Firefox 57 Quantum Released

[engine]

Mozilla has released Firefox Quantum, which is Firefox 57.

Claimed to be much faster than previous iterations, Mozilla says it's twice as fast. Time will tell, but so far it's looking good. Some people commented on the beta [webmasterworld.com] last month.

The first thing you’ll notice is the speed. Go on, open some tabs and have some fun. The second thing you’ll notice is the new User Interface (UI). We call this initiative Photon, and its goal is to modernize and unify anything that we call Firefox while taking advantage of the speedy new engine. You guessed it: the Photon UI itself is incredibly fast and smooth. Firefox 57 Quantum Released [blog.mozilla.org]

[explorador]

They said "fast" in the past only to disappoint me, so I moved on to Chrome, sorry and yes I hate using G products to this extent. Yes I kept FF because I'm a webmaster and I just can't get rid of some browsers. Surprisingly it works really faster this time, FF got better, the interface changed but for what I care the most: the speed is way better. Sure it kicked my old extensions out.

So for now... it is faster, what took you so long FF?

[bill]

FF has been my primary browser on most systems, but lately it had become sluggish. I keep a lot of tabs open and their addition of multi-process for tabs helped stability a bit, but not so much in the speed or memory usage department. I can see a significant improvement with this new version already. I've only been using FF57 for a short while, but it is so far noticeably faster. I'll have to keep an eye on the memory usage.

Glad I never had to switch to Chrome... ;)

[dingloo]

Had moved away from FF a few years ago after noticing the slowness and the bloating. Happy to know that it is faster and also has better UI/UX now.

Just read today that the default search engine has also been replaced from Yahoo to Google - I am guessing it is one of the few changes they are making deliberately to gain back users like me.

Will surely give it a try and see.

[lucy24]

Yes, but is anyone else as repelled by the color scheme of the tab bar as I am? And what's supposed to go in that blank space next to the address bar?

[keyplyr]

Firefox could be the ultimate browser of all time, but if only techies use it, IMO it's irrelevant to web developers who need to experience the internet as the general public does.

Staying with Chrome, I like it.

[glitterball]

I need to use several browsers because of Google's forced language issues (need separate browsers for English and Spanish).
Apart from that, I need the Session Manager Add-on for Firefox, which is not compatible with Firefox 57, so I won't be updating!

There doesn't seem to be a solution to the issue in the pipeline either, so it looks like I'll be sticking with the outdated version of FF. The alternative would cost me over an hour in productivity every day.

[explorador]

@glitterball, I'm not clear on the language issue you mention (I've changed languages with no problem, not sure what your situation is), anyay about session manager perhaps the profile feature could be of use for you (just like identities I mean).

[glitterball]

@glitterball, I'm not clear on the language issue you mention (I've changed languages with no problem, not sure what your situation is), anyay about session manager perhaps the profile feature could be of use for you (just like identities I mean).

Really what I need to do is open up 3 - 10 tabs at the same time depending on what I'm doing. The Session Manager allows me to do that.
e.g. I can open up my Widget category wordpress admin tabs at the same time and administrate them all. Then I can open up the admin pages that I need to admin another site (admin page, ip check page, scam check page etc.). Then admin my forums, by opening up all of them at the same time in separate tabs.
This allows me to quickly ctrl-tab through each of them while the username and passwords are being submitted. This massively reduces the amount of time it takes to perform these tasks: while I am waiting for one page to respond, I will already be on the next tab performing the same task and moving onto the next one as soon as I have clicked 'submit'.

The issue with languages and Google is that sometimes I want to use Google in English, and sometimes in Spanish. It would be great to just go to google.es for Spanish, and Google.co.uk for English, but Google forces the user to use one language across the board.

[explorador]

oh, thanks for explaining.

[japonicus]

@lucy24

And what's supposed to go in that blank space next to the address bar?

Yes, weird formatting. You can get rid of the space using 'Customize...' then dragging away the two 'flexible spaces' on either side of the address bar.

[engine]

I, too, need to use several browsers, but had settled on FF across all devices as the default, mainly because it was easier to maintain one main browser.

Now that i've had the chance to use this new FF, the UI will take a little more getting used to, but it shouldn't be a major issue.

Speed-wise, it does seem faster, although that is just perception, and not being benchmarked. I'm glad to see the increase in speed.

I opened a lot of tabs today and no slowness or apparent pre-crashing.

I'll keep testing it.

[lucy24]

You can get rid of the space using 'Customize...'

Oh, thanks, that makes all the difference. Now if only I could Customize the tab bar so it no longer looks as if my computer is about to crash.

[brotherhood of LAN]

Just made the switch on Linux, noticeably faster but TBH the GUI changes are just a pain to re-accustom to, and probably a large part why I still don't use Chrome.

I see Firebug has also ended its life, time to get used to a different layout...

[bill]

The built in web developer tools look pretty good. They may not be as comprehensive as Firebug, but they're pretty good.

[tangor]

The deeper I dig into 57s guts the more appalled I become. The sheer amount of USER DATA being sent to moz and other third parties is astonishing!

