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Firefox 2 might have a new User Interface

groups.google.com — Goals of updating the interface: remove UI elements that aren't useful to majority of users - increase usability of elements that are useful - increase focus on web content

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  • stokestack, on 10/12/2007, -7/+0"The default chrome of Firefox has not been altered since the launch"

    "Chrome"? No digg for using nonsensical terms.
  • keng, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3it's not non-sensical if you get into FF much at all.
  • hriwo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3might isn't news...
  • misterpony, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5"Chrome"? No digg for using nonsensical terms.

    Are you being sarcastic? Chrome is the term used to describe the general look of Firefox. Look at your C:Program FilesMozilla Firefox (if you use FF) and see the Chrome folder. And look here: http://www.vorstrasse91.com/moztips/mozillajargon.html
  • misterpony, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"Tabs are a fixed width"

    I don't think I like that...
  • SpeedyG, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3""Tabs are a fixed width"

    I don't think I like that..."

    Seconded. Considering that my tabs start shrinking after opening just five, I don't like this at all.
  • GuineaPig, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I hope that updating the UI includes discarding its hideous mid-nineties Netscapesque default theme.
  • lego, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Nice screenshot.
    • xmuskrat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I sure hope they re-enable the stop button after loading. Cause it should stop at the very least bgsound and embeds.
  • strcmp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"The Go button
    becomes a stateful button that is either "Go" or "Stop"; if a page
    is not loading, or if a user is typing in a URL, the button is "Go".
    If a page is loading and a user is not typing in a URL, the button
    is "Stop"."

    Bad move. "Go" and "reload" are not mutually exclusive functions; I frequently enter and load URLs while a page is being loaded. Why not just enable the behavior with the mutually exclusive "stop" and "reload?" Safari does it that way, and it works flawlessly.
  • amygdela, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2screenshot? You mean that ASCII gibberish?
  • kkaabboomm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2i dont like the idea of moving the home button to the bookmarks toolbar - if so, they must have a way to move it back, as i do not use a bookmarks toolbar ever, but use my home button alot.

    i haven't used the go button, ever, in fact ive removed it completely and have since like .8, however, making the stop button a go button/stop button wouldnt be horrible.

    i love the x's on each individual tab, isnt this on ie7?

    dont like fix tab sizes, because what if you have like 15 tabs? they must be able to dynamically change and shrink, but not grow too big. right now they are a fixed size until you have too many to fix w/the width of your browser, and then they shrink dynamically. i like this system, dont ruin it please.

    reload button into the url bar? that's too much clutter in the address bar. keep the address bar for the address, and then keep the browser buttons in the browser button section (back, forward, stop, home, etc). or at least let the user chose where to put it, dont lock it in to the address bar if the move is going to happen...

    i like the hidden status bar by default, obviously with such like forecastfox it would reappear. maybe they should move the find bar into the bottom status bar instead of popping up a second bottom bar? hit f3, the find box appears in the status bar, with an x by it to close the find box.
  • beltzner, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2strcmp: I don't quite know how you get from "Go"/"Stop" to "Go"/"Reload". Please re-read, and then read the thread where it's discussed at length.

    Also, fwiw, "chrome" isn't a term that's reserved only to Mozilla/Firefox apps. It's pretty common software-speak for "the set of UI widgets that present the capability to the user." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UI_Chrome
  • exick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I don't like the idea of Close Tab buttons on each tab like Camino or Safari unless I have the ability to turn them off. I hate accidentally closing tabs and I do that all the time when I use those other two browsers. In Firefox, I can close a tab with middle-click, which is how I prefer it. Just make the close buttons toggleable and we'll be cool.

    "Nice screenshot."
    It's a newsgroup posting. You aren't going to get inline images.
  • infosage, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1My post, though a dupe, was more accurate and readable:
    http://digg.com/software/Firefox_2_Will_Look_Even_More_Simple
  • uptown, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Ah, whatever they build, someone will write an addon to "unbuild" it back to a 1.5 look-and-feel.
  • Quickbreak, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Firefox sucks cactuses.
  • strcmp, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1beltzner: I don't quite know how you failed to figure out that I made the obvious mistake of substituting the word "reload" for "stop" in the first clause of my post. Please re-read the thread, which discusses a dual "go"/"stop" button, and realize that I made a mistake.

