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The future of the Firefox address bar
webware.com — I had an interesting discussion today about Firefox with Mozilla's Mike Schroepfer and Mike Beltzner. One of the things we drilled into a bit was the address bar in Firefox 3
KevinFederline- 1676 diggs
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- Qong, on 05/15/2008, -6/+36That looks and sounds really good. I haven't tried Firefox 3 yet, or really read anything about it, so it was all news to me. That sounds really helpful though, I can't wait to use it.
- geekchic, on 05/15/2008, -24/+10Hmm.
Having tried a beta release - I can only hope there is an off-switch as I think it is AWFUL - and completely screws up how I (and most of the people I know) use the url bar.- telepheedian, on 05/15/2008, -1/+10You should try it again, the current beta is really awesome.
- troye, on 05/16/2008, -0/+2Fast too.
- luet, on 05/15/2008, -3/+6I don't find any problems with the bar, I think it's cool.
What I really have a problem with are the frequent crashes in vista. God damn I hate having vista.- toxicityj, on 05/15/2008, -0/+4How is a potentially unstable beta's crashes the fault of the OS? that's what betas do...
- kendawg, on 05/15/2008, -2/+9If you just want to use it to type in an address, go ahead. If you just want to see the drop-down list of recently typed addresses, go ahead. You don't need to turn it off.
- str1fe, on 05/16/2008, -1/+6Lots of people dislike the new rich results on Firefox's menu bar, as some type only the first letter of a URL expecting just (for example) digg.com to come up and not every web page that contains a D in the url or title. There is an off-switch, you just have to poke around to turn it off.
1) Type about:config in the address bar, tell FF you'll be careful if prompted.
2) Right click on the config, go to New > Boolean
3) Type " browser.urlbar.richResults " in the box that pops up.
4) Set the value to "false"
5) Restart Firefox.
Voila. You now have the old-school address bar back. I'm not sure why you're getting buried geekchic, I thought it was common knowledge that not everyone likes the new address bar. Oh well, there's your fix!
- telepheedian, on 05/15/2008, -1/+10You should try it again, the current beta is really awesome.
- KaiUno, on 05/15/2008, -2/+10Would've switched to FF3 beta completely by now if only Google would get off its arse and update Google Sync.
- arcticblue, on 05/15/2008, -10/+3What does Google Sync have to do with FF3?
- TheThirdLevel, on 05/15/2008, -1/+5Currently, the extension is in beta and only works with Firefox 1.5 and Firefox 2, not Firefox 3.
- arcticblue, on 05/15/2008, -2/+4Ah, I did not know that. I thought he was talking about the syncing program they released to sync you calendar with Outlook.
- patik, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1I wish it'd also get off its ass and update Google Notebook. Works in beta 4, but not beta 5, although I believe it's partly Firefox's fault for how it handles some CSS.
- arcticblue, on 05/15/2008, -10/+3What does Google Sync have to do with FF3?
- rpgmaker, on 05/16/2008, -0/+5I'm using FF3b5 and I can tell you that the "awesome bar" is awesome. Is the feature that I've used the most in FF3. You can find almost any lost link that you can think of, you just have to remember what it was about and write it on the "awesome bar", more than likely you will find your lost link on the list.
- Lewiji, on 05/16/2008, -0/+5One thing they didn't mention in the article is the tag searching in the address bar, and one click bookmarks. You can click the star on the right to bookmark a page, then click it again to add tags. I can tag a load of articles with, say, PHP and Javascript, type those 2 words in, and find all my articles involving the 2 instantly. Nice.
- xtraa, on 05/16/2008, -1/+2Hmm, afaik this thing is originally called 'Inquisitor' and available for Safari since 2004. Anyway, it has some extra options and I like it. Maybe it takes some time to get used to it.
- geekchic, on 05/15/2008, -24/+10Hmm.
- ISmokesDaPot420, on 05/15/2008, -3/+35Lots of proposals sound good.. but end up annoying. Although in the hands of Mozilla Devs, I'm hopeful.
- jmeeter, on 05/15/2008, -6/+7I find the "awesome bar" to be quite annoying, especially when I'm trying to go to a website that has a title similar to another website...