Try defeating the "newtab", or setting your security and telemetry and other goodies. If you value privacy, you might want to avoid 57 for the moment. Note: so many add-ins destroyed as well.

[brotherhood of LAN]

The built in web developer tools look pretty good. They may not be as comprehensive as Firebug, but they're pretty good.

It does the job. Got used to it after a few hours, just a few extra seconds remembering where to click.

I see we're back to rectangular tabs. I thought rounded edges were the future...

[Sally Stitts]

I am appalled. NO MENTION of blocking autoplay. Have they lost their minds?

The biggest issue on the Internet today is obnoxious autoplay videos.
All attempts at blocking autoplay previously on Firefox, DIDN'T WORK!
And now, they don't even mention it. WHAT THE ****?

Safari 11 RULES. Easy to block ALL autoplay VIDEO and SOUND.
Can easily be overridden with a single click.
SAFARI GETS IT ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.

I sent Firefox feedback - "Until you get "BLOCK AUTOPLAY" right, I will never use you again. Clear enough?"
This just boggles my mind .. the tone deafness.

And then THIS -

The deeper I dig into 57s guts the more appalled I become. The sheer amount of USER DATA being sent to moz and other third parties is astonishing!

Looks like they have gone 100% all-in on advertising (can't turn off), and data collection.
Probably best to sh|t-can them now, altogether.
.

[edited by: Sally_Stitts at 11:22 pm (utc) on Nov 16, 2017]

[keyplyr]

I am appalled. NO MENTION of blocking autoplay. Have they lost their minds?

I use the Block Autoplay extension in Chrome. It is interesting Firefox has chosen not to block this. I agree it is extremely intrusive.

However, I'm more concerned about Firefox's Pocket [webmasterworld.com] which infringes copyright on your webpage and puts it on their servers for anyone to use for any reason, without your ads or protective scripting.

[Sally Stitts]

@keyplyr -
Firefox's Pocket- Yet ANOTHER HUGE reason to not use Firefox.
Used to be user-oriented - looks like they have gone TOTALLY corporate -
screw the user AND screw the webmaster.

I tried to block autoplay in Chrome, but could not get it to work, either.
This did not surprise me at all, coming from the advertising giant of all time.
THAT is why I am done with Chrome now, altogether, as well.
.

[Sally Stitts]

I should add that I have been 100% Firefox since Netscape.
They are totally blowing it.
When you change your DNA, don't ever expect to be viewed the same way, ever again.
.

[explorador]

Haven't tested anything in depth on FF as I moved on to Chrome (and yes I didn't want that), anyway been busy on other things, so I can't confirm on blocking ads, data collection etc. When upgraded ALL the extensions I had were removed so... that alone is smelly to me, doesn't sound good.

keyplyr: However, I'm more concerned about Firefox's Pocket [webmasterworld.com] which infringes copyright on your webpage and puts it on their servers for anyone to use for any reason, without your ads or protective scripting.

Can't post on that thread (says "too old"), but while I haven't done my research in depth, it seems there is a way out on this pocket thing (read it later). I use it, I read a lot (and I mean lots online) sometimes I read in the browser, other times save to read later on my phone or tablet. I'm a zero problem statistic because I never click on ads anyway. The point is, there are pages you can't completely add to pocket, so when you try to read later, the whole webpage with all it's elements is loaded, no scraped content, so there is a way.

[keyplyr]

RE: Firefox's Pocket - It only recognises content in certain containers. Still, IMO it is a huge digital property abuser. However, Safari & Edge do relatively the same thing.

Regardless, I block it all at the server so they aren't scraping my content.

[blend27]

Something Ain't right/left.

Where is NoScript, Where is WebDeveloperToolbar Original Addon by ChrisPederick?

WTF? Am I bugging here?

No NoScript? Legacy? with what replacement?

[tangor]

No NoScript? Legacy? with what replacement?

uMatrix at the moment. NoScript will return, just not here, yet.

[bill]

Yeah. The word on the street is that NoScript will have their WebEx version out by the end of the week although it was supposed to be out at the same time as FF57. It sounds like everyone will have to use a beta product for a bit while they refine things. At least it's being updated for the new release.

WebDeveloperToolbar seems to be updated and working on FF57 for me.

My biggest issue now aside from NoScript is the new GreaseMonkey. They have a WebEx compatible version, but I can't find a way to add my scripts like the previous version. Looks like I have to host them online now. I used to be able to manually paste the script into the extension and it just worked.

It sounds like Tab Mix Plus simply won't be possible in WebEx. I will miss that but I think I can get by.

Several versions back I started looking for FF57-ready replacements for a number of extensions, so I have a short list of annoyances on that front.

[tangor]

Quantum seems to have locked out a number of customization options. I'm hoping we can eventually get a tabs on bottom back!

[vivalasvegas]

Yes, but is anyone else as repelled by the color scheme of the tab bar as I am?

Yes, it is quite irritating. And FireFTP is gone. Apart from that, it does seem faster.

[tangor]

Must have missed that comment earlier.... try changing the default theme to "light" under customization.

[keyplyr]

I would assume the removal of all those extensions is one of the reasons it seems faster.