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Google Restores Backspace Functionality To Chrome With an Add-on (betanews.com)

Posted by msmash on from the faith-restored dept.

In May, Google upset many users when it announced it was going to stop the backspace button from also functioning as the back button. If you're among the ones who felt let down by company's decision, there is something you can do about it now. Alan Buckingham, writing for BetaNews: If you don't want to go to the effort of moving your mouse pointer to the back arrow at the left of the address bar to go back to the previous site, you can now install the new Go Back With Backspace add-on. The official description reads, "Go back with the backspace button! This extension re-enables the backspace key as a back navigation button -- except if you're writing text". The reason given for all of this, according to Google, is "many people lost their progress while working online by accidentally pressing backspace and leaving a page -- so we removed the feature from Chrome, and created this extension for those who prefer the old behavior".

141 comments

  1. WELL THANK YOU FOR NOTHING US GOV. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nobody uses Chrome it is just spyware. Google's Eric Schmidt fucked everything up. (pentagon)

    1. Re:WELL THANK YOU FOR NOTHING US GOV. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ^^^ nice first post here. Chrome browser sucks.

    2. Re:WELL THANK YOU FOR NOTHING US GOV. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The best browsers:

      1) Pale Moon
      2) Chromium

      Anything else is pure shit.

    3. Re:WELL THANK YOU FOR NOTHING US GOV. by desdinova+216 · · Score: 1

      is this FBI stuff the new Moo, or apps?

    4. Re:WELL THANK YOU FOR NOTHING US GOV. by tsqr · · Score: 1

      is this FBI stuff the new Moo, or apps?

      Haven't you heard? FBI and APPS are for cows. FBI, say the cows. APPS, say the cows. FBI! APPS! You're all a bunch of FBI APPing cows. Or something like that, anyway.

    5. Re:WELL THANK YOU FOR NOTHING US GOV. by amicusNYCL · · Score: 1

      What's with all these AC FBI posts where you respond to yourself promoting your own posts? When did that start?

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    6. Re:WELL THANK YOU FOR NOTHING US GOV. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Slashdot is actually directed by the FBI now.

    7. Re:WELL THANK YOU FOR NOTHING US GOV. by desdinova+216 · · Score: 1

      has netcraft confirmed this?

  2. Why isn't this configurable? by Pseudonymous+Powers · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Shouldn't this be configurable?

    Is this already configurable?

    1. Re:Why isn't this configurable? by HumanWiki · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I'm with this option... I get why it was removed. I've been the victim of losing work due to backspace back a page issue. But, I'm also annoyed that it's gone, because I used it frequently.

      Instead of them being so binary, they could have just made it a configurable option.

    2. Re:Why isn't this configurable? by Rockoon · · Score: 1

      Wouldnt a better solution be to save the state of the page you are backing off of, restoring it if the user then advances forward to it again?

      Whats the point of the forward button if not to enable things like that?

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    3. Re:Why isn't this configurable? by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Oblig XKCD

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    4. Re: Why isn't this configurable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because the state of the form might be littered with Ajax operations such that simply refilling in the form won't accurately reflect the state of the page before it unloaded.

    5. Re:Why isn't this configurable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, it should be and is already configurable! All you have to do to configure it is to download the extension.

    6. Re: Why isn't this configurable? by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 2

      Because the state of the form might be littered with Ajax operations such that simply refilling in the form won't accurately reflect the state of the page before it unloaded.

      Right, he's saying that the state should be preserved. And it should be. ctrl-shift-t to re-open a tab can already do this - forward should as well.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    7. Re: Why isn't this configurable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Are you freaking kidding me?

      My computer and operating system can freeze their entire state into memory (suspend) or disk (hibernate) and resume operating almost as if nothing had happened. Only a few things suddenly stop working (wifi), but they are quickly recovered.

      If I am using virtual machines, I can freeze an entire running OS (including running applications, open sockets etc), ship it into another computer and then resume running it IN COMPLETELY DIFFERENT HARDWARE with minimal breakage.

      And you're telling me that the snowflakes that develop browsers can't figure out how to freeze the current state of the page (that 99% of the times will just be static HTML) and then restore it at a later time?

    8. Re: Why isn't this configurable? by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      It's possible that the remote state was made invalid when the page was left.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    9. Re: Why isn't this configurable? by Qzukk · · Score: 1

      I just wrote a comment to you and closed the window. Ctrl-shift-t restored the window, but did not restore the comment. It can be argued that Chrome ought to store the exact state of the window including all javascript junk, but it currently does not.

      This also annoys me when Chrome unloads a background tab and loses all the form data.

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    10. Re: Why isn't this configurable? by tlhIngan · · Score: 3, Informative

      I just wrote a comment to you and closed the window. Ctrl-shift-t restored the window, but did not restore the comment. It can be argued that Chrome ought to store the exact state of the window including all javascript junk, but it currently does not.

      And that's the root of the problem. Chrome does not save the state of the form.

      IE and Firefox preserve the state of forms - IE just basic form data, but Firefox seems to preserve the entire state, and Chrome... does neither.

      In fact, I think Firefox does this extremely well - preserving the state has gotten better and better lately. This might be Firefox's one big redeeming quality of late.

    11. Re: Why isn't this configurable? by epyT-R · · Score: 2

      Part of the problem is we treat a document browser as an application platform.

