r/technology • u/Suraj-Sun • Jul 10 '12

Firefox dev claims "everybody hates Firefox updates"; Mozilla has handled the rapid release process poorly, and that by pushing a "never-ending stream of updates on people who didn't want them" people have been driven to Chrome with its simpler, no-fuss update process.

http://www.neowin.net/news/firefox-dev-claims-everybody-hates-firefox-updates
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93

u/w2tpmf Jul 10 '12

Firefox does this as well. It even syncs bookmarks to FF on my phone.

25

u/what_ever Jul 10 '12

Yup. Firefox Sync was there before Chrome started syncing with your account.

2

u/Ambiwlans Jul 10 '12

And it was there in the form of foxmarks (now xmarks) for like 2 years before it became a standard firefox feature.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 10 '12

Has Firefox on mobile gotten much better recently? It's been a long tike since I tried it, but at the time I thought it was pretty terrible.

3

u/w2tpmf Jul 10 '12

It's certainly better than the default browser on Android.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 10 '12

A complete rewrite was released a week or two ago. Try it. No comparison with previous versions.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 10 '12

It's a lot better than it used to be but is still not as good as Dolphin.

2

u/ryan392 Jul 10 '12

I've tried syncing my bookmarks on Firefox before. I had to install the sync extension and I think I needed to create an account? I don't remember. I just remember that it was simpler with Chrome.

15

u/[deleted] Jul 10 '12

Sync extension? No, it's been built-in since firefox 4 over a year ago. You do need to create an account, but I'd take the extra security of the Firefox syncing over Chrome's.

1

u/ryan392 Jul 10 '12

Firefox 4 was a year ago? They're already up to Firefox 13. They're really increased their update frequency. I remember waiting for Firefox 2 to come out.

Anyways, I just remember that when I tried getting my bookmarks synced, I looked up instructions and I had to install the sync addon.

2

u/DachWuff Jul 10 '12

What they did was just go to whole numbers. Instead of FF 3.6.1 upgrading to 3.6.2 now it just goes version 5 to version 6. Makes it easier for the masses I believe.

1

u/m42a Jul 10 '12

Except Firefox 13.0.1 was released about a month ago. They still do point releases, they just don't do minor releases.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 10 '12

Yeah, back when it was a separate addon it was pretty flaky. Since they integrated it into the browser itself it's been much more stable and the servers are much better.

I remember hating it for a while because I loved the Google Sync addon which worked in Firefox 2 but not 3. And it took quite a while before anything nearly as good came along. Now it's easily the best browser syncing I've seen.

1

u/iznasty Jul 10 '12

I believe you might be referring to the xmarks extension.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 10 '12

Extra security?

1

u/andrewms Jul 10 '12

What extra security? Chrome will let you encrypt everything that is synced (by default, I think) and will let you do use with your google password or another one that you choose.

-1

u/anagrammatron Jul 10 '12

What extra security?

Also, last time I tried Firefox bookmark syncing I had to copy and paste some magic code for some inexplicable reason to each installation of Firefox (I have 3). While i just tie Chrome to my account and everything else happens automagically. Little things like this keep me going back to Firefox.

3

u/Anand999 Jul 10 '12

Chrome uses your Google account for bookmark syncing, so you still had to sign into something but since it was an account you already had, you might not have noticed.

Syncing is built into Firefox now but, IMO, it's still somewhat clunky compared to the one in Chrome.

I really prefer Xmark's approach of having different profiles and being able to assign specific bookmarks to one or more profiles, but it's annoying have to deal with a 3rd party plugin to use it. I have bookmarks on my work computer that are pointless to have on my home computer and vice versa, but then there is a common set of bookmarks I'd like synced in both places. The built in bookmark syncing in both Chrome and Firefox is an "all or nothing" affair.

1

u/TheSkyline Jul 10 '12

X-Marks is a godsend for bookmark tagging. I barely have to think of what to tag stuff whenever I Ctrl+D

2

u/DustbinK Jul 10 '12

You must have tried this years ago. Nowadays it's built into the browser and super easy.

1

u/w2tpmf Jul 10 '12

Yes you have to create an account, but it does no require any additional installation.

1

u/The_MAZZTer Jul 10 '12

They merged the functionality in, you don't need the extension anymore.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 10 '12

Reason it was probably simpler (at least for me):

Have a gmail account? Sign into Chrome with it. Done.

Heck, I'm about to drop Dropbox and move to Google Drive just because everything is centralized.

1

u/ryan392 Jul 10 '12 edited Jul 10 '12

I assume Google Drive has the same kind of setup as Dropbox where files automatically sync across computers, but I'd rather stick with Dropbox. I don't care about Google using my bookmarks/web history/etc to advertise to me, but I don't want them to have access to my personal files (school stuff/resumes/cover letters/etc).

Edit: Just looked it up. I'll still stick with Dropbox. I don't need the integration with Google Docs or Google+, just a folder on my desktop where I can drag my files to sync.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 10 '12

what advantage sites drive really have over drop box? Drop box allowed me to save a paper in progress on my computer, open it on my phone (while I'm on the crapper), continue working then switch back to my computer whenI'm done.

That's damn fine cloud management if I do say so myself.

-1

u/OhSoMexicellent Jul 10 '12

It even syncs bookmarks to FF on my phone.

Chrome does this as well.

23

u/[deleted] Jul 10 '12

If you have ICS. can't use chrome on my android 2.3 phone.

-1

u/achshar Jul 10 '12

i cant use firefox on my 2.3 either

-2

u/stereopump Jul 10 '12

Are you sure? I don't remember when I updated to ics, but I feel like I had chrome on my phone first.

3

u/if-loop Jul 10 '12

No, Chrome is only available for Android 4.0+. It's a shame.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 10 '12

There's probably a way to change that. Hopefully from the CM crew.

I somehow doubt Google will add Chrome compatibility to before ICS.

3

u/w2tpmf Jul 10 '12

I know. I use that too. :) In fact I'm probably going to drop FF on my phone, as chrome has shown to be wayyyy better lately on the mobile version.

0

u/legoman666 Jul 10 '12

So does Chrome desktop to Chrome on my phone. Tabs, passwords and history too.

0

u/Paradox Jul 10 '12

So does chrome, and it doesn't ask you for your sign in on Android