- TheThirdLevel, on 05/15/2008, -4/+7It would be cool if they let you toggle between a normal bar and the awesome bar.
- Eminemdrdre00, on 05/15/2008, -4/+1Exactly, the "awesome bar" is the only thing keeping me away from FF3 :
- Philbert, on 05/15/2008, -3/+3Yeah, I've been using FF3 b5 exclusively for about a month now and I'm not a big fan of the new address bar. I'm used to seeing the address that I'm trying to type in and just jumping right to it. Now I feel like I have to hunt through a whole lot of text to find the URL I'm looking for.
- iKomplex, on 05/15/2008, -0/+6Simple fix: try discerning the pages by supplying the fragments of their url (domain name, directory path, etc.) that makes them unique from one another. If you cannot be bothered with this approach, then just select the site you want from the list that is generated after entering the title.
I have been using the awesome bar for a while now, and it's been nothing short of amazing. I hope regular expression search will be implemented in a future release of the browser. - Nysul, on 05/16/2008, -0/+4The awesome bar is awesome for tablet PCs
- redxxx, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1honestly, it's pretty great for folks who use mouse heavy in their computer usage. I've been playing with it since it first made it into the betas, and have grown used to it. It's changed how I use firefox, but I've grown used to it and kinda like it now.
Most folks will end up liking it, some won't and there will be plug-ins for them.
- redxxx, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1honestly, it's pretty great for folks who use mouse heavy in their computer usage. I've been playing with it since it first made it into the betas, and have grown used to it. It's changed how I use firefox, but I've grown used to it and kinda like it now.
- str1fe, on 05/16/2008, -2/+1http://www.ibrahimo.com/2007/12/25/firefox-3-beta- ...
I know, I know, Beta 2. It still works like a charm.
- TheThirdLevel, on 05/15/2008, -4/+7It would be cool if they let you toggle between a normal bar and the awesome bar.
- altf4me, on 05/15/2008, -0/+11I've been loving the new address bar for a while now. It makes it much easier for me to check all my favourite sites as I don't bookmark them on my work laptop.
- yuutokun, on 05/16/2008, -4/+2I don't know why they are making all of these false claims against Clinton and Obama. I mean seriously, do we really want another Bush in the white house?
- jmeeter, on 05/15/2008, -6/+7I find the "awesome bar" to be quite annoying, especially when I'm trying to go to a website that has a title similar to another website...
- boldfire, on 05/15/2008, -5/+129I find the address bar in Fx3 to be very powerful and intuitive. Hopefully they can build on this more in the future - and hopefully slimline it a little (right now it's a wee bulky)
- mal1964, on 05/15/2008, -10/+1 "the future"?
- kalphegor, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1To slimline it a little you have to install an additional theme. For example, on Mac OS X, GrApple Delicious theme works really nice and changes the look of the address bar. You can find the theme here http://www.takebacktheweb.org/
- stoanhart, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1It's also a bit resource intensive. I think it searches a bit too deep into your history sometimes. Occasionally I will start to type an address I already know, but the browser will come to a halt with the hard drive thrashing as FF works overtime finding every possible match when I already know what I want. Kind of annoying...
- arjie, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1Sometimes it is a bit slow, and older entries will take a while to show up if you have a huge history. For example, there'll be a pause and then suddenly another entry will be appended at the end.
Anyway, while it took me a while to get used to it, I love that I can now partially match the URL and partially match the page title. For example, typing digg and then linux and then a space and then Sun allows me to look through digg history for articles on Sun (and by restricting it to linux_unix, Sun Microsystems). I think this is simply brilliant, and I love it! Genius!- srg13, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1Yeah - I love the thing too, but the two or three second delay I sometimes get when I type something in is really annoying.
- golvin, on 05/16/2008, -2/+0I have seen people used FF, but not Fx... Fx looks more like Flex...
- UnterDenLinden, on 05/15/2008, -11/+16I think they should just do away with the search bar and combine it with the address bar like they were saying. When you type a non-url that doesn't match anything in your history, it just Googles it.
- verevi, on 05/15/2008, -1/+18That's how it works now... in the current release 2.0 release.