    12. Re: Why isn't this configurable? by Qzukk · · Score: 2

      Chrome DOES save the state of plain HTML forms when closing/reopening the window, but since the javascript/DOM state isn't saved, the comment box itself no longer exists when the page is reopened.

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    13. Re:Why isn't this configurable? by amicusNYCL · · Score: 1

      That's exactly what I was thinking. They could have made this a checkbox option in the settings page, but instead they removed the feature and then published an add-on to add it back in only 3 months later. All they had to do was add a checkbox and add an if statement into their key handler, that probably would have taken less than 3 months.

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    14. Re: Why isn't this configurable? by Rockoon · · Score: 1

      Because the state of the form might be littered with Ajax operations

      Which is why the solution proposed literally begins with "save the state..."

      ...is it me or has the nerdity of anonymous posters gone way downhill?

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    15. Re: Why isn't this configurable? by amicusNYCL · · Score: 2

      Part of the problem is that some people assume the internet is a collection of static documents.

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    16. Re:Why isn't this configurable? by sexconker · · Score: 1

      Yup. FF saves your state, even if you're 3 miles down a JS/AJAX hole. Just hit shift+backspace and you're golden.
      My guess is that if Chrome did this it would take another dozen processes and a few extra GB of RAM.

    17. Re: Why isn't this configurable? by epyT-R · · Score: 1

      Yet others assumed the browser/html = the internet.

    18. Re:Why isn't this configurable? by skids · · Score: 2

      "There's an app for this basic functionality that should just be an option" is one of the reasons I usually do not use chrome.

      Seriously, it's probably like 40 lines of code to have a config option, check it, and if set map a key to an already defined action (unless your codebase is collapsing under its own weight.) This is not worth the cruft of another app in the ecosystem.

      --
      Someone had to do it.
    19. Re:Why isn't this configurable? by Waccoon · · Score: 1

      Why make a simple script when you can have another "app"?

    20. Re: Why isn't this configurable? by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      Freezing the state of a page would break the intended functionality of a lot of pages, because either you save the state before doing the onexit and onunload events, and have data that may have been invalidated by them, or you save the state after them... when the state is absolutely nothing.

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
    21. Re:Why isn't this configurable? by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      But, I'm also annoyed that it's gone, because I used it frequently.

      Instead of them being so binary, they could have just made it a configurable option.

      They should simply be promoting Alt+left arrow hard as the alternative. It has existed in all browsers since the days of Netscape Navigator, it is not shared with any other common operation, and all-in-all is very difficult to do unintentionally. There are webpages out there that switch focus away from form elements unexpectedly, and that's where backspace-as-back-button gets very dangerous.

      I recently used a site where if you delete all the text in a textbox, the keyboard focus goes back to the page. Major design flaw - if you delete by holding down backspace, you're almost certainly going to end up going back a page. It took me ages to buy that ticket....

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
    22. Re:Why isn't this configurable? by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      But this way they get inertia on their side. Google rightly wants to see an end to backspace-as-back-button, and through this action they have made sure it will never again be ubiquitous. Once people get used to Alt+left arrow, we can get rid of this abomination entirely.

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
    23. Re: Why isn't this configurable? by tepples · · Score: 1

      And that came about because not everybody wants to have to make an application five times over: once for Windows, once for macOS, once for X11/Linux, once for iOS, and once for Android.

    24. Re: Why isn't this configurable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, no one cared about that when web pages started to get more complex. All you did was make an application for Windows. There was no IOS or Android, Linux didn't matter, and most businesses ignored Apple. The web gave businesses control. No more customer support, no more testing installation on a bunch of different hardware, easy metrics on who/what/when/how people use your product, easy updates, subscription models were it was easier to cut non-subscribers off, etc...

      But we could have skipped the web. It would have been easier to create standard APIs for all devices than it has been to morph HTML into that API. But no, companies would lose control doing that.

    25. Re: Why isn't this configurable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not how you freeze the state of a page. When you freeze it you don't trigger events nor do you trigger more events when you unfreeze it. It should be the equivalent of pulling the net connection then plugging it back in. If the webpage can survive that, then there's no reason why it can't be restored.

      You can do all that in virtual machines. Start a VM, do to some highly dynamic site, suspend the VM, move it to a different computer, resume the VM, and the site may or may not ask you to re-login the next time you click on something. So that's proof that it can be done. Browsers writers are too incompetent to do it. Their engine developers seem to be better, but the rest of them really suck. Or maybe it's management. This feature would be a huge selling point (until everyone else quickly copied it) but no, no one does it. You can't earn money by directly adding that feature. They haven't realized they could tie in their cloud services and make it so you could pick up exactly where you stopped browsing on a different device. Technically, it can all be done.

    26. Re: Why isn't this configurable? by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      You're talking about persistent state across devices? Sorry, with sites rendering in device-dependent configurations, that sound like a really bad idea.

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
  3. But Backspace as Browser-Back really sucks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I actually really hate that backspace ever did what it did. Realy sucks when you are filling out a form and try and delete some text only to have accidentally left the box and now have your whole form thrown away.

    1. Re:But Backspace as Browser-Back really sucks. by gweilo8888 · · Score: 2

      Exactly. As someone who has to work in the browser all day, every day, this "feature" lost me SO much work it's just not funny.