    "Please re-read, and then read the thread where it's discussed at length." Where what is discussed at length? "It" does not appear to have an antecedent in your post.

    "Present" should be "presents" as the latter is the third-person singular form of "to present," which is the appropriate verb form for your definition.
  • Eightyford, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0I have firefox3.com is anyone is interested in buying it...
  • fluffyturtle, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4You should have said: "Firefox 2 on the mac might have a new User Interface"

    Then in the description note that the same is true for the pc version. You would get well over 1000 diggs just by throwing the word "mac" in there.
  • yukevster, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0@dirtyfratboy

    Dude do you have a life?! Or is Digg your life?
  • berean, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0@eightyford

    ...How's 5 bucks sound?
  • OneMonkeysUncle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Instead of bit-twiddling and re-inventing the conventions that web browsers have used for years - thereby confusing and possibly alienating less sophisticated end users - how about putting a little effort into updating that eyeball singeing hairball o' ugly default theme?
  • opera, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Firefox 2 == Opera 8.5+

    Remove things the users don't need - opera.
    Remove status bar - opera.
    When I look at that ascii junk it looks exactly like my current browser - opera 9.
    Maybe firefox users have been using the wrong browser for a long time now.
  • babelfishi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Hmm. The problem with a fixed tab width is a limit of tabs you can open up.
    That means you can't always open all the RSS feed stuff..
  • BT-Wang, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1the first rule of having me continue to use your software:
    never permanantly remove a feature without a reason relating to security or performance, and have a replacement ready.

    seriously, replacing the session manager with a little box that says I can't use my browser was the worst idea ever and the worst thing about ff 1.5
  • opera, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0@misterpony
    ""Chrome"? No digg for using nonsensical terms.

    Are you being sarcastic? Chrome is the term used to describe the general look of Firefox. Look at your C:Program FilesMozilla Firefox (if you use FF) and see the Chrome folder. And look here: http://www.vorstrasse91.com/moztips/mozillajargon.html"

    Can't see the original post, but I don't think what you write make it sensical. Instead of using UI as everyone else always use, they invent their own term and believe people will understand it. Tips and trix where you need to "edit the chrome registry" says it all. Are people supposed to understand what that means? I'd rather refer to it as the "UI configuration file". But they like to build up this entire mystery I believe... Or whatever. I don't use the browser, so why do I even care...
  • Aeiri, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Alright, here's my beef.... I use a widescreen laptop to maximize my screen usage. The only problem I have with Firefox is the damn "File Edit View" etc menus. I only use one or two of those. I wish to remove select menus off my menubar.

    I have my back, forward, refresh, stop, location bar, search bar, and menu bars all on the same row. It takes up too much space on two. With a widescreen laptop, I want my location bar to be wider, not the same size as a normal width would be because of my "File Edit View" etc menus that I DON'T USE EVER up there.
  • Cojawfee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0They couldn't take 30 seconds and draw a picture? I can't read any of that ASCII art crap. I'm pretty sure it is supposed to be formatted a certain way, and lost its tabs when rendered in HTML.
  • Cojawfee, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Copy it into Notepad, it makes so much more sense.

    http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ff27gm.gif
    • JW00000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Or click "fixed font" in the right up corner...
  • dbpigeon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Ah, whatever they build, someone will write an addon to "unbuild" it back to a 1.5 look-and-feel."

    I hope so. I can't stand Xs on each tab and fixed tabs. How am I supposed to open every story on Digg? :'-(
  • TheBaron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Just choose "Fixed font" (top right of the page) to see the ASCII properly.
  • seanharrop, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I had to copy and paste it into notepad to get a good look at the proposed changes, but they all make sense. I'd really like to see some of those ideas.
  • aconbere, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@aeiri - if you read the firefox tips and tricks (available through the homepage) you'll find a description of how to do a couple quick edits to remove any unused menu items through the chrome files.

    @cojawfee - it's a newsgroup as has been mentioned before, they deal entirely with text.
  • capajc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Heh, they're freakin' geniuses. Remove what people don't use, enhance what they do, and make your product focus on what it's designed to do.

