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It's weird how people always complain about lack of easy profile switching in Firefox. If one tells them that what they are really looking for is containers, th

It's weird how people always complain about lack of easy profile switching in Firefox. If one tells them that what they are really looking for is containers, they dismiss containers, but then proceed to complain that profiles don't have the same features. If you want sync across browser instances, manage them with one Firefox account... You really want containers not profiles.

codepoet80 1y ago
Agreed. Containers are the reason I use Firefox -- they are a much better fit than profiles. But I've not been able to successfully communicate that to Chrome users. Its like their mental model is stuck, and they can't grasp the differences.
- reddit_clone 1y ago
  Yep. Containers are great. But haven't seen anyone else using it near me though. One feature I was missing from Chrome was Tab Groups. But recently (I don't know when it started) the feature showed up in FireFox too :-)
- celsoazevedo 1y ago
  Containers are a better fit for... what containers do. They're the wrong tool when you want to separate, let's say, personal and work bookmarks, extensions, etc. For example, I have a main profile where I have personal bookmarks and different extensions (and more aggressive adblocking). I also have a work profile with a different theme, different bookmarks, extensions, etc. And I use containers in both. Containers are nice, but they're not profiles. We have to understand that not everyone can or wants to have one profile with everything in it.
- prinny_ 1y ago
  As a Firefox user I could also say the same for other Firefox users. Every time profiles are mentioned and people mention containers it feels like they don’t get the use case. I want a dev profile with dev book marks and a daily profile with my non dev bookmarks. And I would also like dev plugins on one profile and different themes between these profiles. I believe this is something containers can’t offer.
heatmiser 1y ago
I want both ;D I want profiles to have different partitions of plugins and browser configurations. I want containers to partition my browsing data. I want my Mozilla account to sync my browser history across all my profiles.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
monkey26 1y ago
I want profiles. For example, work and personal. Different bookmarks, different plugins. Even some different settings.
- williamscales 1y ago
  In my recollection, Firefox used to ask you which profile you wanted to use on launch. I don't think I've seen that in years.
  - birn559 1y ago
    You can decide if you want to get asked at startup.
  - precompute 1y ago
    IIRC you can use the -p flag to open that menu on launch. It also opens when you haven't set a default profile. And it's possible to access other profiles via about:profiles.
- Incipient 1y ago
  As a contractor, this is absolutely critical for me, and one reason I still use edge (along with edge syncing with client ad accounts).
  - theshrike79 1y ago
    This is why I like Safari, it has completely separate profiles. My work profile is logged into my work Gmail + AWS Personal profile has my personal Google account. The two won't mix.
- SigmundurM 1y ago
  Firefox now has improved Profile mangement https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-management https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-management
  - 1y ago
felixding 1y ago
Meanwhile, it’s not weird that people think what other people actually want are weird.
pxoe 1y ago
Maybe you just don't understand the difference between containers and profiles, or what is it about profiles that's useful and more useful in some cases over containers. For one, it's impossible to have separate extensions with containers. That alone is already a deal breaker, and there are many more differences. Profiles are useful when you want to have things to be actually separate, not just pretending like they are while they're all cluttered in the same profile. It's also about more completely eliminating risk of having something where it doesn't belong. It's kinda tiresome to see containers get peddled over and over as a "solution", when they're severely limited in what they offer compared to profiles. One feature set and clunky interface doesn't even get close to the use cases people have for profiles. It's not a solution.
- quesera 1y ago
  So use profiles for what profiles are good at, and containers for what containers are good at. This works well for me. I have a work profile with several containers inside, so that I can be logged into, e.g. GitHub and AWS, with multiple accounts at the same time. I also have a primary personal profile, with a few containers primarily for cookie pollution separation. I've never struggled with the "Profiles have bad UX" complaint, because I created a few different launchers for Firefox: work, personal, (a few others for special purposes like retail sites), and a default profile that launches the profile manager dialog at startup so I can select from a few dozen less-frequently-used (sometimes single-purpose) profiles. I like to keep separate things separated. This took 20 minutes to set up, 15+ years ago(?) and has been perfectly convenient for me, but I've also recently read that Mozilla is working to improve profile switching.
  - pxoe 1y ago
    >use profiles for what profiles are good at This is what I'm saying and what people who recommend containers as a "replacement" for profiles sorely miss. >20 minutes to set up Meanwhile on Chrome this just worked out of the box and didn't have UI that's been abandoned for a decade.
    - quesera 1y ago
mariusor 1y ago
Firefox does have profiles, to use them well one only needs a little UX sugar in the form of the Profile Switcher extension: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/profile-switcher/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/profile-switc...
- Vinnl 1y ago
  Firefox proper is getting the ux sugar too, as the article mentioned: https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profile-management https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profile-management
  - mariusor 1y ago
    Cool, looking forward to that. The extension needs a host application that needs to be installed on the machine to be able to perform some actions.
celsoazevedo 1y ago
Personally I want (and use) both. Containers are useful, but they're still containers. If you want different extensions, bookmarks, settings, etc, for work and personal stuff, then you need profiles and obviously you want to be able to switch between both easily.
coldtea 1y ago
>It's weird how people always complain about lack of easy profile switching in Firefox. If one tells them that what they are really looking for is containers, they dismiss containers, but then proceed to complain that profiles don't have the same features. I don't see anything weird in people asking for profiles. If anything your suggestion sounds weird.