      It's also not as if this was the only option other than your mouse, either. Alt-Left Arrow does the *exact* same thing, but not with a single key so it's far harder to bump by mistake. You're welcome.

    2. Re:But Backspace as Browser-Back really sucks. by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      As a side note... If you do hit the Backspace key in chrome. A little message appears saying if you want to go back you use that hotkey.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    3. Re:But Backspace as Browser-Back really sucks. by Sowelu · · Score: 1

      Alt-left-arrow has issues with keyboard configurations and with accessibility for some users. I can't use it as anything resembling a shortcut, I need a one-key solution. Very glad to see it's configuratble (though why not allow remapping to some other button--like, I dunno, pause/break?)

    4. Re: But Backspace as Browser-Back really sucks. by gweilo8888 · · Score: 1

      I've never seen any such message in Chrome on Windows *or* Android, and I've seen the back "bug" (at least, I consider it to be one because it's such an awful design) many, many times.

    5. Re: But Backspace as Browser-Back really sucks. by gweilo8888 · · Score: 1

      If there are problems for certain users due to their input devices then you fix the problems in those devices, you don't force a suboptimal solution on all users instead.

    6. Re:But Backspace as Browser-Back really sucks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I always use control left/right arrow anyhow. I've always thought backspace, which is a text editing key, should not be a movement function.

    7. Re: But Backspace as Browser-Back really sucks. by Qzukk · · Score: 1

      They added the notification pop up in the update to Chrome where they took away the backspace command. If you press backspace outside of a form several times it will pop up.

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    8. Re:But Backspace as Browser-Back really sucks. by amicusNYCL · · Score: 2

      Haven't you cave dwellers heard of mouse gestures? New tab, close tab, back, forward, you can do any of those in a fraction of a second without taking your hand off the thing you use to browse the internet anyway (not that thing, the other thing).

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    9. Re:But Backspace as Browser-Back really sucks. by sexconker · · Score: 1

      With your logic, I'd say the arrow keys are for caret positioning and they should not be used for history navigation.

      backspace for back is pretty damned standard and it's great. Every input other than the secure attention key (CTRL+ALT+DELETE), a long-press of the power button, and the reset button is context-sensitive.

      Did they disable Enter/Return submitting the form when you're not in a textarea element as well? Submitting a form early has just as many problems.

    10. Re:But Backspace as Browser-Back really sucks. by epyT-R · · Score: 1

      Make sure you click on or tab to the element you're working with to be sure the keypress is registered correctly. This has been this way since the beginning. Why is it suddenly a problem now?

    11. Re:But Backspace as Browser-Back really sucks. by epyT-R · · Score: 2

      Since this isn't merely about browsing but active use of a browser as an application platform, it makes sense to only use the mouse when necessary.

    12. Re:But Backspace as Browser-Back really sucks. by Dagger2 · · Score: 1

      But why hate backspace-as-back rather than hating the fact that going back destroys your form data?

      Surely that's the real issue we should be fixing here, not trying to paper over it by making it harder to go back.

    13. Re:But Backspace as Browser-Back really sucks. by johnw · · Score: 2

      Agreed - it was a really stupid mis-feature in early browsers which has unfortunately been carried on and some people have become used to it and don't want to lose it. Although "Backspace" and "Go back" both contain the four-letter sequence "back", they actually do completely different things and the key should never have been overloaded to do something so totally different.

      It probably seemed like a good idea at the time to the person who thought of it, and unfortunately he or she implemented it without really thinking it through. Much pain has thus been inflicted.

      It's a bit like the twit at Microsoft who decided to change the directory separator understood by COMMAND.COM from "/" to "\" because he wanted to use "/" for something else. (N.B. it was only ever the command shell which required this. The underlying OS has always understood "/" as a directory separator.) It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it similarly wasn't thought through and has caused endless pain since.

    14. Re:But Backspace as Browser-Back really sucks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly. Who the hell uses backspace this way?!?

      If you are using it this way please stop now. Youre doing it wrong.

      I already have a backpage button on my mouse that i never use, one on my keyboard that i never use, oh and one on the screen that i never use.

      Ever since tabbed browsing became a thing, who uses backpage?.

    15. Re:But Backspace as Browser-Back really sucks. by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      Haven't you cave dwellers heard of mouse gestures?

      The GO referred to people with accessibilty issues, and not everyone with accessibility issues can use a mouse. Many who can cannot use it with enough accuracy to use gestures. So please, don't start flinging insults at people who physically can't use a computer the same way you would.

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
    16. Re:But Backspace as Browser-Back really sucks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It sucks, but I can only remember this happening to me when playing around in Chromium (I don't use Chrome, but I imagine it's no different in this regard). While backspace as back exists in Palemoon/Firefox/old Opera I don't remember ever losing form data due to accidental backspace as back in those browsers. Makes me wonder if Chromium/Chrome is somehow handling backspace differently which makes it more susceptible to this, and rather than fixing it the solution is to just remove the feature?

