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There are multiple debates as to why Mozilla’s Firefox browser has seen its user base decline in recent memory. Those against the browser cite everything from memory leaks to frequent Flash player crashes but one developer that worked on the browser thinks he has the answer.
Jono DiCarlo says that the organization’s poor implementation of their rapid release schedule has ultimate led many users switch to Google Chrome as an alternative to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
The developer noted in a recent blog post that Firefox now looks like an inferior version of Google Chrome, partly because they pushed a never-ending stream of updates to users who didn’t want them.
He says that after years of trying to improve software usability, he’s come to the realization that the single best thing to do is to leave the UI unchanged long enough for users to become familiar with it and get good at using it. “There's no UI better than one you already know, and no UI worse than one you thought you knew but now have to relearn,” DiCarlo said.
DiCarlo says that when someone learns that he works for Mozilla, he typically gets an earful with regards to the browser’s constant updates with intrusive dialogue boxes and broken add-ons.
But for what it’s worth, he says that Mozilla has improved the update process but worries that it might be a case of too little, too late. After all, it could be extremely hard to regain users that have already switched to a different browser.
After this story went live, Mozilla sent us the following statement regarding DiCarlo's take on Firefox:
"Jono's analysis is interesting, but outdated. Regular Firefox updates are good news for users and for the Web but only when they don't interrupt what you're doing. Today's Firefox updates are applied in the background with no interruptions; they even keep your Firefox Add-ons compatible between releases. The result is that our users always have a fast, beautiful and secure browsing experience. Regular releases also let us get new features to our users faster than ever before, and we can listen to their feedback to improve things, just as we did with updates in 2011."
Editor's note (Julio): And I tend to agree. Firefox's update mechanism and schedule have been considerably improved. However it also remains true Firefox nearly pulled off "an Internet Explorer" around the time Chrome entered the browser market blazing. Google caught Mozilla offguard touting huge performance improvements while they kept delaying Firefox 4.0 over and over. The somewhat unorganized rapid release schedule came shortly after that, in response to Chrome's growing popularity.
User Comments: 52
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I think it's more the reason that Google advertises Chrome on Google and they bundle it with everything. Everywhere you go you see Chrome. I'm persuaded as easily as most people, Firefox is still the best browser.
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...it should recognize my ip or check for a cookie and let me edit my own post.
I think it's more the reason that Google advertises Chrome on Google and they bundle it with everything. Everywhere you go you see Chrome. I'm _not_ persuaded as easily as most people, Firefox is still the best browser.
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IE's UI doesn't change much at all and when it does it's during major releases which only come out years apart. I love IE's UI (I'm using IE9).
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Someone mentioned that they prefer FF because it's so customizeable. Guess they haven't tried Opera! No browser is more (and as easily) customizeable as Opera. Opera has been first with just about every new feature found on today's browsers. It's also the most capable. A recent survey of hi-tech geeks shows that most of them prefer Opera. I use about seven different browsers (I design web pages) and have always preferred Opera.
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When I got sick of the rapid release schedule, I switched to Pale Moon. They have x86 and x64 versions. I find it to be much smoother than even Waterfox on my 64-bit machine.
Unfortunately, it's only for the Windows folks though.
Another bonus is for AMD users... Unlike Waterfox and Firefox(IIRC), it's not compiled with Intel-geared compiler optimizations that use the slow path on non-Intel CPU's.
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I used Firefox for years on my Mac. For years its performance was noticeably slower than Safari and even other browsers at the time (no Chrome then) and then they started updating it and it got better and better but my laptop also got slower and slower in comparison to the times. Now I'm using Chrome because I figure I can get as much as help as I can use having dated hardware. But to be honest, the smoothest one is probably Opera. Not by benchmarks but by usage. Doesn't take tons of RAM. Doesn't use 6 different task processes. Updates one ever few months. Keep in mind the updates don't bother me at all. I only have one main add one that I can't have broken and that's Flash Block and it's never not worked for me for any reason.
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treetops said:
The only reason I stick with FF is because of the multiple tabs closure alert, when I am doing school work it has saved me from closing down while taking tests tons of time and chrome is bugged on yahoo news I can't comment.
