4 ms·

Am I the only one that does not understand why Firefox still has a 'Google search' field at the left? Why not use Chrome's approach and merge the two of them -

Am I the only one that does not understand why Firefox still has a 'Google search' field at the left? Why not use Chrome's approach and merge the two of them - at least give me the possibility to hide it. (And I am aware of the possibility so search in other sites than google, but I 'never' want to do that.)

regularfry 16y ago
Mozilla made the decision that it was better to make it absolutely clear to the user when they were making an ordinary web request, and when they were sending trackable information to a third party.
gulbrandr 16y ago
> Why not use Chrome's approach and merge the two of them I've been asking myself this question many, many times. You can hide the search field: right-click on the toolbar > customize > drag/drop the search inside the window > done.
narag 16y ago
You're not the only one. I use Seamonkey instead because this and other similar annoyances.
- jokermatt999 16y ago
  Why not just remove it through "Customize"? You can just right click on any empty spot in the tool bar, click Customize, and then remove the search box. Wouldn't that be easier?
  - narag 16y ago
    The annoyance is the lack of search functionality in the address bar, not the presence of the search bar.
holygoat 16y ago
Everything you type in Chrome's location bar is sent to Google, most likely unencrypted. Every single character. If you want to turn this behavior on in Firefox, you can do so with a simple add-on: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/omnibar/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/omnibar/ but it's off by default because of the MASSIVE privacy implications.
- joesb 16y ago
  Just because Chrome does that doesn't mean Firefox must do exactly the same. Merging location bar and search bar doesn't mean you can't give URL higher priority or that you must query search suggestion every key stroke.
  - mbrubeck 16y ago
    If you just want to search from the address bar without suggestions, you can already do that in Firefox 4. Just type a word and press return.
  - ootachi 16y ago
    Well, Firefox basically does that already, then. You can enter search terms in the URL bar and hit Enter to search. If you then hide the search box, you've got what you suggest.
- ezy 16y ago
  Uh, you do know you can turn that off in chrome? I realize it's the default, but those of us who can switch browsers at the drop of a hat can handle it... I think. :-)
shrikant 16y ago
Regurgitating my previous response to this [1]: a) I can drop-down the list of available search engines and see what's available, without having to remember any key-words to do the searches. b) (and this is the killer feature for me) If a particular search engine is selected (say, IMDB), I can right-click on any word on a page, and one of the context menu options is "Search IMDB for <selection>..." Also, horizontal real-estate is not much of a concern on a wide-screen monitor - how much of the URL would I really want to see..? [1]: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2309115 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2309115

regularfry 16y ago

Mozilla made the decision that it was better to make it absolutely clear to the user when they were making an ordinary web request, and when they were sending trackable information to a third party.

gulbrandr 16y ago

> Why not use Chrome's approach and merge the two of them I've been asking myself this question many, many times. You can hide the search field: right-click on the toolbar > customize > drag/drop the search inside the window > done.

narag 16y ago

You're not the only one. I use Seamonkey instead because this and other similar annoyances.

jokermatt999 16y ago
Why not just remove it through "Customize"? You can just right click on any empty spot in the tool bar, click Customize, and then remove the search box. Wouldn't that be easier?
- narag 16y ago
  The annoyance is the lack of search functionality in the address bar, not the presence of the search bar.

holygoat 16y ago

Everything you type in Chrome's location bar is sent to Google, most likely unencrypted. Every single character. If you want to turn this behavior on in Firefox, you can do so with a simple add-on: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/omnibar/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/omnibar/ but it's off by default because of the MASSIVE privacy implications.

joesb 16y ago
Just because Chrome does that doesn't mean Firefox must do exactly the same. Merging location bar and search bar doesn't mean you can't give URL higher priority or that you must query search suggestion every key stroke.
- mbrubeck 16y ago
  If you just want to search from the address bar without suggestions, you can already do that in Firefox 4. Just type a word and press return.
- ootachi 16y ago
  Well, Firefox basically does that already, then. You can enter search terms in the URL bar and hit Enter to search. If you then hide the search box, you've got what you suggest.
ezy 16y ago
Uh, you do know you can turn that off in chrome? I realize it's the default, but those of us who can switch browsers at the drop of a hat can handle it... I think. :-)

shrikant 16y ago

Regurgitating my previous response to this [1]: a) I can drop-down the list of available search engines and see what's available, without having to remember any key-words to do the searches. b) (and this is the killer feature for me) If a particular search engine is selected (say, IMDB), I can right-click on any word on a page, and one of the context menu options is "Search IMDB for <selection>..." Also, horizontal real-estate is not much of a concern on a wide-screen monitor - how much of the URL would I really want to see..? [1]: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2309115 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2309115