  4. -_- ONLY USE FIREFOX 45.0 OR OLDER -_- by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Perform all of these on your browser:
    https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-stop-firefox-making-automatic-connections

    Then install NoScript add-on:
    Uncheck all under ABE and remove everything default permitted in the big box under XSS (google, twitter, etc)

    Then install Adblock Plus addon:
    Choose from their lists, eg. Easylist then add this custom filter by importing as CUSTOM.. you have to toggle a dialog box.
    http://pasted.co/6aeed3e0

    Just save it as a .txt file and import it as custom filter. You can re-enable at any time. For casual surfing just block Google and the rest in that rule set. To add other sites / domains follow the format demonstrated. (two pipes the domain name and a carat)

    There are more tricks but those are decent to start with. If you do use piece of shit Windows at all, I suggest you use a portable version of older Firefox so not to fuss your precious faggot ass registry.
    https://sourceforge.net/projects/portableapps/files/Mozilla%20Firefox%2C%20Portable%20Ed./
    ^ shortened here in case the formatting is lost on Slashdot: http://tinyurl.com/hfne8jt

    If I were using Windows I would suggest going with 44.0.2 from the link above. You open it, it extracts to a folder with a wizard, and then you create a shortcut to your desktop from the executable. It is not actually installed it resides in a folder hence the portable format description. If you want to associate it with Windows you can use the file association wizard and just point it to the same exe. Without it associated you simply need to open it from shortcut only.

    Why 44.0.2? Because at 45.0 Mozilla was already pressured by the US government and they removed the ability to spoof time/time zone.

    Which brings up another security measure. Set your PC clock to way off unless you need to send an outgoing email with accurate timestamp. Don't let it sync time with nist or windows time either. Just set your phone next to your screen you know what time it is.

    Special greetz lulz and fuck you's to all the feds at Slashdot. Your mom's all got grabs bitches.

    This is not the most secure of secure but it is basic security/privacy. I won't post the rest here sorry.

    1. Re: -_- ONLY USE FIREFOX 45.0 OR OLDER -_- by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I saw this in a previous story comment. I couldn't be happier, thank you.

    2. Re: -_- ONLY USE FIREFOX 45.0 OR OLDER -_- by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Is that you, APK?

    3. Re: -_- ONLY USE FIREFOX 45.0 OR OLDER -_- by desdinova+216 · · Score: 1

      I don't think it is since there's no mention of HOSTS files

    4. Re: -_- ONLY USE FIREFOX 45.0 OR OLDER -_- by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why is a browser based timestamp so important? Nothing critical should be trusting the client anyway..

    5. Re: -_- ONLY USE FIREFOX 45.0 OR OLDER -_- by skids · · Score: 1

      Doesn't screwing up the while system timestamp make it kinda hard to use cryptosystems that have timestamp-based replay protection, like SNMPv3?

      --
      Someone had to do it.
    6. Re: -_- ONLY USE FIREFOX 45.0 OR OLDER -_- by AtomicSymphonic · · Score: 1

      Why 44.0.2? Because at 45.0 Mozilla was already pressured by the US government and they removed the ability to spoof time/time zone.

      Can you tell me why I should do this? Couldn't a state-sponsored entity (that you might swear up-and-down is tracking you because who knows why) use a security bug/loophole to track you anyway regardless of turning off all communication settings with Mozilla servers?

      Yes, I'm serious.

  5. enable it? funny... I did the opposite by green1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I actually had an extension installed to DISABLE it... it was always an absolutely HORRIBLE idea. There's already the alt-left arrow combination which was far less likely to be activated accidentally while being just as easy to use on purpose.

    1. Re:enable it? funny... I did the opposite by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Alt-Left-Arrow is also far less likely to be activated accidentally by people with handicaps (missing an arm, etc.) on the many keyboards that either don't have an Alt key to the right of the spacebar, or where the right Alt key does some weird, proprietary voodoo magic.

      And by "far less likely" I meant "impossible."

    2. Re:enable it? funny... I did the opposite by QuietLagoon · · Score: 1

      ... it was always an absolutely HORRIBLE idea. ...

      For you, possibly.

      .
      But I have used the backsapce key to go back a lot. Indeed, it is present on Windows Firefox, but the Firefox that came with Debian has it disabled, and I find myself constantly hitting the backkspace key and watching nothing happen.

      I agree with another comment, it should at least be configurable. That way, both you and I can be happy. :)

    3. Re:enable it? funny... I did the opposite by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Any idea how to disable search from the address bar. For example I type "iliketurtles" in the bar I would expect an error, not a search result.

    4. Re:enable it? funny... I did the opposite by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure, I think what he meant was it was a horrible default feature because it made it far too easy to lose form data by accidentally going back.

    5. Re:enable it? funny... I did the opposite by Rakshasa+Taisab · · Score: 1

      Weird, I've never had this happen to me.

      And backspace for back is so nice as it allows you to use the same hand as for the mouse.

      --
      - These characters were randomly selected.
    6. Re:enable it? funny... I did the opposite by amicusNYCL · · Score: 1

      And backspace for back is so nice as it allows you to use the same hand as for the mouse.

      You know what else allows you to use the same hand as the mouse? Mouse gestures. Hold down the right mouse button, move the mouse left, release the button, and the browser goes back. You can open and close tabs just as quickly, open any link in a new tab, go forward, etc. Chrome needs an extension for them, but some other browsers have them built-in.

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    7. Re:enable it? funny... I did the opposite by green1 · · Score: 1

      That's exactly why "sticky keys" was developed. For those very people. They need it for hundreds of other tasks, one more is not an issue.
      You may find that demographic is less likely in general to use keyboard shortcuts at all though and will simply use the mouse.

