# Firefox is losing its way



## The red spirit (Sep 29, 2015)

I personally didn't use Firefox when it was at its best (mid 00s - late 00s), but I remember that it was considered to be the beast of web browsers. Sadly, I think that reality just doesn't live up to that anymore.

*Speed*
It's sometimes okay, sometimes not. It has nasty habit of running slowly on random computers for no reason. Adjusting active process number sometimes fixes that, sometimes not. Brave or Opera annihilate it. It certainly doesn't help that there still isn't any tracker blocker integrated. In Opera there is and it makes it way faster than Opera without it and uBlock Origin. 

*Configurability*
The legendary due of configurability have always been Opera and Firefox. They both changed. Opera still has higher than average configurability and feature count. Firefox doesn't. I dunno, there's not much anything different in it compared to Chrome, which is pretty restricted. It offers some interface modifications, but they are minimal. Firefox fork Pale Moon and Opera fork (which is Chromium fork) Vivaldi offer far more settings that you can adjust. Some of them are questionable if they should even exist (tabs on the left or right, instead of top), but if you want, you can change a lot. Firefox doesn't offer anything great.

*RAM hog*
It uses similar amount of RAM as Chrome, not good. 

*CPU hog*
For some reason during page load it loads CPU a lot. A library computer with Phenom X4 was brought to knees and suffered long loading times. My personal FX 6300 based machine is often loaded too much and it sometimes struggles too. Why? I dunno, Opera, Brave or Chromium are much lighter and achieve the same thing. Opera specifically even works fine on ancient single core machines, Firefox freezes.

*Quantum*
It was hyped a lot and well, there's nothing great about it. Definitely doesn't live up to what it was promised to be.

*Privacy*
For some reason it's often still known to be a great browser for privacy. Well, I don't see why. Without add-ons it's just slightly better than Chrome and inferior to Opera. Brave annihilates them all. Pale Moon offers more privacy tools. Firefox is really trailing behind. It only beats Chrome, which is a cruel joke in privacy communities.

*Loss of identity*
I remember that Firefox was once a non-profit organization, but lately they have been into random shit with Google. I remember that its goal was to bring new web standards quickly, for last decade it is trailing behind Chromium based browsers in HTML 5 test. Something as simple as that isn't fixed and is completely ignored. That's not how it should be. It is only better than some small projects and forks, like Pale Moon, Midori...

*Security*
I don't say that it's a bad browser for security, but it barely offers any security tools. It's beaten by Pale Moon, which is based on ancient Firefox version and updated by small community. Maybe it can be better with add ons, but something so essential shouldn't come like that. It should be enabled by default for maximum security and left optional in settings for user to configure it however he wants.

*Add ons*
Nothing bad about them, except FF ditching them all in the past and adopting new platform, but there's nothing special about FF add ons. They exist, there's a lot of choice, but it seem that Chromium based browsers have more choice. Well, it's not really bad, but just that it was known for being a leader in add ons, yet it no longer is.

*Mobile Firefox stinks*
Early Android FF versions were pretty horribly, they ran slow (waiting 50 seconds to open web pages, well it could be blamed on primitive hardware of that time), stuff was barely supported, it sucked at rendering HTML 5 and UI was garbage, it didn't have add ons either. Now it's considerably faster, yet compared to others it's slightly slower, now it supports desktop add ons, but the problem is that they aren't made for mobile, so their interface often looks really bad or suffers from usability problems. UI is even worse than it was. It has too many layers of menus and windows, it's just confusing and painful to navigate. Configurability is pretty decent, but settings are often lacking, sometimes there are too many settings for crap that doesn't matter. It would be okay if it was some sort of experimental project, but it's Firefox and major name it's a poor design.


My point here is that Firefox is losing its identity. It's no longer a thing that it was once famous for. Sure, times change and all, but there are some browsers that saved their identity, even when implementing big changes. That's Opera. It has been out there for more than 20 years and it's still innovative, highly configurable browser and unpopular browser. It's good that it's not really popular, but it has mostly saved it's face even if project was sold to other owners and they abandoned their own web rendering engine. Firefox didn't really have any so major changes, yet it keeps losing itself. What I find very disgusting about it is that it drowns in its own mediocricy. No longer it is a vigorous and ambitious leader of browsers, it's just yet another browser that fails to stand out in sea of web browsers. I really don't understand why it's still so popular. It makes no sense for mediocre product to be widely used, when there are so many better fitting alternatives for different needs (Security - Pale Moon; Privacy - Tor/Brave/Epic; Configurability - Vivaldi; Innovator - Opera; Most balanced - Chromium, Opera, Data saving - Opera; Fastest - Brave; Most compatible - Chrome; Best integration - Chrome; Battery saving - Edge, Opera). Firefox is the epitome of jack of all trades and master of none.


