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Firefox 5 Details: Sharing, Home Tab, PDF Viewer
An anonymous reader writes "Firefox 4 may be still new, but Firefox 5 is already being prepared by Mozilla. At least the UI features have been laid out by the Mozilla team — there are nine new features in total. There are some features that are replicating Chrome functionality (tab multi-select or an integrated PDF viewer that will also extend to other file formats), but there are completely new features such as tab web apps, an identity manager a home tab that replaces the home button as well as a social sharing feature that is integrated in the URL bar and enables users to post directly to their Facebook and Twitter pages."
I do not like it.
It's bad enough I always have to yank out PDF-in-browser add-ins and settings, now I'll have to do it even more with Firefox having a built in viewer. Why does anyone want an in-browser PDF viewer?
We need a security and functionality oriented fork ASAP. Performance matters also.
Nobody asked for changes to the interface. The interface to Firefox was never broken and nobody complained about it.
Nobody asked for the "awesome bar" or whatever the hell that is. If it improves productivity then fine, tabs make sense, but the majority of this shit is just gimmicks. Integrating the cloud makes sense but not when it's specifically "facebook" and "twitter", but to allow anyone to select anything and make it completely transparent and open. They are going commercial in a really bad sell out kind of way, and you can tell the developers I said it.
Why not just take the Chromium tree and figure out how to run Firefox extensions on there and just call that Firefox? Would save time and have much better memory use and performance. Firefox is basically converging on a Chrome clone with slightly worse performance and some dumb UI hacks that will end up largely unused/abandoned (like Panorama).
Isn't all this what the extension ecosystem is for? Why would a team that already is overwhelmed by the task of testing its product incorporate MORE features to test? My main issue with Firefox right now is not a lack of Facebook integration (-_-) but the obvious memory leakage in the released FF 4 with AdBlock/NoScript, which was present through the entire last half of the beta cycle.
Mozilla has really wandered off the reservation here. I want a solid, fast browser that supports the great extensions that Mozilla didn't write, and continues to support developments in the core web standards space. If I want Chrome or Flock, I'll just download those, seriously.
Hell, if they want to cram more and more non-core crap into the browser why not do something similar to Eclipse, where you download either the basic version or purpose-based packages which already include the necessary plugins/items? After all, the add-on system exists for a reason.
I think it's because of the hubris of calling it "awesome". Some people were bound to not like it, but being told it's awesome when you don't like it makes them feel like it's being forced on them by completely out of touch developers.
Are they trying to drive me to Chrome? I don't want any of that crap.
They need to fix the massive memory leaks. I don't need any features. Spending a year making it more robust.
Right now with 4 simple tabs open(Win7-64), FF4 is consuming 650 MBs. I have to restart it every hour or two as it just keeps growing and growing.
It is my favorite browser for features, but the memory leaks are ridiculous (note the Windows build seems to leak more than Linux/Mac builds from what I read).
If FF5 adds a bunch of lame features and doesn't fix the fundamentals, I am gone.
PS: From the time I typed 650MB above till I previewed and ready to submit, FF4 memory usage as increased to 725 MB...
What happened to the slim, extensible browser? Good god. The whole point of Firefox is that it was supposed to be a slim browser that additional features could be added through extensions. Just add another interface to add features that you like but are not supported due to some shortcoming in that system. All of this is more and more features and UI changes that not everyone wants added into the browser. Add a new theme that does tabs on top, while keeping the old one for people who do not. Add a default extension to do social networking in the awesome bar. As I said in the subject: this bazaar is now a cathedral. Maybe most people like cathedrals because they are simpler for them, but do not be one while claiming that you are a bazaar.
I'm sticking with Firefox 3.6x for as long as possible - it's very stable and runs well.
Firefox is making many of same mistakes Netscape did by trying to be everything to everyone.
On a related topic, the strong push to integrate social networking and apps into upcoming versions of the browser makes me wonder if Facebook is heavily influencing the development of Firefox these days.
Ron
I dunno... I like the awesomebar.
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All new features in firefox should be implemented as extensions. That is all.
Well its something people use. I'm pretty sure adding new sites will be as simple as adding search engines to the bar.
The amount of people who use those services is large enough that this integration will be seen as a good thing by many, and if you're not interested - turn it off.
Once upon a time there was a browser named Mozilla, also known as Mozilla Application Suite, which grew and grew. It became a huge pile of bloat. A few developers refused the bloat started an experimental branch at Mozilla which eventually evolved into Firefox. Their goal was to create a mean lean browser without the bloat. This path was good. The new "let's throw in as much bloat as possible" path is a total scandal. I really hope some clever people take firefox 3.6.x and use that as a basis for development of their own without-the-bloat branch. I've used the Firefox browser since it was named Phoenix, and I do think it's gone downwards since a while ago. evince or okular or whatever read PDF files just fine. Having a PDF reader and a pile of dunkey dung built into my browser is not required or desired.
9/11: Never forget it was a false-flag operation
When Mozilla 5's codebase got too unwieldy, they rebooted it for what we now call SeaMonkey. When what would later be called SeaMonkey's codebase got too unwieldy, they rebooted it for what we now call Firefox. Is it perhaps time for another reboot?
The backend work done for FF4 is good and much appreciated, but the it sounds like the team is resting on its laurels again: it thinks the work on the basics is done. Standards support is still not where it needs to be, yet they're working on fluff like site-specific browsers. It sounds like it's time for someone to go back to the basics again: just a browser in the core, with a good extension model for people to hack all these things into for people who actually want them.
So what are you going to do, switch to Chrome 10?
if you're not interested - turn it off.
Let's all hope that turning it off is even an option.
You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC
Back during the 2.x era there was a substantial memory leak which caused serious trouble under normal circumstances. But that has long since been fixed, anybody saying that at this point is probably either a troll or blaming it on an extension with a memory leak.
I am not trolling. I love Firefox. It is by far my preferred browser.
If I have to ditch my Extensions, then Firefox wouldn't be my preferred any more. Extensions make the browser IMO.
I kept Firefox open since my first post. It is now consuming a whopping 1.4 GB with three tabs open...
If it is extensions, Firefox has to sandbox, isolate, control them.
That should be a much higher priority than adding a bunch of useless fluff.