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Stupid as it sounds, I stopped using it when they switched to tabs that don't look like tabs. Might sound like a ridiculous reason but it was very much the stra

Stupid as it sounds, I stopped using it when they switched to tabs that don't look like tabs. Might sound like a ridiculous reason but it was very much the straw that broke the camel's back. Every new update made Firefox more chrome-like, what little money they make seems to be going everywhere except making the browser engine better, it keeps bleeding market share and getting more and more issues with website compatibility. Why would I use Firefox when it is worse than Chrome in every way? To avoid Google? Google funds Mozilla, Firefox would be dead without Google money.

amelius 4y ago
Yes, rule #1 in UI design should be: don't change the UI! Of course for new users you can try new stuff but don't bother existing, happy users with your experimentation.
lbriner 4y ago
100%. Feeling the need to change stuff for the sake of it used to be the preserve of the large rich companies who need to find ways to spend their money. Did anyone honestly think that the old tabs were broken compared to various other "won't fix" bugs or useful new features? I guess the problem with the browser is that it is a market to everyone in the world. You either try and optimise for one market and accept losing the rest or you try and make it the best of all worlds. I think FF never quite knew where it belonged.
hbn 4y ago
Designers need to get off their high horses and thinking they can do better than the perfect visual metaphor tabs have been taking advantage of for YEARS. The tab is connected to the browser chrome = it's the active tab. It's so simple and intuitive. But Apple and Mozilla both have made attempts to reinvent this and every time it's in obviously worse ways. Thankfully Apple, in a rare display of acknowledging their mistake, backtracked on their horrible tab redesign shortly after shipping it. Well, it's still there in the Safari settings but the default is the old design that actually makes sense. A good article about why the redesigned Safari tabs are bad: https://daringfireball.net/2021/10/the_tragedy_of_safari_15_quote_unquote_tabs https://daringfireball.net/2021/10/the_tragedy_of_safari_15_...
bioemerl 4y ago
> Why would I use Firefox when it is worse than Chrome in every way? To avoid Google? Google funds Mozilla, Firefox would be dead without Google money. Yep. I switched to chrome on mobile when Firefox gave me issues while developing for it. Just buggy and unintuitive behavior like cancelling drag events or not handling PWAs well. I still use it on desktop though. I've never had issues with it there and the style changes don't bug me. I also use it on mobile for YouTube, but it pisses me off that it won't play in the background anymore when it used to.
D13Fd 4y ago
> Why would I use Firefox when it is worse than Chrome in every way? To avoid Google? Google funds Mozilla, Firefox would be dead without Google money. Yes, to avoid Google. There is a huge difference between using Chrome and signing away all of your information to Google, and using Firefox which is insulated from Google even if it is funded by them. Plus if you change your default search engine in Firefox, Google isn't exactly getting their money's worth.
Yizahi 4y ago
To be honest, despite any issues with FF tab design, the Chrome ones are just horrible. When they contract to the 5 pixel size it's crazy.

amelius 4y ago

Yes, rule #1 in UI design should be: don't change the UI! Of course for new users you can try new stuff but don't bother existing, happy users with your experimentation.

lbriner 4y ago

100%. Feeling the need to change stuff for the sake of it used to be the preserve of the large rich companies who need to find ways to spend their money. Did anyone honestly think that the old tabs were broken compared to various other "won't fix" bugs or useful new features? I guess the problem with the browser is that it is a market to everyone in the world. You either try and optimise for one market and accept losing the rest or you try and make it the best of all worlds. I think FF never quite knew where it belonged.

hbn 4y ago

Designers need to get off their high horses and thinking they can do better than the perfect visual metaphor tabs have been taking advantage of for YEARS. The tab is connected to the browser chrome = it's the active tab. It's so simple and intuitive. But Apple and Mozilla both have made attempts to reinvent this and every time it's in obviously worse ways. Thankfully Apple, in a rare display of acknowledging their mistake, backtracked on their horrible tab redesign shortly after shipping it. Well, it's still there in the Safari settings but the default is the old design that actually makes sense. A good article about why the redesigned Safari tabs are bad: https://daringfireball.net/2021/10/the_tragedy_of_safari_15_quote_unquote_tabs https://daringfireball.net/2021/10/the_tragedy_of_safari_15_...

bioemerl 4y ago

> Why would I use Firefox when it is worse than Chrome in every way? To avoid Google? Google funds Mozilla, Firefox would be dead without Google money. Yep. I switched to chrome on mobile when Firefox gave me issues while developing for it. Just buggy and unintuitive behavior like cancelling drag events or not handling PWAs well. I still use it on desktop though. I've never had issues with it there and the style changes don't bug me. I also use it on mobile for YouTube, but it pisses me off that it won't play in the background anymore when it used to.

D13Fd 4y ago

> Why would I use Firefox when it is worse than Chrome in every way? To avoid Google? Google funds Mozilla, Firefox would be dead without Google money. Yes, to avoid Google. There is a huge difference between using Chrome and signing away all of your information to Google, and using Firefox which is insulated from Google even if it is funded by them. Plus if you change your default search engine in Firefox, Google isn't exactly getting their money's worth.

Yizahi 4y ago

To be honest, despite any issues with FF tab design, the Chrome ones are just horrible. When they contract to the 5 pixel size it's crazy.