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## The red spirit (Sep 29, 2015)

Small update:

Since there recently was Opera update to version 64, situation changed a bit. Now it has built in tracker blocker, which is way faster than uBlock Origin and seemingly works decently. Most companies wouldn't deal with tracker blocking, because ad companies can put them in court (shit like that happened with uBlock and Brave browser, I think). This and many other great features of Opera clearly shows that it's the most consumer focused browser out there. At this point Opera has way more features (such as Opera Turbo, battery saver, advanced instant search and etc) than any other major web browser, it's lighting fast, very customizable (only Vivaldi beats it slightly, but it suffers from poor Vivaldi interface integration into Chromium and as result it has two settings menu, one is Vivaldi's and other is Chromium's) and good looking web browser. It's truly the best web browser at this point.


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## Convex (Jan 5, 2015)

i just use chrome


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## Theodore (Jul 6, 2011)

Story checks out. Switched to Opera early this year because Firefox was virtually unusable.


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## The red spirit (Sep 29, 2015)

Convex said:


> i just use chrome


Almost literally any functional browser is better than it. Why? Because Chrome is spyware and bloatware. If you like Chrome, it's better to use Brave or Chromium. They feel similar to use, but actually work better.


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## Convex (Jan 5, 2015)

The red spirit said:


> Almost literally any functional browser is better than it. Why? Because Chrome is spyware and bloatware. If you like Chrome, it's better to use Brave or Chromium. They feel similar to use, but actually work better.


i'll check it out


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## The red spirit (Sep 29, 2015)

Convex said:


> i'll check it out


If you are really doing to try them out, don't forget to check their settings and in case of Brave you should read what shields and BAT wallet does.


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## VinnieBob (Mar 24, 2014)

Oh you non Mac users and your silly window problemsh:


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## The red spirit (Sep 29, 2015)

Satanbobevilpants said:


> Oh you non Mac users and your silly window problemsh:


Firefox is on Mac too, so is Chrome. Safari is only okay.


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## VinnieBob (Mar 24, 2014)

I had Firefox in my pre Mac days and it crashed constantly 
I’m good with safari


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## The red spirit (Sep 29, 2015)

Satanbobevilpants said:


> I had Firefox in my pre Mac days and it crashed constantly
> I’m good with safari


Whatever suits your needs is okay. There are many great browsers out there, you just have to discover those. This thread is a reminder of that and that big names may not mean the best experience.


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## VinnieBob (Mar 24, 2014)

For what I use it for it works just fine


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## Bunniculla (Jul 17, 2017)

I’ve used Firefox for years and still do. It’s fast and reliable for my needs. It doesn’t usually crash. I use Chrome and Chromium for work but that’s only because the applications I need seem to be designed to work better with Chrome. Personally, I prefer Firefox’s simple, clean layout. To me, it’s very user friendly. I haven’t really looked into other browsers though.


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## HAL (May 10, 2014)

I stopped using Chrome because it was such a RAM/CPU hog. A fucking web browser using all the laptop's resources, it was absurd!

I then moved over to Firefox. 

It was okay for a while, and specially good for web development, which is part of my job. However, I eventually had to stop using it. 

Firstly it was the constant updates. It seemed like literally every single day there would be a new update. 

Then they changed EVERYTHING. They claimed it was some kind of new security feature, meaning after doing what I thought was another mostly harmless update, I lost EVERYTHING on my Firefox account. Bookmarks, passwords, the lot, all gone.

Okay, it wasn't actually gone, it was hidden in some kind of 'Profile' folder on my computer, which I had to manually track down and reconnect back to the new 'secure' version of Firefox. But it all never worked right ever again. I eventually had to roll back to an old version of Firefox, just to recover my old account and browser settings. It sorta-kinda worked, but I was then pestered every day to update my browser to the newer (shitty) version that I didn't want.

Very soon after that, I quit Firefox. I have no idea what the fuck they're trying to do any more. It's a fucking web browser, not a rocket ship.

