It's trivial to do. Go to about:support and click on "Restart with Add-ons Disabled" to run Firefox in safe mode. When you're finished with safe mode, exit Firefox and run it up again normally. There isn't much effort required.
Sounds like you've got add-on problems. You should see if the problem persists with all add-ons disabled and maybe reset to a clean profile if you've been changing about:config settings (see about:support).
It also goes against all OS design guidelines by removing the window title bar and system menus
You can turn on the Menu Bar in Firefox via the UI Customize settings (Hamburger menu -> Customize) or by pressing F10 to turn them on and selecting View -> Toolbars -> Menu Bar to keep them on.
So far I've been content to fix these problems using a UI addon, but every single one of those is made non-functional in version 57.
The menus are in Firefox on Windows. Turn on the Menu Bar via the Hamburger menu -> Customize -> Toolbars options (or press F10 to turn them on and then select View -> Toolbars -> Menu Bar to keep them on).
Some of us want predictable forward, back, reload, and home buttons that are together, don't disappear in context, or are not combined into some moving monster.
That's how Firefox 57's UI is working for me. I use the Light theme (one of the three themes included in Firefox 57 by default) with the Compact density setting. See the Customize settings page.
And it is unclear if those will ever gain the ACTUAL improvements Mozilla has added to Firefox for performance, memory usage, and security.
I don't see any major problems in that list, and in any case they say improvements are already in the works. The fork will be left behind as new releases of Adblock Plus roll out.
Only waterfox has no problem being both fast and support xul pluggins.
Do you have benchmarks to prove it? I'd like to see the numbers on latest Waterfox versus Firefox 57, comparing both with and without add-ons installed.
Of course they are. And more APIs will be added over time to enable more features. This is exactly as you'd expect. All the hand-wringing over Firefox 57 is tedious.
I now have to do an about:memory->minimize operation every hour or two to even type in text boxes
I'm running Firefox 57 beta and have seen no such problem. Sounds like one of your add-ons is leaking memory and creating the problem. Try disabling all add-ons and see if the problem persists.
Because Mozilla's WebExtensions API already offers more than Chrome's does. uBlock Origin, for example, works better in Firefox 57 than possible in Chrome (gorhill is the developer of uBlock Origin).
How does Pale Moon perform in benchmarks and real world usage (like, say, an HTML5 game) versus Firefox 57? Do you have concrete numbers you can show me?
Rust, and Servo, instead of directing these resources toward improving Firefox.
How are Rust and Servo failures? The work on Rust and Servo is being integrated into Firefox to improve Firefox. Mozilla is doing exactly what you claim you want them to do.
Slashdot Mirror
I figure that probably isn't worth my time
It's trivial to do. Go to about:support and click on "Restart with Add-ons Disabled" to run Firefox in safe mode. When you're finished with safe mode, exit Firefox and run it up again normally. There isn't much effort required.
I can click on 'minimize memory' which resolves
Sounds like you've got add-on problems. You should see if the problem persists with all add-ons disabled and maybe reset to a clean profile if you've been changing about:config settings (see about:support).
It also goes against all OS design guidelines by removing the window title bar and system menus
You can turn on the Menu Bar in Firefox via the UI Customize settings (Hamburger menu -> Customize) or by pressing F10 to turn them on and selecting View -> Toolbars -> Menu Bar to keep them on.
So far I've been content to fix these problems using a UI addon, but every single one of those is made non-functional in version 57.
You can customize the UI via the built-in Customize settings. You can also modify the UI CSS if you really want to.
watching it turn into a mini-me of Chrome is soul-crushing. Honestly, I'm really hoping that the 57 fiasco
Firefox isn't a mini-me of Chrome and there is no fiasco. Relax. Don't worry, be happy. You'll feel better.
Some of us want sane, traditional "file" menus
The menus are in Firefox on Windows. Turn on the Menu Bar via the Hamburger menu -> Customize -> Toolbars options (or press F10 to turn them on and then select View -> Toolbars -> Menu Bar to keep them on).
Some of us want predictable forward, back, reload, and home buttons that are together, don't disappear in context, or are not combined into some moving monster.
That's how Firefox 57's UI is working for me. I use the Light theme (one of the three themes included in Firefox 57 by default) with the Compact density setting. See the Customize settings page.
And it is unclear if those will ever gain the ACTUAL improvements Mozilla has added to Firefox for performance, memory usage, and security.
So just use Firefox and customize the UI CSS if you really want to.
dropping flash support
That's what everyone is doing, even Adobe themselves. Flash is dead. You are in the first stage of grief. Time to move on.
I don't see any major problems in that list, and in any case they say improvements are already in the works. The fork will be left behind as new releases of Adblock Plus roll out.
There's an Adblock Plus XUL-based fork for Pale Moon
Adblock Plus works in Firefox 57. Personally, I use uBlock Origin.
Only waterfox has no problem being both fast and support xul pluggins.
Do you have benchmarks to prove it? I'd like to see the numbers on latest Waterfox versus Firefox 57, comparing both with and without add-ons installed.
including some used for security
Like what? uBlock Origin works in Firefox 57, so does Adblock Plus, so does Ghostery, so does Privacy Badger, so does HTTPS Everywhere, etc. The only one missing from AMO at the moment is NoScript but that will be released soon.
The BleepingComputer article adds nothing of value over the original blog post.
It's not the size of the bug that counts, it's what you do with it.
'stable' here means they're still making changes.
Of course they are. And more APIs will be added over time to enable more features. This is exactly as you'd expect. All the hand-wringing over Firefox 57 is tedious.
Yes. The webRequest API was all thought through 18 months ago.
As of now 5,923 add-ons
It's already ticked over to 5,924.
How well does it work with anything that isn't either a Firefox PC or the cancelled Firefox phone?
Works fine. Anything that has a Firefox browser has Firefox sync. You can sync between Windows and macOS and iOS and Android.
I now have to do an about:memory->minimize operation every hour or two to even type in text boxes
I'm running Firefox 57 beta and have seen no such problem. Sounds like one of your add-ons is leaking memory and creating the problem. Try disabling all add-ons and see if the problem persists.
why shouldn't I just switch to Chrome anyhow?
Because Mozilla's WebExtensions API already offers more than Chrome's does. uBlock Origin, for example, works better in Firefox 57 than possible in Chrome (gorhill is the developer of uBlock Origin).
They're not at all stable.
What's an example of a WebExtensions API in Firefox 57 that Mozilla says is stable but isn't?
long live pale moon
How does Pale Moon perform in benchmarks and real world usage (like, say, an HTML5 game) versus Firefox 57? Do you have concrete numbers you can show me?
the damned browser is allowing ad companies to shovel mountains of video onto the local drive
So use an ad blocker. Problem solved. uBlock Origin is a good one.
My Windows FF session has been running for a day and a half
Which version of Firefox with what add-ons installed on which version of Windows?
Perhaps if open source developers learned from these mistakes
What mistakes? Firebug has been merged into Firefox Developer Tools. This happened a long time ago.
What matters is that Firefox 57 still feels far slower and way more bloated than Chrome
It doesn't. You've plainly not used Firefox 57.
Rust and Servo have taken away resources that could have been used to improve Firefox
Rust and Servo are being used to improve Firefox. Those resources have not been wasted and neither Rust nor Servo are failures.
Rust, and Servo, instead of directing these resources toward improving Firefox.
How are Rust and Servo failures? The work on Rust and Servo is being integrated into Firefox to improve Firefox. Mozilla is doing exactly what you claim you want them to do.