what I do too. I believe that the more the people who don't tolerate this nonsense (and tell others to do likewise when possible), the quicker we can achieve positive change for everyone. And by "positive change" I mean challengers to Chrome and Google's attitude of bulldozing things (including invading privacy).
  - nightfly 7y ago
    That doesn't convey to site owners /why/ you left. You need to tell them. From their perspective they'll just see an even lower percentage of Firefox users and maybe make even less effort to support it.
    - Joakal 7y ago
      Might be mean but tying up their support costs with browser compatibility complaints would make it obvious to them.

bluehatbrit 7y ago

This is me as well, but the one issue I have noticed is that windows updates have started screwing around with my ability to watch videos (netflix, youtube, even things on twitter) and I can't figure out why. Firefox works perfectly on my linux and macos machines but on windows it seems to crumble after most Windows updates which is a shame. I imagine this is mostly due to Windows rather than Firefox but it's meant I've had to start using Chrome for a lot of things at home on my game / leisure machine.

a254613e 7y ago

To offer a bit of an opposite view here on HN: I give firefox a shot from time to time. I switch all devices to it, and then I use it exclusively all the time. My most recent attempt failed few days ago, after a bit more than a month with it. Firefox performance just doesn't feel the same as chrome, from constant small freezes, to using 100% CPU pretty often. And just overall experience on some platforms - especially macOS doesn't feel native at all. On top of that some websites don't support it that good (not Firefox's fault here - but I don't want to deal with that day to day). Firefox also seemed snappier on the first few runs, but as the time went on I didn't find it faster or feeling less bloated than chrome as a lot of people like to portray it. Chrome for me, as an average user, does not have any of these downsides. The closest to a downside for some people you could pin to chrome is that it's owned by google. At the end of the day, chrome gets the job done, and does it without being in my way, on all the platforms I use, - and that's what I want from a browser, so for now I'm sticking with chrome.

Barrin92 7y ago
on windows I don't notice any performance difference, but on linux (which i use most of the time) in particular on my laptop firefox performance seems (at least subjectively) significantly worse than chrome if my fans are any indicator. I don't know if this is site dependent or just a general issue but it bugs me too much to use firefox right now.
pweezy 7y ago
Same here. I use a 12" MacBook "retina" (not air), which is an ultraportable with a weak CPU. Firefox is borderline unusable, even with uBlock Origin, unless you stick to only 1 or 2 tabs. High def video in YouTube really struggles, Google Maps struggles, and other Google properties like Flights have a habit of freezing up. Plus the non-native feel you mentioned. No pinch-to-zoom, moving tabs between windows feels clunky, and scrolling feels different than almost every other app. I try Firefox for Android from time to time, and I also have a lot of issues with polish that make me stop using it every time. Tab management is extremely clunky, the address bar is inconsistent with virtually every other Android text input (e.g. there's a big X that I expect to clear the address bar, but in Firefox this escapes me from input mode). Even getting the toolbars to reappear by scrolling is troublesome - infuriating. It sucks, because I care about privacy and web diversity, and have been a Firefox user since back in the Phoenix days.

ozim 7y ago

I would like that as well but I am watching youtube and debbuging angular applications. So I still have to use chrome for those things. I do my gmail via thunderbird.

baud147258 7y ago

I switched on mobile a few months ago and I'm finding FF much slower/less reactive than Chrome. But I think I'll keep using it.

cmrdporcupine 7y ago

Things I miss after having switched a couple machines at home: Stored credit card / payment information. Chromecast because of the ecosystem devices in my house that use it. There are extensions to do this but they're not great. (Disclaimer: I work @ Google on Chromecast platform stuff.) Other than that, it's great.

larrik 7y ago
Firefox supports stored payment information... You may have to turn it on manually, though.