Even after I gave up on Chrome, I have now gone back to Chrome and am having a way better experience.

Seriously, WTF did those guys at Firefox do? They totally ruined a great thing.


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## The red spirit (Sep 29, 2015)

HAL said:


> I stopped using Chrome because it was such a RAM/CPU hog. A fucking web browser using all the laptop's resources, it was absurd!





HAL said:


> Then they changed EVERYTHING. They claimed it was some kind of new security feature, meaning after doing what I thought was another mostly harmless update, I lost EVERYTHING on my Firefox account. Bookmarks, passwords, the lot, all gone.


Why not get both? There are browsers with low resource usage and less aggressive updata politics.


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## HAL (May 10, 2014)

The red spirit said:


> Why not get both? There are browsers with low resource usage and less aggressive updata politics.


I need a browser with good developer tools.

Right click anywhere on your page and click 'Inspect'. All the stuff that pops up in that side menu is very useful for web development, which is a big part of my day job. 

Google Chrome really isn't that bad anyway. Specially not compared to Firefox. Plus I have a better laptop now, so Chrome presents no issues at all.


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## The red spirit (Sep 29, 2015)

HAL said:


> I need a browser with good developer tools.
> 
> Right click anywhere on your page and click 'Inspect'. All the stuff that pops up in that side menu is very useful for web development, which is a big part of my day job.
> 
> Google Chrome really isn't that bad anyway. Specially not compared to Firefox. Plus I have a better laptop now, so Chrome presents no issues at all.


Literally any Chromium based based browser has that functionality. Maybe you should try Ungoogled Chromium build or something lightweight like Brave.


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## HAL (May 10, 2014)

The red spirit said:


> Literally any Chromium based based browser has that functionality. Maybe you should try Ungoogled Chromium build or something lightweight like Brave.


Cool, I had no idea those kinds of things existed.

Everything I ever read about browsers was that they're really, _really_ hard to make, so it's best to stick with the known names.

I guess I was behind the times. Thanks!


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## The red spirit (Sep 29, 2015)

HAL said:


> Cool, I had no idea those kinds of things existed.
> 
> Everything I ever read about browsers was that they're really, _really_ hard to make, so it's best to stick with the known names.
> 
> I guess I was behind the times. Thanks!


Cool thing about Ungoogled Chromium is that there's zero learning curve, it's literally a Chrome without any Google stuff. Another cool thing is that you can choose if you want a stable or latest version. I think that something like that can come handy for web development.

Brave is based on Chromium. It has integrated tacker blocker, HTTPS upgrader, can block device recognition attempts, can block cookies and scripts. While those features are mostly made for privacy conscious users, they may be useful in web development too for finding bugs. Similar results can be achieved by using ungoogled Chromium, with uBlock Origin and HTTPS everywhere add ons, but supposedly their deeper integration in Brave lets them work faster and as result load pages faster. And for users it offers to use their unique ad service, where it replaces ads with it's won, then you get points for seeing ads and you can directly support content creators with your generated ad revenue or convert points (they work like cryptocurrencies) into real money. This functionality currently is only available in some countries, but it's pretty neat. I think it also has features like integrated torrent client and media router. It's like Chrome, but it's way more consumer focused.


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## HAL (May 10, 2014)

The red spirit said:


> Cool thing about Ungoogled Chromium is that there's zero learning curve, it's literally a Chrome without any Google stuff. Another cool thing is that you can choose if you want a stable or latest version. I think that something like that can come handy for web development.
> 
> Brave is based on Chromium. It has integrated tacker blocker, HTTPS upgrader, can block device recognition attempts, can block cookies and scripts. While those features are mostly made for privacy conscious users, they may be useful in web development too for finding bugs. Similar results can be achieved by using ungoogled Chromium, with uBlock Origin and HTTPS everywhere add ons, but supposedly their deeper integration in Brave lets them work faster and as result load pages faster. And for users it offers to use their unique ad service, where it replaces ads with it's won, then you get points for seeing ads and you can directly support content creators with your generated ad revenue or convert points (they work like cryptocurrencies) into real money. This functionality currently is only available in some countries, but it's pretty neat. I think it also has features like integrated torrent client and media router. It's like Chrome, but it's way more consumer focused.


I've gone with Brave.

They won me on their speed claims. Also the privacy/ads thing is really cool.

So far so good!


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