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Firefox users don't use profiles because switching between them is a pain in the rear (at least on some platforms). Containers are nice, but you can't have dif

Firefox users don't use profiles because switching between them is a pain in the rear (at least on some platforms). Containers are nice, but you can't have different bookmarks, extensions, settings, etc. It's not a replacement for profiles.

jraph 3y ago
We have about:profiles now, a convenient way to manage and launch profiles. No need for firefox -P anymore :-) (Though I still use it out of muscle memory. alt+F2 firefox -P is so quick to type.)
- luuurker 3y ago
  We've had about:profiles for many years, but that UI is not for the average user. On macOS opening a new profile through that also opens the window in the background and may also mess up your Firefox icons in the dock, not to mention that you'll break your profiles if you make the mistake of opening a profile from a different FF version on your current FF (eg: stable profile on FF Developer can't be opened again by FF stable). We can use profiles, but it's not a good experience. On Chromium (and Chrome, Brave, etc), there's an icon at the top right corner. You click it, then select the profile and that's it. Fast, simple, user friendly. (Edit to add: I sometimes forget that the average HN user is different from the average computer user. They're used to click on things, not to type "firefox -P" :P )
  - _emacsomancer_ 3y ago
    There are extensions to make the UI friendlier, e.g. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-CA/firefox/addon/profile-switcher/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-CA/firefox/addon/profile-switc...
    - luuurker 3y ago
      I've used that before. Props to the developer, but on top of the extension, we also have to install software for it to work. It also doesn't fix new profiles opening in the background and the messing up of dock icons, although this might only affect Mac users. The annoying thing for me is that Firefox already has a similar UI button that could easily be adapted to switch profiles. It even looks like Chrome's, but all it does it show you your Firefox/Mozilla account.
- oxygen_crisis 3y ago
  There's nothing convenient about about:profiles. It's designed like their goal was to make the few buttons you want to use most the hardest to find. I'm not going to the profiles page to restart Firefox, show my profile directory in Finder/Explorer, Rename a profile, or Remove a profile. For some reason all those buttons get first placement. I have to scroll the page down to find the one and only button I want to click every single day.
ghusto 3y ago
When I used Chrome, I had to use profiles because that's all it had. I used it to switch between personas. It wasn't great, precisely _because_ you had to set up everything like bookmarks and extensions again. Containers on the other hand, fit the use-case of personas perfectly. I can keep logins separate, keep a work / home session separation, etc. Best of all, I set up certain websites to always use a particular container, even when I'm currently browsing in a different container tab. I can't imagine going back to Chrome profiles.

jraph 3y ago

We have about:profiles now, a convenient way to manage and launch profiles. No need for firefox -P anymore :-) (Though I still use it out of muscle memory. alt+F2 firefox -P is so quick to type.)

luuurker 3y ago
We've had about:profiles for many years, but that UI is not for the average user. On macOS opening a new profile through that also opens the window in the background and may also mess up your Firefox icons in the dock, not to mention that you'll break your profiles if you make the mistake of opening a profile from a different FF version on your current FF (eg: stable profile on FF Developer can't be opened again by FF stable). We can use profiles, but it's not a good experience. On Chromium (and Chrome, Brave, etc), there's an icon at the top right corner. You click it, then select the profile and that's it. Fast, simple, user friendly. (Edit to add: I sometimes forget that the average HN user is different from the average computer user. They're used to click on things, not to type "firefox -P" :P )
- _emacsomancer_ 3y ago
  There are extensions to make the UI friendlier, e.g. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-CA/firefox/addon/profile-switcher/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-CA/firefox/addon/profile-switc...
  - luuurker 3y ago
    I've used that before. Props to the developer, but on top of the extension, we also have to install software for it to work. It also doesn't fix new profiles opening in the background and the messing up of dock icons, although this might only affect Mac users. The annoying thing for me is that Firefox already has a similar UI button that could easily be adapted to switch profiles. It even looks like Chrome's, but all it does it show you your Firefox/Mozilla account.
oxygen_crisis 3y ago
There's nothing convenient about about:profiles. It's designed like their goal was to make the few buttons you want to use most the hardest to find. I'm not going to the profiles page to restart Firefox, show my profile directory in Finder/Explorer, Rename a profile, or Remove a profile. For some reason all those buttons get first placement. I have to scroll the page down to find the one and only button I want to click every single day.

ghusto 3y ago

When I used Chrome, I had to use profiles because that's all it had. I used it to switch between personas. It wasn't great, precisely _because_ you had to set up everything like bookmarks and extensions again. Containers on the other hand, fit the use-case of personas perfectly. I can keep logins separate, keep a work / home session separation, etc. Best of all, I set up certain websites to always use a particular container, even when I'm currently browsing in a different container tab. I can't imagine going back to Chrome profiles.