FF is slower, buggy, freezes sometimes and thinks 2 are running at once if I close and repopen real quick. Its adblockers are a joke compared to google chrome that has some for specific sites like tbh and yahoo.
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Firefox had some minor stability issue for a while - ages ago now and mainly around flash content - but it seems fine again now so I'm back on it. As a web dev the Firebug add-on is fantastic - yes I know Chrome and IE also have dev tools but for me they just doesn't seem to have the features and elegance of Firebug.
Having said that, I use the big-3 PC browsers (FF/Chrome/IE9/10) loads and don't really have any major issue with any of them. JS execution has been optimised down so much now that page-loads are blindingly fast on all of them and rendering of most normal websites is 95% network fetch and 5% page render. They also seem to have converged so much on useability that at times I have to stare at the toolbar for a while to remember which one I'm using, So I don't really understand why people feel the need to evangelize about one and pour scorn on anybody who dares to prefer another.
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R3DP3NGUIN said:
I use Srware Iron over Google chrome, still same browser just with less privacy and tracking crap that's in Googles. But I still use Firefox too.
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I always loved Firefox, but coincidence or not, since the rapid releases it started loading pages really slow. Chrome was just several clicks and 2 minutes away. I resisted as much as I could, since I was loyal to my one browser, but I'm not stupid. Eventually I gave in and tried Chrome. It's simple and it does the job. Everything that firefox was one day. Too bad.
Ofc now I love Chrome, so Chrome would have to mess things up for me to switch. I don't think they will... but then again, I didn't think firefox will either.
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I never liked Firefox, but coincidence or not, since the rapid releases it started loading pages really fast. Chrome was not several clicks and 2 minutes away. I resisted as little as I could, since I was disloyal to my seven browsers, but I'm stupid. Eventually I gave in and tried everything that firefox was one day. Too bad.
Ofc now I loathe Chrome, so Chrome would have to mess things down for me to switch. I think they will... but then again, I didn't think.
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1 person liked this |I never liked Firefox, but coincidence or not, since the rapid releases it started loading pages really fast. Chrome was not several clicks and 2 minutes away. I resisted as little as I could, since I was disloyal to my seven browsers, but I'm stupid. Eventually I gave in and tried everything that firefox was one day. Too bad.
Ofc now I loathe Chrome, so Chrome would have to mess things down for me to switch. I think they will... but then again, I didn't think.
U mad?
Pretty funny to see the negation though
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The biggest problem with Firefox is the glitch that keeps spiking your GPU usage. Just check for yourself on any GPU monitoring program (eg GPU-Z), your gpu is idle in normal desktop use and all other software use, but run Firefox and every few seconds your GPU will spike up to full load and run @ full specs while just browsing with Firefox (no flash or any graphically demanding software playing). Then it'll suddenly drop back to normal and keep repeating. That can't possibly be good for your GPU!
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I've been a devoted firefox user for many years now, and for me the thing the broke the camel's back was the often crashes and slow running of the program, which became unbearable !
I love firefox! it's bookmarks management is second to non but it's really a case of usability and responsiveness which in the end chrome triumphant...
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DAOWAce said:
I've been saying this ever since they changed from releasing those .# updates, aka after Firefox 4.
There was NOTHING wrong with releasing Firefox 4.1, 4.2, or even 4.2.3. We were all used to it. Firefox 3.6 hit 3.6.28 before Mozilla stopped supporting it.
That, coupled with the overbearing UI changes essentially made me stay at version 3.6 until I couldn't take the lack of new internet standards, like HTML5, which happened to be about a week before Mozilla would force update everyone using 3.6 to version 12 (if they had auto updates enabled).
I went through days of research and troubleshooting trying to get Firefox 4+'s UI the same as 3.6, and after tweaking options, installing a menu editing addon and finding Stylish scripts, I managed it.(although the addons page is still the new dumbed down one, the general UI while I'm normally using the browser is enough like 3.6 to be comfortable using 12. Yes, including the stupid tab groups link on the 'list all tabs' button AND the delayed tab sliding when closing one, which was ripped right from Chrome by a suggestion Mozilla listened to. Those two things alone caused me immense trouble trying to navigate my tabs.)
