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Firefox Quantum Arrives With Faster Browser Engine, Major Visual Overhaul (venturebeat.com)

Posted by msmash on from the browser-updates dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Mozilla today launched Firefox 57, branded Firefox Quantum, for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. The new version, which Mozilla calls "by far the biggest update since Firefox 1.0 in 2004," brings massive performance improvements and a visual redesign. The Quantum name signals Firefox 57 is a huge release that incorporates the company's next-generation browser engine (Project Quantum). The goal is to make Firefox the fastest and smoothest browser for PCs and mobile devices -- the company has previously promised that users can expect "some big jumps in capability and performance" through the end of the year. Indeed, three of the four past releases (Firefox 53, Firefox 54, and Firefox 55) included Quantum improvements. But those were just the tip of the iceberg. Additionally, Firefox now exclusively supports extensions built using the WebExtension API, and unsupported legacy extensions will no longer work, the company said.

16 of 323 comments (clear)

  1. Weird Gaps? by Luthair · · Score: 5, Informative

    Anyone else seeing large gaps to the left of the address bar and to the right of the search bar?

    Also, the new tabs look a lot uglier...

    1. Re: Weird Gaps? by brickhouse98 · · Score: 5, Informative

      The gaps can be taken out. Click the double arrows >> and click customize toolbar. Then just drag and drop to the middle to remove them.

    2. Re: Weird Gaps? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Jesus, what is wrong with you people? Yes, there are a couple of UI quirks (like the gaps), but this is _the best_ UI that FF has had in *years*. Australis is finally gone, and this default UI is actually sane. Tabs are threaded, something folks around here have been pleading for for _years_. Can't you give a little bit of credit where it's due?

      And it is true that this browser is fast. Perceptibly so. For five years, FF has not been able to keep pace with Chrome for those of us who develop on the web. Now, it might actually be a viable workhorse. I haven't looked into the new dev tools in depth, but if they've improved as much as the UI and the speed, then I might finally be able to switch back.

      If you are a geek, you should be rooting for Firefox. Without it, the web will be dominated by an advertising agency and a convicted monopolist. Give it the benefit of the doubt and try not to be a total douche.

    3. Re: Weird Gaps? by Lothsahn · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm totally rooting for FireFox. I just saw the notification, downloaded it, and yes, the gaps were the first thing I noticed.

      Gee whiz, give us a few days to drive it to comment on performance. Generally restarting a program improves its performance. But the out of box experience (gaps and tabs) was not pleasant. I've fixed the gaps based on brickhouse98's comment (thanks!), but the tab coloring SUCKS.

      In 2 hours of usage, it seems much faster than the previous version, even though I had multi-threading enabled in the previous version. I like it a lot, and I agree that for Privacy, having FF around is key for us.

      I'm rooting for FF, but I give honest reviews and speak truth. Ignoring problems with your own team is a primary cause of much of the world's trouble, especially in politics. I refuse to play THAT game.

      --
      -=Lothsahn=-
    4. Re: Weird Gaps? by theweatherelectric · · Score: 5, Informative

      but the tab coloring SUCKS

      You can pick a different theme in the Customize settings. Firefox ships with three themes (Default, Light, and Dark). I use the Light theme.

    5. Re: Weird Gaps? by MrL0G1C · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Except it no longer respects your freedom to customize the UI and it was always a bit bad at respecting your privacy (stun servers, browser fingerprinting).

      --
      Waterfox - a Firefox fork with legacy extension support, security updates and better privacy by default.
    6. Re: Weird Gaps? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      You can also right click on the gap and "remove from toolbar".

  2. Extensions, though :-( by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Finally tally: about 2/3 of my regularly used extensions don't work with 57 and don't currently seem to have a similar replacement available.

    Sadly, a performance boost just isn't work losing that much functionality for me. :-(

    --
    If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
    1. Re:Extensions, though :-( by theweatherelectric · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It disabled NoScript.

      NoScript for Firefox 57 will be released today. Don't worry, be happy.

    2. Re:Extensions, though :-( by Merk42 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And... and... and... WTF WERE THEY THINKING??? Make it so addon authors need to update things and/or re-create is bad enough, but then remove the underlying functionality? That's insane! It shouldn't be LESS CAPABLE.

      It's almost as if to address the performance issues that people have been bitching about would require a major architecture change, but no that's not it, they, like any company, specifically asked YOU what would piss you off and did that instead.

  3. Who cares about the features? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When it loses the whole POINT of the program? The add-ons are what made Firefox worth using as a primary browser. With the switch to the new version, they made all previous plugins incompatible, and most of the add-ons that I'd prefer to use won't be ported over, mostly out of disgust/disinterest by the developers, or simply that the tools are no longer available to accomplish the task anymore.

    This is somewhat akin to a new version of Steam coming out, that disables all Steam games until a new version of each game comes out requiring XBox One controller-only controls. They decided keyboard/mouse was potentially insecure. Sure - some users will celebrate this, but it kind of defeats the point of the platform at large. Eventually, it might get good again - but you're throwing away too much now to be worth that.

    1. Re:Who cares about the features? by PGaries · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Indeed. Having an extension system in which malicious extensions can hide that they're installed while monitoring everything you do on the Web was a pretty big security hole. That's why I'm glad Mozilla transitioned to the new system despite the loss of functionality.

  4. Re:It's quantized so it's not continuous anymore by arth1 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Quantum is the smallest possible increment. Always remember that when someone tells you it's a quantum leap in performance.

    True and false. The astonishing property of a quantum leap isn't the distance, but that it goes from one state to another without anything in-between.
    That's obviously not what happens with Firefox, though. There wasn't a single commit without any betas, even though it feels like it...

  5. Significant loss of functionality by QuietLagoon · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The speed of Firefox was not a big issue for me. It was usually "fast enough." Sometimes speed wars focus development efforts towards the wrong area. The big thing I do notice about Firefox 57 is the large loss of functionality that I used every time I browsed. Only two out of my nine plug-ins work with Firefox 57. I have not seen any viable replacements for the seven that do not work.

    .
    I've reverted to Firefox 56.0.2. Unless the plug-in situation changes for the better, Firefox 56 will be the end of my use of Firefox.

  6. Firefox 57 shows a big disadvantage of plug-ins by QuietLagoon · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Simply put, plug-ins are not a part of the Firefox development effort. The Mozilla folk have always eschewed adding functionality because the wanted functionality can be added via plug-ins. Yet, those same Mozilla folk all but ignore the loss of functionality of those plug-ins when they release a "two-times faster" Firefox.

    .
    The headline for this release should not be that it is two times faster, but that a very significant amount of functionality has been lost.

  7. Re:It's quantized so it's not continuous anymore by jfdavis668 · · Score: 5, Informative

    A Quantum is a single unit. A leap is an action. So a quantum leap is an action taken by a quantum, and has no limit on distance, just probability.