    8. Re:enable it? funny... I did the opposite by green1 · · Score: 1

      Because you use a feature doesn't make it a good feature. It's horrible from a design consistency perspective. It's horrible from a risk of data loss perspective, it's just all around bad UI.

      You got used to it, but that doesn't mean it should have ever been offered in the first place.

    9. Re:enable it? funny... I did the opposite by green1 · · Score: 1

      If you want to use your mouse hand for back, use alt-left arrow, or use the mouse.

      This is a feature that never should have been offered in the first place. Just because some people are used to it now doesn't make it good UI

    10. Re:enable it? funny... I did the opposite by green1 · · Score: 1

      There are ways to do that, both add-ons that offer it, and I believe you can change it in the hidden settings that control everything. That said, I actually like that feature. I've never seen the need to clutter up the interface with a separate search bar. The key is really just setting it to use the right search engine.

    11. Re:enable it? funny... I did the opposite by skids · · Score: 1

      ISTR from the last time I tried to tame Chrome into something actyally useful, you define a fake search engine that just turns a URL into itself, and set it as the default. Then wish they hadn't taken the separate search engine box away, ponder whether you want to install a giant bundle of apps just to get things working sanely and deal with it when they break during upgrades, then run apt-get remove chrome.

      --
      Someone had to do it.
    12. Re:enable it? funny... I did the opposite by fox171171 · · Score: 1

      ... it was always an absolutely HORRIBLE idea. ...

      For you, possibly.

      But I have used the backsapce key to go back a lot. Indeed, it is present on Windows Firefox, but the Firefox that came with Debian has it disabled, and I find myself constantly hitting the backkspace key and watching nothing happen.

      I agree with another comment, it should at least be configurable. That way, both you and I can be happy. :)

      It may have been convenient for you, but that does not change the fact that it was a horrible idea. If you had never driven before, and built a custom car with the brake pedal and the accelerator reversed, it might work fine for you, but it would not be a good idea in general. Agree; configurability is king.

    13. Re:enable it? funny... I did the opposite by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1
      Accesible UI design is only needed in accessible UIs. Major browsers are now configurable enough that UIs can be customised to individual needs. I have a friend who drives cars with heavily modified controls. These controls would be illegal for fully able-bodied drivers as they make the car more dangerous, but they are permitted in his car as they make it possible for him to drive without using his feet, which have very limited movement.

      A one-touch-back key isn't likely to kill anyone, but it's still an error hazard.

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
    14. Re:enable it? funny... I did the opposite by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks, everything seems to be moving in the wrong direction with software, Internet and computers in general(well, not how I want it anyways). Guess my time has passed, I'm not too happy about the way the future looks.

  6. AU CONTRAIR MON FREIR -- FBI USE CHROME by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ask Slashdot: What browsers do FBI use?

    1) Chrome
    2) IE
    3) Edge
    4) anything on Debian Linux
    5) Firefox after 45.0

    1. Re:AU CONTRAIR MON FREIR -- FBI USE CHROME by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so the tax payers also pay them to spy on themselves? isn't this a waste?

    2. Re:AU CONTRAIR MON FREIR -- FBI USE CHROME by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They just sell ads on their spyware sites like this one.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtffv9bpB-U

      Then they claim you stole it if you download it. In come the G Men with all the Apple iPhone password cracks.

      dun dun dunnnn

  7. Finally! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's about time...

  8. FBI just got jealous of Firefox posts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    they wanted to tell THE WHOLE WORLD OF HAX0RZ that Chrome has add-ons.

    Little did they suspect nobody smart uses that fucking shit.

    1. Re:FBI just got jealous of Firefox posts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      gr33tz t0 4ll my haxx0r br0z

  9. Caps-Lock by QuietLagoon · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...many people lost their progress while working online by accidentally pressing backspace and leaving a page...

    wHY DOESN'T GOOGLE DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE FRIGGIN' caps-lock KEY?

    1. Re:Caps-Lock by cdrudge · · Score: 1

      Because it's not a web browser's responsibility to monitor your caps lock key state?

    2. Re:Caps-Lock by Psicopatico · · Score: 2

      ...yet.

      --
      Mastering the English language is fucking easy: all you have to do is to put an f* word in every fucking sentence.
    3. Re:Caps-Lock by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Chromebooks don't have a caps-lock key.

    4. Re:Caps-Lock by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's an idea...Chrome should interpret the caps-lock key as the quit command.

  10. ALT+LEFT by gameboyhippo · · Score: 4, Informative

    Why not just press ALT+LEFT?

    1. Re:ALT+LEFT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Because 'backspace to go back' is default behavior in a lot of programs, not just web browsers. Try it in File Explorer, for example.

      Just like F1 being a nearly universal shortcut for 'help', F2 for 'rename', F3 or CTRL+F for 'search', and so on. I shouldn't have to relearn shortcuts for common behaviors in every program I want to use.

    2. Re:ALT+LEFT by Sowelu · · Score: 1

      Two-button chords for a very frequently used shortcut is problematic for people with physical impairments, or with no right alt key.

    3. Re:ALT+LEFT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's why browsers have special a11y modes. It doesn't make any sense to design the default mode of a major product to accommodate the small percentage of potential users who are impaired in such a way as to make two-button commands difficult. No product, no system, no culture, no society perfectly accommodates everyone, especially not the fraction of 1% groups.