- Modestexcuse, on 05/16/2008, -0/+2And if you type in your search word followed by wiki, it takes you straight to the wikipedia page. Just in case anyone didn't know that.
Edit: Ahhh, I see that discussion below. - patik, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1But then you can only use Google. I use about 10-15 different search engines where Google wouldn't be the best one to use (torrents, maps, wikipedia, dictionary, etc).
Just remove the search box if you don't use it. Right click on a gray area next to it, choose Customize, and drag the search box away.
- Modestexcuse, on 05/16/2008, -0/+2And if you type in your search word followed by wiki, it takes you straight to the wikipedia page. Just in case anyone didn't know that.
- D14BL0, on 05/15/2008, -3/+6That'd cause confusion for things that DO match your history, though.
- UnterDenLinden, on 05/15/2008, -3/+2If it matched your history, it would go there, not to Google.
- HonoredMule, on 05/16/2008, -1/+4Yeah, thus the problem. I hope I don't have to spell this out for you...
- UnterDenLinden, on 05/15/2008, -3/+2If it matched your history, it would go there, not to Google.
- uziko, on 05/15/2008, -1/+14uh, you do realize that there are more search options than just google right?
- schmiggyjk, on 05/15/2008, -0/+14Exactly. I don't want my searches just being googled. I use the hell out of the search bar, and I have 20+ custom search engines installed, from pricegrabber, froogle, amazon, piratebay, youtube, digg, etc.
I won't be ditching the search bar anytime soon, and hopefully FF doesn't either.- theaceoffire, on 05/15/2008, -2/+15You should try keywords.
Every time I type "goog something" it searches google, "torr something" it searches pirate bay, "tube something" it searches youtube... I got like 30 or more keywords that let me easily search without needing a mouse to select a different search engine. - joshuabowers, on 05/16/2008, -1/+9You don't need a mouse to select a different engine, though: in Windows (I assume the same holds true with a different combination on Macs) Ctrl-K switches you to the search bar, and then Ctrl-Up and Ctrl-Down switch the current engine.
- Whaines, on 05/16/2008, -0/+2Click "Manage Search Engines" in Firefox Beta 3 and you can make keywords for searches even easier than before without making a bookmark. As theaceoffire was saying, just type something like "imdb futurama" and it'll search IMDB for futurama (assuming that's your keyword).
- theaceoffire, on 05/15/2008, -2/+15You should try keywords.
- UnterDenLinden, on 05/16/2008, -1/+2I do, but I rarely use them. Just putting the site I want to get my result from in my search keywords works fine.
- schmiggyjk, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1That works for some things, but it doesn't help for most of the private torrent sites I use for my "linux distros".
- schmiggyjk, on 05/15/2008, -0/+14Exactly. I don't want my searches just being googled. I use the hell out of the search bar, and I have 20+ custom search engines installed, from pricegrabber, froogle, amazon, piratebay, youtube, digg, etc.
- celticchrys, on 05/16/2008, -3/+2This is a feature that I have always despised in IE. The "feature" where if you do not put "http://" in front of a web address it sends it to a search engine. grrr. The Mozilla team had better do an incredibly more brilliant implementation in order to avoid being equally obnoxious.
- containimated, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1I can't remember the last time I typed "http://" or even "www" on any browser.
- arjie, on 05/16/2008, -0/+2I remember back when I used Opera they had a clever idea. You could say "g dogs" in the address bar and that would google "dogs". If you said "y dogs" that would do a yahoo! search for "dogs". Epiphany has this other feature where you can construct a special bookmark for search and then you just type out "dogs" in the address bar and scroll down the auto-complete till you reach "Google Search" and selecting that would search for "dogs". You could use that to search on any page that allowed you to easily make a bookmark like that.
For instance, for Urban Dictionary it would be something like the URL: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=%s
I don't remember for sure, but it was something like that. Both of these were pretty decent ideas, though Epiphany's suffered because you'd have to scroll across history to hit the search.
Hmm, perhaps digg should use a no-repeat on the background of a comment.- srg13, on 05/16/2008, -0/+2You can just type something in Firefox's address bar, and it'll do an 'I'm feeling lucky' google search. You can make it do something else in the about:config page.