codepoet80 1y ago

Agreed. Containers are the reason I use Firefox -- they are a much better fit than profiles. But I've not been able to successfully communicate that to Chrome users. Its like their mental model is stuck, and they can't grasp the differences.

reddit_clone 1y ago
Yep. Containers are great. But haven't seen anyone else using it near me though. One feature I was missing from Chrome was Tab Groups. But recently (I don't know when it started) the feature showed up in FireFox too :-)
celsoazevedo 1y ago
Containers are a better fit for... what containers do. They're the wrong tool when you want to separate, let's say, personal and work bookmarks, extensions, etc. For example, I have a main profile where I have personal bookmarks and different extensions (and more aggressive adblocking). I also have a work profile with a different theme, different bookmarks, extensions, etc. And I use containers in both. Containers are nice, but they're not profiles. We have to understand that not everyone can or wants to have one profile with everything in it.
prinny_ 1y ago
As a Firefox user I could also say the same for other Firefox users. Every time profiles are mentioned and people mention containers it feels like they don’t get the use case. I want a dev profile with dev book marks and a daily profile with my non dev bookmarks. And I would also like dev plugins on one profile and different themes between these profiles. I believe this is something containers can’t offer.

heatmiser 1y ago

I want both ;D I want profiles to have different partitions of plugins and browser configurations. I want containers to partition my browsing data. I want my Mozilla account to sync my browser history across all my profiles.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

monkey26 1y ago

I want profiles. For example, work and personal. Different bookmarks, different plugins. Even some different settings.

williamscales 1y ago
In my recollection, Firefox used to ask you which profile you wanted to use on launch. I don't think I've seen that in years.
- birn559 1y ago
  You can decide if you want to get asked at startup.
- precompute 1y ago
  IIRC you can use the -p flag to open that menu on launch. It also opens when you haven't set a default profile. And it's possible to access other profiles via about:profiles.
Incipient 1y ago
As a contractor, this is absolutely critical for me, and one reason I still use edge (along with edge syncing with client ad accounts).
- theshrike79 1y ago
  This is why I like Safari, it has completely separate profiles. My work profile is logged into my work Gmail + AWS Personal profile has my personal Google account. The two won't mix.
SigmundurM 1y ago
Firefox now has improved Profile mangement https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-management https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-management
- 1y ago

felixding 1y ago

Meanwhile, it’s not weird that people think what other people actually want are weird.

pxoe 1y ago

Maybe you just don't understand the difference between containers and profiles, or what is it about profiles that's useful and more useful in some cases over containers. For one, it's impossible to have separate extensions with containers. That alone is already a deal breaker, and there are many more differences. Profiles are useful when you want to have things to be actually separate, not just pretending like they are while they're all cluttered in the same profile. It's also about more completely eliminating risk of having something where it doesn't belong. It's kinda tiresome to see containers get peddled over and over as a "solution", when they're severely limited in what they offer compared to profiles. One feature set and clunky interface doesn't even get close to the use cases people have for profiles. It's not a solution.

quesera 1y ago
So use profiles for what profiles are good at, and containers for what containers are good at. This works well for me. I have a work profile with several containers inside, so that I can be logged into, e.g. GitHub and AWS, with multiple accounts at the same time. I also have a primary personal profile, with a few containers primarily for cookie pollution separation. I've never struggled with the "Profiles have bad UX" complaint, because I created a few different launchers for Firefox: work, personal, (a few others for special purposes like retail sites), and a default profile that launches the profile manager dialog at startup so I can select from a few dozen less-frequently-used (sometimes single-purpose) profiles. I like to keep separate things separated. This took 20 minutes to set up, 15+ years ago(?) and has been perfectly convenient for me, but I've also recently read that Mozilla is working to improve profile switching.
- pxoe 1y ago
  >use profiles for what profiles are good at This is what I'm saying and what people who recommend containers as a "replacement" for profiles sorely miss. >20 minutes to set up Meanwhile on Chrome this just worked out of the box and didn't have UI that's been abandoned for a decade.
  - quesera 1y ago

mariusor 1y ago

Firefox does have profiles, to use them well one only needs a little UX sugar in the form of the Profile Switcher extension: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/profile-switcher/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/profile-switc...

Vinnl 1y ago
Firefox proper is getting the ux sugar too, as the article mentioned: https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profile-management https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profile-management
- mariusor 1y ago
  Cool, looking forward to that. The extension needs a host application that needs to be installed on the machine to be able to perform some actions.

celsoazevedo 1y ago

Personally I want (and use) both. Containers are useful, but they're still containers. If you want different extensions, bookmarks, settings, etc, for work and personal stuff, then you need profiles and obviously you want to be able to switch between both easily.

coldtea 1y ago

>It's weird how people always complain about lack of easy profile switching in Firefox. If one tells them that what they are really looking for is containers, they dismiss containers, but then proceed to complain that profiles don't have the same features. I don't see anything weird in people asking for profiles. If anything your suggestion sounds weird.