    4. Re:ALT+LEFT by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because 'backspace to go back' is default behavior in a lot of programs, not just web browsers. Try it in File Explorer, for example.

      Just like F1 being a nearly universal shortcut for 'help', F2 for 'rename', F3 or CTRL+F for 'search', and so on. I shouldn't have to relearn shortcuts for common behaviors in every program I want to use.

      I thought that Alt+Left and Alt+Right *are* the standard shortcuts for going backward and forward in program histories. It's worked that way in every web browser I can remember using back to the 1990s, and it works that way in Windows Explorer. The backspace key doesn't even have an obvious corresponding "forward" key.

      I wasn't aware that backspace was used to go back in history in any program. I always expect it to erase one character, or do nothing.

    5. Re:ALT+LEFT by Sigma+7 · · Score: 1

      There's already an accessibility feature known as StickyKeys. Activated by pressing left shift five times, especially during video games. When active, you can press alt once, then press the left arrow.

      If a user finds pressing backspace more convenient, then said user should be able to enter preferences and define the hotkey manually - something that should have been a core feature of browsers by now.

    6. Re:ALT+LEFT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      user should be able to enter preferences and define the hotkey manually - something that should have been a core feature of Operating Systems by now

      I find Autohotkey and its ilk to be essential these days.

    7. Re: ALT+LEFT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AFAIK, Backspace was always "up one level" in file system browsers, at least on Windows.

    8. Re:ALT+LEFT by hackertourist · · Score: 1

      Backspace to go back is a Windows-only convention. I use a Mac laptop at home and Windows at work. My laptop has a Delete key at the top right, a full-size Windows keyboard has Backspace in the same location. When editing text, their behavior is identical. In other context, Windows switches the Backspace key to mean something entirely different ("go back to the previous view, losing any changes you've made in the current one, without recourse").

      Microsoft have overloaded the key to mean two very different things depending on context. I wish this was configurable at the OS level, because it's bloody annoying.

    9. Re:ALT+LEFT by netham45 · · Score: 1

      Shift+Backspace goes forward, 'cause why the fuck not.

    10. Re:ALT+LEFT by McLoud · · Score: 1

      Because 'backspace to go back' is default behavior in a lot of programs, not just web browsers. Try it in File Explorer, for example.

      Just like F1 being a nearly universal shortcut for 'help', F2 for 'rename', F3 or CTRL+F for 'search', and so on. I shouldn't have to relearn shortcuts for common behaviors in every program I want to use.

      Except webpages have lots of inner controls (memos or custom js-controlled stuff) where the user sees text and expect the backspace to delete the prior character. Try that in spreadsheet who share that specific requirement and see if backspace goes to the "prior tabsheet"

      --
      sign(c14n(envelop(this)), x509)
    11. Re:ALT+LEFT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most users do not have the mental capacity to press two buttons at the same time.

      You'd be amazed at the number of people who turn capslock on & back off every time they want to produce a capital letter.

      Sometimes i think we need a PSA campaign to inform people about hotkeys.

    12. Re: ALT+LEFT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For the same reason that Shift + Tab goes backward

    13. Re: ALT+LEFT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Backspace to go back also works in Lynx, Thunar, and KDE's Dolphin file browser. Those are hardly Windows applications.

    14. Re:ALT+LEFT by Gunstick · · Score: 1

      Yes backspace goes back
      But backspace at the same time also closes the page/form you are on.
      I think there is no program which closes your dialog form when typing backspace.
      Sometimes ESC does.

      --
      Atari rules... ermm... ruled.
  11. Good riddance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I can't count the amount of times I've lost work because of the backspace button acting like a back button. I type around 80WPM, but I make use of the backspace key extensively; it's like it's hardwired in my brain. This should be the default behavior, people who want it to act like the back button should have to configure it themselves.

    1. Re:Good riddance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly, I would say backspace as back is the single stupidest default setting ever to disgrace a browser I loath it with a burning passion. Chrome will now become my default browser.

  12. Wait! Wait! by Penguinisto · · Score: 1

    I'm looking down at my Mac keyboard, and, well, where the hell is this "backspace" button you keep talking about?
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .

    (note to the clueless: yes, I know it's a "PC" only thing.)

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    1. Re: Wait! Wait! by GrahamJ · · Score: 1

      Try CMD-Left arrow

  13. Android Chrome by OhPlz · · Score: 1

    Great, so they have a plugin to support the old behavior. How about an option to have tabs show up in the task list separately in Android, the way it used to work?

  14. Re:Android Chrome ANDROID/CHROME=GOOGLE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    both are Google. Google is spy.

    Your subject should have said: Spyware

  15. FBI "other world" PREDICTION HERE (tax free) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Next story on FBI dot will be Microsoft.

    (now watch it not be)

  16. Understandable problem by thegarbz · · Score: 2

    Really I get it. Even though it is duplicating the functionality of alt+left which incidentally has an opposite unlike backspace, I get it. Why? My keyboard says "BACK" on that button. It doesn't get more intuitive than that.

    Yes it was a horrible design decision to re-use a key and cause many problems for typing in a website, but I get it.

    1. Re:Understandable problem by sakono · · Score: 1

      Backspace is one word which means to go back a space not back a page. I honestly don't see why clicking on the back button is so damn difficult.

    2. Re:Understandable problem by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      I didn't say my keyboard has a "backspace" key. I said it says "BACK". In all caps.

