updates Meet the browser: Firefox Next

[JaykeBird]

I'll tentatively wait to see what ends up happening with this new news with add-ons.

I'm the same way that the reason I've stuck with Firefox for so long is the amount of customization to the interface that I can do. I don't like the Australis theme look, and luckily, it's been possible to get back the look I like with Classic Theme Restorer. If Chrome changed up its UI (which it is seeming to be starting to do), and I wanted the old style, well, tough luck. As well, I use an add-on to change what menu items appear in my context menus and other things, and an add-on that changes the appearance of the Find bar.

As long as Firefox still allows APIs that add-ons can use to modify the UI in ways like this, I'll be happy. If Firefox doesn't though, well... I'll either learn to live with it, or it'll push me enough to switch to yet another browser.

[JaykeBird]

By the way, any news on anything going on with MSE? I feel that's one thing Firefox hasn't been that good at, is HTML5 videos. Granted, this computer isn't a graphics powerhouse by any means...

[ViperAFK]

We should really wait a couple of months for all the dust to settle, it's more reactions at the moment than actual understanding, it's not like Mozilla is removing addons entirely (And they themselves want to use the addon model to ship features like Pocket, so they're not going to limit it). And the API set isn't even finalized yet, so seeing devs like the DTA guy saying that it's the end for their addon is super premature (Especially since DTA is rather simple)

 Mozilla can't win these days, literally any change of feature they announce it met with giant waves of stupid hyperbolic and kneejerk reactions

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

By the way, any news on anything going on with MSE? I feel that's one thing Firefox hasn't been that good at, is HTML5 videos. Granted, this computer isn't a graphics powerhouse by any means...

It's going to be enabled by default for every site in 42, whether that actually works well is another matter (A lot of MSE code is just plain bad, same with implementations)

Video wise there's been a lot of work with DXVA support recently (As in, 43 nightlies), mainly using it at a slightly lower level to avoid some crappy fallback paths (Not using DXVA is faster than DXVA in software mode), and implementing a rotating buffer for decoded video frames (Avoiding per frame allocations). And also tweaking the way they handle DXVA misbehaving (Some AMD GPUs suck at video decoding, Firefox would try using them and end up blacklisting the GPU for the entire session, goal is to just blacklist it for a single video)

I've got a Nvidia GPU though so I've literally never had an issue

 Mozilla can't win these days, literally any change of feature they announce it met with giant waves of stupid hyperbolic and kneejerk reactions

Yup, tbf that's pretty normal for the internet entirely, I still remember the outrage when they changed the icon set during the Pheonix days.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

I'm using lastpass with Firefox and whenever I remove the icon from my toolbar "remove from toolbar" and restart the browser the lastpass icon is back. Anyone else experience this?

[John Constantine]

The new API is quite tentative at this point.  While the author of DTA is pessimistic, the author of NoScripts is quite optimistic.  He even has a proposed solution where everyone will have their cake and eat it too.  Check it out:

https://hackademix.net/2015/08/22/webextensions-api-noscript/

https://discourse.mozilla-community.org/t/proposal-native-js-to-embrace-extend-the-webextensions-api/3457

Giorgio Maone is a VIP in the Add-on community and Mozilla has even said they are working with him to design the API.  While there is a lot of uncertainty, I do feel it could actually be a very positive change.  It could make life very easy for developers who maintain the same extension across multiple browsers.  'Native.js' could solve a lot of stability and forward compatibility issues that plague 'Super' Add-ons in the AMO.

Ultimately, it really depends on what Mozilla decides in the coming 12-18 months that shape FX's future.

[Pikey]

Still no touch keyboard for me in the latest nightly on my Acer tablet ...

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

What happens if you flip "ui.osk.require_tablet_mode" to false in about:config?

[Pikey]

What happens if you flip "ui.osk.require_tablet_mode" to false in about:config?

Ah , yes ,  it seems to work now!

I  flipped it back to 'true' and it seems fine now ... thanks for the tip!

Edited August 28, 2015 by Pikey

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

The initial implementation required tablet mode, because the dev who implemented it didn't realize 10 had a setting for users to also enable it in desktop mode, but that'll be fixed so it'll show when the OS says it should.

[Boo Berry]

Stable 64-bit build got delayed again.

http://www.ghacks.net/2015/08/31/64-bit-firefox-stable-release-for-windows-delayed-again/

[kozukumi]

Stable 64-bit build got delayed again.

http://www.ghacks.net/2015/08/31/64-bit-firefox-stable-release-for-windows-delayed-again/

I wish I could ditch flash as I ######## hate it but it is required for BBC video

 

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Stable 64-bit build got delayed again.

http://www.ghacks.net/2015/08/31/64-bit-firefox-stable-release-for-windows-delayed-again/

Shame, but the author mis-read the bug (It's been fixed in 41, but it's not the reason for the delay)

[bawz]

Mozilla just announced their intent to deprecate so called XUL-based add-ons in favor of what they call the WebExtensions API within the next year or two. The WebExtensions API is supposed to be mostly compatible to Chrome/Safari extension APIs.

What does this mean for DownThemAll!? Well, for starters, DownThemAll! will be dead if XUL-based add-ons with XPCOM access are gone. Simple as that. The new APIs would only allow for a severely limited in functionality, severely stripped down DownThemAll! at best DownThemAll

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Yeah, the DTA author is hugely over-reacting, nothing his addon does depends on XPCOM or XUL (It downloads files and writes them to disk)

[BooBerry]

Firefox Now Lets You Import Microsoft Edge Bookmarks

Following The Hate Speech, Mozilla Threatens To Fire Its Possible Employee

[Jub]

Following The Hate Speech, Mozilla Threatens To Fire Its Possible Employee

The author of this article and the person who wrote those comments about women should remove themselves from the tech industry. That would make it better. Misogynist pricks…

Meanwhile, I'm still on the lookout for a theme or user style to make Firefox feel more 'native' on OS X. Does anybody know of any?

[Mockingbird]

Cool story, bro

[ViperAFK]

Yah, firefox 43 dev finally has osx back/forward gesture support with APZ enabled

[Royalty]

Where's the 64 bit version?

[.stan]

Where's the 64 bit version?

Ask again in 2020

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Where's the 64 bit version?

Coming with 42 if nothing else holds it up (Issue for some people is that it doesn't support Silverlight, and the usual cries of "I'll switch to Chrome!" aren't having any effect, since neither Chrome or Edge support Silverlight either. So Mozilla needs to decide if they'll keep burning the Silverlight flame, or blow it out entirely.)

[ViperAFK]

Coming with 42 if nothing else holds it up (Issue for some people is that it doesn't support Silverlight, and the usual cries of "I'll switch to Chrome!" aren't having any effect, since neither Chrome or Edge support Silverlight either. So Mozilla needs to decide if they'll keep burning the Silverlight flame, or blow it out entirely.)

one problem is 64-bit firefox doesn't support netflix html5 yet, so without silverlight no netflix.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

Coming with 42 if nothing else holds it up (Issue for some people is that it doesn't support Silverlight, and the usual cries of "I'll switch to Chrome!" aren't having any effect, since neither Chrome or Edge support Silverlight either. So Mozilla needs to decide if they'll keep burning the Silverlight flame, or blow it out entirely.)

does anything even still support Silverlight anymore? o_0 I thought Microsoft was finally killing that one off

one problem is 64-bit firefox doesn't support netflix html5 yet, so without silverlight no netflix.

ah there's my answer

[Boo Berry]

does anything even still support Silverlight anymore? o_0

Amazon Instant/Prime Video.