Or, right-click a search box (ie. Wikipedia's search) in any Firefox version. Click 'Add a keyword for this search'. Enter the info and go -I use wp for Wikipedia, so I can type 'wp something' in the address bar, and it goes straight to the wiki article.
Apart from not having tabs (and sucking at rendering), not having these features in IE6 is the worst thing about using the internet at school.
- srg13, on 05/16/2008, -0/+2You can just type something in Firefox's address bar, and it'll do an 'I'm feeling lucky' google search. You can make it do something else in the about:config page.
- verevi, on 05/15/2008, -1/+18That's how it works now... in the current release 2.0 release.
- axisofphilippe, on 05/15/2008, -7/+1...Will know where you want to go before you do.
- OKeric, on 05/15/2008, -8/+5I really like the new address bar, works fast and looks good. I can't believe features that it has haven't been incorporated into other browsers earlier than now. And you know the next versions of Internet Explorer and Safari will have these features.
- Games4Life, on 05/15/2008, -4/+60I've been running on beta 5 for about a month now, Its Awesome!
- HydrogenOxide, on 05/16/2008, -2/+1Beta 5 is also RC1. Here's to final release this time next month!
- strikes12, on 05/16/2008, -5/+0It crashes all the time for me, especially when browsing newzbin.com
- Tenoq, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1What plugins?
- strikes12, on 05/16/2008, -0/+0adblock and greasemonkey. It will just crash to desktop sometimes when loading a page. *shrugs* not sure what to say.
- Tenoq, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1What plugins?
- kmg90, on 05/16/2008, -2/+1can't wait for final release I don't like to touch the betas
I may check them out but I don't use them for everyday browsing - zongamin, on 05/16/2008, -2/+1You are so clever.
- kutateli, on 05/16/2008, -1/+1I've been doing your mom for about a month now, Shes Awesome!
- Newedge14, on 05/15/2008, -1/+7Been running this for a while.. the awesome bar is pretty useful, I especially like how pretty much thats all I need anymore along with my back and forward buttons
- hayzeus, on 05/15/2008, -17/+6Calling it the address bar is sexist. Let's call it the address slit.
- D14BL0, on 05/15/2008, -1/+2Oh, I see what you did there! You cunning linguist, you!
- hayzeus, on 05/15/2008, -1/+1There's even an X-Windows reference in there -- and STILL they Digg me down. I may just have to storm off in a huff and take my comedy gold elsewhere,,,
- D14BL0, on 05/15/2008, -1/+2Oh, I see what you did there! You cunning linguist, you!
- AngusSteel, on 05/15/2008, -21/+2I use ie and firefox and they both have some good and bad to them but firefox wins b/c it's LINUX
- D14BL0, on 05/15/2008, -2/+5No it isn't?
- AngusSteel, on 05/15/2008, -2/+3its used in linux
besides opera *correction to original comment - serend, on 05/15/2008, -1/+5your insane. because something runs in Linux doesn't make it linux. if this were true what the hell would firefox really be? linmacdoesbsdaris?
- AngusSteel, on 05/15/2008, -4/+1read above comment
- SteveMax, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1If you say Firefox wind "because it's LINUX" (sigh), why don't you ditch Windows and use Linux? Walk the walk, don't talk the talk.
- dood, on 05/15/2008, -9/+18I found the awesome bar to be most unusable. It's enormous, and unwieldy. The algorithm it uses to call up historical links is awkward (but I could probably get used to it with time).
I use the "oldbar" plugin for Firefox 3. It makes the drop-down menu an acceptable size. It leaves the new search algorithm in place, though.- digitaldivinci, on 05/15/2008, -1/+3Thank you so much for referencing oldbar. I found the bar so unusable that I can barely try it for more than a day. I just reinstalled it today and tried to mess around with the about:config settings, but now it will only display one link in the drop down - digg.com. Any ideas?
- uziko, on 05/15/2008, -5/+3why do you care? because it disappears after you press enter, and while your are typing it what do you need to see all the stuff behind it for. I am very picky about visual effects, but i love the new bar and i can't even go back to Firefox 2 now.