    3. Re:Understandable problem by jeffb+(2.718) · · Score: 1

      My keyboard says "delete" on that button, so I expect it to trash everything I've done without confirmation.

    4. Re:Understandable problem by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      To be clear, does your keyboard have 2 delete buttons with different functionalities? Or does it lack the backspace?

      Either way holy shit!

    5. Re:Understandable problem by Tomahawk · · Score: 1

      A lot of people don't like using the mouse, or having to move the mouse point all the way to the top of the screen to click on back. For then, it's a redundant time consuming move when a single key click will do the job just as good.

      If I can, I try to not use the mouse at all. When filling in forms, I 'tab' between the fields. When editing text, I use the keyboard to navigate to the point when I need to change something. I only use the mouse when I really have to, and adding another reason that I have to use the mouse is quite frustrating.

      Luckily, ALT-LeftArrow does the same job, so I can just get used to that. But changes like this can infuriate the people who use the function that has been removed. Especially when the reason is that the function upset fewer people.

    6. Re:Understandable problem by Tomahawk · · Score: 1

      Mine has a long left arrow, no text. The meaning, therefore, can be taken either way - back, or backspace.
      By comparison, the delete key says 'Delete'.

  17. Mouse by darkain · · Score: 1

    Mouse buttons 4 and 5 for browser navigate is all ya'll ever need!

    1. Re:Mouse by Tomahawk · · Score: 1

      Not when you don't want to use the mouse!
      Or, like most, have only 3 buttons.

  18. alt + left arrow by tatman · · Score: 1

    On windows machines, at least, there is work around. Two key presses now: alt + left arrow will execute back. I'm annoyed it requires two fingers now. But at least I can keep my hands on the keyboard.

    --
    I've always said English was my second language. Had Romeo and Juliet been written in C, I might have understood it.
    1. Re:alt + left arrow by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      The two-keypress thing is actually quite consistent with other switching operations -- alt-tab, ctrl-tab, ctrl-pgup/pgdn etc. I've internalised holding down a modifier key as a context-switch trigger, and then I see the other button as cycling one way or the other.

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
  19. Fuck no by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Put the default back to how it should be, and let everyone else add the add-on.

    I noticed this change as well and I'm fucking furious.

  20. except by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    backspace is supposed to be page-up

  21. BKSP = Back Button is INFURIATING by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm not surprised they killed it. Only a small percentage of masochists actually like that functionality. For everyone who has ever been totally screwed while filling out forms and such, it was an infuriating nightmare.

    Backspace means BACKSPACE. As in, move the cursor BACK one SPACE and delete what is there.

    1. Re:BKSP = Back Button is INFURIATING by mrbester · · Score: 1

      Then I've been a masochist for twenty years and started with Lynx on a dumb terminal.

      That the problem is solved by removing an almost ubiquitous keyboard shortcut across operating systems instead of fucking intercepting it and confirming you wanted to go back and thus lose what you'd entered into form elements shows a distinct lack of the slightest brain power for decades from browser makers. This could have been implemented in the 90s.

      That Google has to rush out an extension to restore the now missing expected behaviour means their statistic that only 0.04% of users actually used the backspace button to go back is bullshit.

      --
      "Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
    2. Re:BKSP = Back Button is INFURIATING by basscomm · · Score: 1

      I'm not surprised they killed it. Only a small percentage of masochists actually like that functionality. For everyone who has ever been totally screwed while filling out forms and such, it was an infuriating nightmare.

      Backspace means BACKSPACE. As in, move the cursor BACK one SPACE and delete what is there.

      See also: the spacebar. It literally means to insert a space, but in web browsers it scrolls the page down by one screenful (equivalent to a PgDn), are we going to throw this out, too, since people can be entering data in a form, accidentally tab out of it, and then scroll down, losing their place, or accidentally tab over to a button and activate it by hitting the spacebar?

      Backspace to navigate back has been in place for decades in lots of programs, and I'd be willing to bet it's used more than you seem to think.

      --
      http://crummysocks.com
  22. Love & Hate relationship by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    95% of the time I loved the single keystroke previous page function.
    4.8% of the time it pissed me off because I lost something I spent time on
    0.2% of the time I screamed and smashed the keyboard because I lost something truly valuable, like a coy Slashdot comment.

    but I've already adapted.

    see! This comment is proof in itself!

  23. No reason to use a memory hogging extension... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Add this to the end of the application target in the app shortcut. Backspace works fine again. --enable-blink-features=BackspaceDefaultHandler --test-type

  24. Check out Vivaldi by djlowe · · Score: 1

    Hi,

    Check out Vivaldi: https://vivaldi.com/

    I've been VERY pleased with it so far, under Windows, OS X and Linux..

    It has the one thing that I missed most from the old Opera: Sane/useful tab stacking/grouping built in, with the ability to save and restore such.

    Sure, many of you don't care about that, but I do.

    At work with the old Opera, I'd create sets of tabs, stacked as I saw fit, for each client and would then save them as profiles named for my clients.

    When I got a support call all I had to do was open the saved tab profile for them, and then I'd have EVERYTHING related to them available to me immediately, organized in the way I found most useful to me.

    Yes, it took time to set that all up. Yes, it took time to maintain it, but all that time paid for itself, every time I fielded a service call for my customers.