Couple these issues with the widely known flash issues we're having, and Firefox really took a step down in a hard way. (I started having pink screen lockups after upgrading to Firefox 12. On 3.6 my display driver would crash, never lock up my system. Eventually fixed in the 11.3 flash update, which then introduced the freezing issue.. which appears to be fixed now, but with the latest update I'm now experiencing desync when watching flash videos!)
I've tried Chrome and I hate it because of how uncustomizable it is, but I keep it installed in the off chance Firefox doesn't work properly somewhere (or I want a whole new session for something on a relatively speedy browser, despite it opening tons of processess and using a lot of memory, the latter Firefox is notorious for).
So yes, Mozilla shot themselves in the foot by changing their focus like EVERY company seems to have been doing as of late..
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I like firefox and I am still using it. But I am more disappointed with the recent releases because they freeze often especially if u are watching video online. Also they removed the feature I liked most like "Save tabs and close". The next time you start the browser, all the tabs open by themselves.
I am not interested in faster releases, rather in stable release that is free of bugs that I can use for 3-4 years without worrying about downloading new version.
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I had been using FF for a long time but have switched to Chrome...got tired of the "This is embarrasing..." screens after multiple and frequent crashes. Checked everything in my system in order to keep using it but it wouldn't improve. Never looked back after using Chrome for about 6 months.
So long, old friend!!
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I gave up on FF for Chrome precisely b/c of the constant updates, which wreaked havoc on the plug-ins I use most. Also, it became more and more unstable. It seems like they are implementing change for change's sake. Chrome has been working fine for me, and I won't be heading back to FF anytime soon. They blew it.
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I have been a long time user of Firefox but am extremely unhappy with the decision to do rapid update. I like my interface to be the same one that I know. I have only update Firefox when I wanted to, now with 13 I have lost that ability.
I am looking at other browser because of this decision.
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Yes , I have started using Pale Moon also. it is faster than Firefox and not as buggy. Can use the add-ons and extensions that Firefox
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Chrome released yesterday... the previous release was on the 9th, the one before that in the 26th of last month, the one before that on the 15th of May... seems quite frequent...? In fact it seems like a "rapid release schedule"...
[link]
Over the next few months, we are going to be rolling out a new release process to accelerate the pace at which Google Chrome stable releases become available. Running under ideal conditions, we will be looking to release a new stable version about once every six weeks, roughly twice as often as we do today.Firefox release very six weeks, chrome release roughly every six weeks... why would you desert Firefox due to "too many updates" for a browser which also has "too many updates"...
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NTAPRO said:
>_> Well people could always disable updates and their notifications if they don't like updating that much :P
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Having tried all major browsers, I settled on Firefox because of its more intuitive interface, and that same ease is why I plan to remain with Firefox for the foreseeable future. Chrome may be faster, but that counts for little when its awkward UI means I must lose time "discovering" where its controls have been placed.
Firefox is vastly superior to rivals for its Add-ons feature, under which almost any FF behavior can be customized radically. For example, when I tired of limiting my open tabs to the number which fit across the top of the screen, I was delighted to find the FF Add-on "Tree Style Tabs", which routinely lets me keep up to 100 or more "open" tabs in a narrow, vertical stack to the left of my browser screen. TST also left my browser screen with more headroom, as a result. For research involving many open tabs, TST has become so valuable, I would not think of running FF without it.
Firefox beta channel releases briefly became an annoyance when one of my Add-ons broke, and I had to find a version that worked. Failing that, I retrograded to the previous version of FF, and waited for the developer of the Add-on involved to catch up. To his credit, it was not long before I was back in operation with the latest beta version.
If a FF user wants to leave the beta channel, all that is required is to install the current FF release over the existing beta release. For those who like to tinker, the very accessible configuration page for FF (enter "about :config" in the location bar) allows control over most operational aspects of Firefox. about :config gives tremendous power over FF, but the user must understand fully what he is about to do by editing the configuration page. Suggest reading from the Mozilla FF forums, first-- followed by a backup. If things do go wrong, FF can be reinstalled over itself to restore the browser in its default settings.)
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1. This forum needs to allow the original poster to edit the post, afterward, instead of replying to that post.
2. There is an apparent problem with rendering colons. Instead of about[colon]config, the forum renders the colon with a black diamond background and a question mark.
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NTAPRO said:
What do you mean? I'm able to edit my posts.
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