- dood, on 05/15/2008, -1/+4It does weird things on Linux, where if your mouse happens to hover over the gigantic region the awesome bar takes up, it will sometimes focus on the 5th or 6th URL in the drop down instead of the top one, and you have to hammer tab to get back up to the top, or grab the mouse. Obnoxious.
On OS X, I'm just annoyed at the amount of space it takes up on the screen. Almost half of the height of the display.
Apparently, rather than address the concerns, the team decided to just remove the options that would disable it: http://kev.deadsquid.com/?p=684 That's not very cool.- uziko, on 05/16/2008, -1/+2oh yea that's to be expected, linux and osx are bugged peices of crap, i use the windows version it works great
- dood, on 05/15/2008, -1/+4It does weird things on Linux, where if your mouse happens to hover over the gigantic region the awesome bar takes up, it will sometimes focus on the 5th or 6th URL in the drop down instead of the top one, and you have to hammer tab to get back up to the top, or grab the mouse. Obnoxious.
- SPThom, on 05/15/2008, -2/+2I agree about the new bar and "oldbar" I love the functionality--it actually makes bookmarks useful to me now--but the appearance is ugly. I expect one line per entry when I'm sorting through dropdowns. The way it is in FF3 by default is too cluttered for my liking.
Oldbar is a lifesaver!
- Davinator, on 05/15/2008, -3/+53In FF3, it took me a while to get used to typing in any part of the address and/or page name to bring up a webpage. Now that I've used that while, I find it very difficult to go back to the old method used in FF2, IE, etc...
- craighamnett, on 05/15/2008, -0/+9Exact same problem I have now, when on 2 I always start typing "reader" for Google Reader, and nothing shows up, then I realise I have to type "google" before scrolling down the list of google pages I visit to get to my reader. I fell in love with 3 a long time ago! :)
- biggerapple3am, on 05/16/2008, -2/+1For a second I was thinking you were referring to Final Fantasy 3.... needless to say I felt let down when the "duh" kicked in
- debuffplx, on 05/15/2008, -12/+13Liiks like too much bloat. I have auto-complete off and clear private data set to clear upon exit. I don't want ***** popping up as I type in an address.
- dksupremacy, on 05/15/2008, -1/+9especially if you search for a lot of porn
- theaceoffire, on 05/15/2008, -1/+8You can type about:config and change "browser.urlbar.maxRichResults" to 0.
- dksupremacy, on 05/15/2008, -1/+9especially if you search for a lot of porn
- l815, on 05/15/2008, -14/+7It's a complete ripoff from Opera. Opera's works better and is not so big -_-
- D14BL0, on 05/15/2008, -4/+26The Awesome Bar is in fact, awesome. It's a feature that I quickly found myself dependent on - I had to switch to FF2 for something at work, and noticed that my address bar had suddenly turned into a Lame Bar.
I immediately dropped what I was doing and went back to FF3. Awesome Bar is great. - PaddyTheChump, on 05/15/2008, -3/+12I'm not sure if I'll like this. What about those... err... personal websites?
- D14BL0, on 05/15/2008, -1/+6Yeah, I've already experienced some awkward situations with that, myself.
- Lazydriver, on 05/15/2008, -0/+7Control-Shift-Delete is your best friend.
Alternatively, menu Tools, button "Clear Private Data".
CSD's better for those OMG PEOPLE ARE HOME moments.
(Enjoy your private sites!) - Abjure, on 05/15/2008, -0/+5Might I recommend you turn on the Stealther extension when you browse those "personal websites"? I've been using this extension for quite some time now and it does exactly what you'd expect. I believe Safari has this functionality built in if I recall correctly..
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/130 ... - yahoofrom, on 05/16/2008, -0/+4Solution : different profile for err.. personal websites.
- containimated, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1Copy firefoxportable then delete it when done.
- starkraving, on 06/17/2008, -0/+1The 'Distrust' plugin is fantastic. Just click on the notification button once to start the Distrust session, and then whenever you're finished 'surfing' just turn it back off again. It deletes your history and all your temporary files, automatically. Voila!
- AngusSteel, on 05/15/2008, -10/+1I sense a disturbance in the force (dig everyone down disturbance)
- msflower97, on 05/15/2008, -2/+7As long as there's a workaround for people who don't like it, it looks great to me (I only read the article, haven't tried it). Learning new things is not always a bad thing...sometimes a feature you hate at first will really grow on you with time.