    Bah. What really remains to be seen is _how_ they're gonna do this, and what it'll look/act like.
  • aconbere, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0yep my big beef is the close buttons per tab. Not only does it create a roving target (BAD!!). It creates an easily accidentally pressed, data loss target (EVEN WORSE!!). Maybe we could focus on teaching users about the effects of middle clicking tabs, or expand it to ctrl clicking (since the control modifier works in much the same way in the firefox ui as middle clicking).
  • ray4389, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1 Screw FF...get Flock

    www.flock.com
  • infectbda, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm using the newest hourly branch build, and I really don't like the close tab buttons on each tab. I'm just so used to them not being their. And this seems to also break themes. As for the same size tabs, they still size down if you have more tabs then room in the window, so it's not that big of a deal.
  • pupa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2BAD link.

    This is correct:

    http://groups.google.com/group/mozilla.dev.apps.firefox/browse_thread/thread/85a8c60c5b9a3f93/c4d7088e08d3dfcc?hl=en&fwc=1
  • TomPetty, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0looks like the ideas to take away "common" features that may not be used much anymore will alienate the people that they WANT to switch to FF. imagine a common user d/ling FF for the first time... "what no home button? this sucks." close.
  • gotamd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wow, I didn't know Firefox was going ASCII for Firefox 2...
  • gotamd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0TomPetty said "looks like the ideas to take away "common" features that may not be used much anymore will alienate the people that they WANT to switch to FF. imagine a common user d/ling FF for the first time... "what no home button? this sucks." close."


    I use the Home button ALL THE TIME. If they take it out by default, they'd better have an option to put it back in.
  • nintom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0FF is highly customizable with themes and extent ions, so a new default setting is easily changed. I have never used a browser that lets you customize the UI so well let alone all of the other uber features.

    The only change I would WANT is an easy way customizable the 'throbber'. If anyone is interested in my UI setup.. here it is (theme is modern pinball FYI):

    http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y287/nintom/FF_setup.gif
  • mzhao, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I don't like most of the changes. First of all (as mentioned), "go" and "stop" aren't mutually exclusive. Second of all, all the button switching makes me feel like I'm looking at an IE7 mockup instead of a Firefox 2.0 one.

    As for close buttons on tabs, I don't like that idea. I frequently have hundreds of Firefox tabs open at once, so the possibility of clicking a close button by accident is large. Besides, just about everyone has a scroll wheel/third mouse button that can close tabs.

    In short, I prefer Firefox just the way it is now. All the "new, ergonomic" changes aren't to my taste.
  • nintom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Please forgive the bad English in my previous post *embarrassed* :(
  • clabbergrrl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"I wonder how much more they will steal from Opera and try to take credit for in this new version?"

    How many ships does the Norwegian Navy have?
  • jefu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0There seems to be a kind of virus that infects anyone who builds an even moderately successful tool with a GUI. They seem to become experts in how everyone _should_ do things. And while sometimes they're right, far more often they're just plain wrong. But this virus does not just infect them with "I know best", it also (far too often) infects them with "Everyone else is wrong and must be compelled to do things the One True Way."

    I just hope Firefox maintains its flexibility so that things can be changed. (Sadly, one of the symptoms of this virus is the impulse to remove the possibility of change so that the user will have no choice in the matter.)
  • Cinder6, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0At least there is no stupid Go menu...
  • evil_marty, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Ah, whatever they build, someone will write an addon to "unbuild" it back to a 1.5 look-and-feel."

    I hope so, from the look of it the UI is going to be all ASCII.
  • Cinder6, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"The Home button (&) moves to the personal bookmark toolbar"

    This really had better be customizable (I suspect it will be), since I for one (and I know others) don't use the bookmark toolbar, but still like the home button.

    "Tabs are a fixed width"

    Why? How is it going to work when you have a ton of tabs open? I won't put up with the toolbar growing by a row; I like to save as much screen real estate as possible, and this does not sound like one way to accomplish that.

    Overall, I think I prefer the original, though I know this is a mockup at the first stages of production (hell, it's in ASCII). I'll definitely be interested in seeing how it turns out, though. I for one like the idea of a dynamic Stop/Go button, and the new placement of the Refresh button makes sense. I just think it would be cool if they make the URL bar the progress indicater (a la Opera).
  • analogAI, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Here's a screenshot of my current MINIMALIST Firefox setup.

    http://img113.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image5ua.jpg

    I have two suggestions, and if anyone have permission please post this to the google group:

    1. Edit, Go, Bookmarks, Help menus are nearly useless to me, allow removal of those dropdown menus by customization.
    2. remove the throbber all together, instead have the background fill-up behind the addressbar like that in the OSX Safari browser.
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