    It was an amazingly powerful tool for me, and when Opera dropped it I stayed with the old version until it didn't work anymore.

    I looked for similar functionality under Chrome, et al, Firefox and IE but nothing came close.

    Vivaldi gave that back to me, and I've switched and will never go back.

    It's still very "young", and they are working hard on it. But, they appear to be very motivated and committed.

    The current stable release is great, does everything I need, and even better? Since it's multi-platform I get the same basic experience and usability regardless of OS.

    While I still use mostly Windows at home, I support Windows, OS X and Linux at work now, and having a web browser that works under all three with the functionality that I want/need allows me to support our users, regardless of OS, without having to switch back and forth between computers

    And to bring this back on-topic? Vivaldi is built upon Chromium and still supports the backspace key for going back a page.

    The only thing I wish they'd add? Native proxy support, such as Firefox does. I've used Privoxy: http://www.privoxy.org/ under Windows for years, and, while the old Opera had its own proxy support, just as Firefox does? Vivaldi doesn't yet, so I have to resort to an add-on for that, since some of the games that I play at home don't support proxies.

    Take all of the above for whatever it's worth to you, but I think that Vivaldi is at least worth checking out.

    Regards,

    dj

    1. Re:Check out Vivaldi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Burma-Shave?

  25. Funny, I never knew BKSPC did that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have always used alt+left-arrow. Does/did that work in Chrome?

  26. Options make the testing matrix bigger by tepples · · Score: 1

    Seriously, it's probably like 40 lines of code to have a config option

    And how many lines to test the interactions of that option with other options? Moving functionality out to an extension allows defects due to unintended interactions to be reported against that particular extension rather than against the browser in general.

    And how many lines of documentation to describe that option? And how many lines of code to run a tutorial lightbox to make sure the user finds that option among all the options?

  27. We need built in options set our own key bindings by perree · · Score: 1

    Like all video games, I should be able to create my own key bindings. If I want delete, Ctrl+Left_Arrow, or anything else to go back in the history or do something custom, I should be able to configure it.

  28. Blame Digital's RT11 for the backslash by tepples · · Score: 1

    It's a bit like the twit at Microsoft who decided to change the directory separator understood by COMMAND.COM from "/" to "\" because he wanted to use "/" for something else.

    It was actually a twit at Digital who chose / for command-line switches in the RT-11 operating system. This continued into Gary Kildall's CP/M (which became DR-DOS) and Tim Paterson's 86-DOS (a heavily CP/M-inspired OS which became MS-DOS), which used the same switch character for consistency.

    1. Re:Blame Digital's RT11 for the backslash by johnw · · Score: 1

      And indeed, it was used as a switch character in VMS too. The error however was in changing the directory separator character (which in underlying MS-DOS is still "/") to the totally unsuitable "\".

      I remember the early OS/2 development kit tools, where clearly a dictat had gone out to the developers saying that both "-" and "/" were to be used as switch characters. The trouble was, they hadn't done it properly by implementing some library code, but instead each tool developer had done it himself. The end result was that some accepted "-", some accepted "/", some accepted both, and some would take one or the other, but not both in the same command line. A horrible mess.

      It would not have been hard though to allow "/" to be used as a switch character to COMMAND.COM, whilst still retaining its use as a directory separator.

    2. Re:Blame Digital's RT11 for the backslash by tepples · · Score: 1

      It would not have been hard though to allow "/" to be used as a switch character to COMMAND.COM, whilst still retaining its use as a directory separator.

      I don't see how. Would dir /s produce a listing of all subdirectories of the current working directory? Or would it produce a listing of the s directory inside the root directory of the current drive?

    3. Re:Blame Digital's RT11 for the backslash by johnw · · Score: 1

      Would dir /s produce a listing of all subdirectories of the current working directory?

      Yes. A space followed by a slash would always be interpreted as a switch introducer.

      Directory separators generally occur in the middle of a string, the only exception being when you want to talk about the root directory of a drive, without specifying which drive you want.

      You use "C:/" to mean the root directory of C. It would be quite natural to use ":/" to mean the root directory of whatever drive is current.

      It's not as if all this hadn't been done before - Microsoft were just never very good at reading manuals and learning from what had gone before. (See their totally brain-dead handling of daylight saving time.)

  29. Trollolol by bobmajdakjr · · Score: 1

    i love how google directly responded by making a plugin for their own shit. why doesnt the browser just have a proper shortcut editor in the settings?

  30. I'm glad they removed it. by sabbede · · Score: 1
    Backspace as "go back" has only ever caused me headaches. Even right here on slashdot. All it took was not realizing that the text input box had lost focus, and all my typing would go poof. The issue was largely alleviated when chrome started to 'remember' what I had typed, so hitting forward would usually refill the box, but it's still a bit of a nail-biter.

    I don't use a lot of keyboard shortcuts in browsers, really just Ctrl+R, so the change only works to my benefit.

  31. Some other key combination by Tomahawk · · Score: 1

    Why didn't they just replace it with CTRL-Backspace or something? I use Backspace all the time - it even works in Windows Explorer. I have, on occasion, lost the contents of some form I was filling in, but the few times that happened didn't mean I wanted to remove the functionality.
    I'd be happy with a replacement - let Google lead the way towards using a different key or a key combination so that those of us who really don't want to have to use the mouse more than we have to aren't forced into using it for something else.