- Vulpes, on 05/15/2008, -2/+4There is no workaround (AFAIK) unless you don't update. But then again you'd be suffering from FF2 memory leaks and nobody wants that...
- theaceoffire, on 05/15/2008, -0/+5There is an option in about:config to change the number of results (browser.urlbar.maxRichResults)
- Vulpes, on 05/15/2008, -2/+4There is no workaround (AFAIK) unless you don't update. But then again you'd be suffering from FF2 memory leaks and nobody wants that...
- InspectorGadget, on 05/15/2008, -9/+9I really like the simple FF2 address bar. I think autocomplete and other "awesome" features will be more of an annoyance than a convenience. I like Firefox because it is so simple out of the box and you can basically build your own browser with extensions, userchrome.css tweaking, etc. - packaging this sort of functionality as a mandatory feature is a bad decision.
- noisey, on 05/15/2008, -3/+5Thank you InspectorGadget, I feel the exact same way. I see this as a feature that mostly younger people will like - the IM generation.
- cwgannon, on 05/15/2008, -1/+5WTF. Did your great-grandfather believe planes would be useless, too, since we already had ships and automobiles?
But seriously. I read tons of things at JSOnline.com, but I can't be bothered to type in jsonline.com and scroll through the list of pages I've read to find a story I read a couple weeks ago, especially when the address of the page is generic and appended with a story ID. What I can do now, though, is type in word I remember to have been in the headline (the page's title), and there you have it. No ***** around to do something that should be pretty simple to begin with.
I guess I see your point, though, in saying that only the "IM generation" would benefit from something like this. Maybe you should stick to your guns and use only the command line for your computing needs.
Or maybe you should realize that being a prick isn't the best way to go.- dusanmal, on 05/16/2008, -1/+1No, the "awesome bar" relates better to my great-grandfather believing that the 128 horse horse-drawn carriage is useless because it's clumsy and takes way too much space. Particularly when you already can drive a car (bookmarks/history/...).
People typing URL want to type URL. People who want recently used URL's are already perfectly served by existing history in the FF2 bar. People who want to go to their fav' site have bookmarks and related... Hence "awesome bar" is solution for the problem that doesn't exist. Waste of effort. - Tenoq, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1dusanmal - "...solution for the problem that doesn't exist."
Vista? - cwgannon, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1@ dusanmal
Or, you could read my example and consider that none of your suggestions would fulfill the task that I described the "awesome bar"--three cheers for internet memes--as allowing me to accomplish.
"Takes away too much space?" You're not the first person I've seen say this, but what? Are you saying the drop-down menu itself is too big? Is there something underneath you need to be looking at while you're typing? Or do you mean that it's not aesthetically pleasing because of its size? What?
- dusanmal, on 05/16/2008, -1/+1No, the "awesome bar" relates better to my great-grandfather believing that the 128 horse horse-drawn carriage is useless because it's clumsy and takes way too much space. Particularly when you already can drive a car (bookmarks/history/...).
- InspectorGadget, on 05/16/2008, -3/+1"Anyone who disagrees with my opinion is a prick waaah waaah waaah sand in my vagina". Learn to make an argument. You said nothing of substance and included only a bunch of bitching and a paid promo for JSonline.
- cwgannon, on 05/16/2008, -1/+1"Learn to make an argument," says the guy who tells me to desand my vagina. I could have spelled it out a bit more explicitly, but my point was that the bar is neither useless nor necessarily responsible for the loss of any other features.
I was replying, mind you, to the same quack that said this will mostly be used by the "IM generation." If you're really out to bitch about a lack of argument without making yourself out to be both biased and an ass in doing so, you may want to talk to him first, and you can then reply back to me with something of a bit more substance than the tired sand and vagina song and dance.
As for the JSonline "paid promo," it's the Milwaukee area's newspaper. Big ***** deal. Go tilt at windmills, fool.
- cwgannon, on 05/16/2008, -1/+1"Learn to make an argument," says the guy who tells me to desand my vagina. I could have spelled it out a bit more explicitly, but my point was that the bar is neither useless nor necessarily responsible for the loss of any other features.
- cwgannon, on 05/15/2008, -1/+5WTF. Did your great-grandfather believe planes would be useless, too, since we already had ships and automobiles?
- noisey, on 05/15/2008, -3/+5Thank you InspectorGadget, I feel the exact same way. I see this as a feature that mostly younger people will like - the IM generation.
- Unclekoolaid, on 05/15/2008, -5/+24Dear Digg, Please stop showing the True animated ads on the front page, it makes me feel awkward while browsing Digg at work.
- blake10, on 05/15/2008, -6/+1then don't use digg at work?
- kramdar, on 05/15/2008, -3/+0I agree with Uncle
- Kronos6948, on 05/15/2008, -2/+10Does ABP work with FF3? If so, you don't have to worry about those ads.
- haylel, on 05/15/2008, -0/+13Yes it does. Because of it working, I have no idea what these guys are talking about.
- darkecho, on 05/15/2008, -4/+12I found the FF3 address bar hideous. Mostly because it takes up two lines. However, adding the "oldbar" extensions allows you to have it look like the address bar in FF2 and most common browsers but still keep the functionality of FF3.
- Zephik, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1Thanks for the tip! Installed "oldbar", its much better now! :)
The only thing that I don't like now is the fact that there is no "go" button, unless you are typing something into the address bar. Not major, but I do miss it. :(
- Zephik, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1Thanks for the tip! Installed "oldbar", its much better now! :)
- JinnRikki, on 05/15/2008, -9/+1I Hate Fire Fox. Every time I want to do something I have to stop and install another add on. I have to get an add on just to display the tabs the way I like. Use Maxthon folks, I've used it for years never had a problem. Download it install it and forget it, everything works out of the box and if you know what your doing security isn't a problem, but if you just have to frequent those XXX porn sites no browser will protect you.
- mattus, on 05/15/2008, -0/+4LOL. We're talking about sometime which is BUILT IN to FF3 - that is - doesn't require an add-on. And Maxthon? Don't make me laugh. It's just a front-end for IE, and brings all its security and rendering issues with it.
- asadotzler, on 05/15/2008, -1/+5Deb Richardson's blog post on the "awesomebar" is a must read for anyone who hasn't already.
http://www.dria.org/wordpress/archives/2008/04/17/ ...- y2kboy23, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1Good read but Firefox 3 is about to enter the RC1 so it should be more stable than in Beta 5.
- msouthcott, on 05/15/2008, -9/+4I used to live by firefox and I hated IE. With the most recent firefox release all it does is crash, I can't get into Oracle.com most of the time and flash only plays for a second or 2 then stops. I tried using opera but I just don't like it. So here I am back on IE, how the hell did IE become better than firefox. WTH?
- Kronos6948, on 05/15/2008, -1/+5I have the most recent firefox release, and I haven't had a problem with it. If you're talking about FF3, then you have to remember it's still in Beta.
- sapient2003, on 05/15/2008, -0/+3I use Firefox 3 Beta 5 with Ubuntu 8.04 AMD64 edition. I have not had Firefox crash on me once. I visit a large variety of web sites and I have not had any real problems with it. On a few occasions however some sites do not render properly, but it is such a small annoyance it is easy to overlook.
- theaceoffire, on 05/15/2008, -2/+1Flash crashes FF3b5 a lot for me.
I am sure it will get more stable once FF3 is released.
- theaceoffire, on 05/15/2008, -2/+1Flash crashes FF3b5 a lot for me.
- ePuck, on 05/15/2008, -1/+9Firefox 3 beta 5 works. Address bar has saved me many of my precious minutes.
- geoboy, on 05/16/2008, -1/+1A++++++++ WOULD BUY AGAIN
- mitikomon, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1And a lot of my "not precious" minutes too.
- latour, on 05/15/2008, -2/+1*****
- greensky, on 05/15/2008, -5/+5I don't like the new bar. I used to just type 'di' hit down and return to visit digg.com and the same sorts of shortcuts for a ton of sites. That no longer works and it annoys me.
- praveenmarkandu, on 05/16/2008, -0/+4just keep doing it. after less than a few days it will list digg.com as the first item
- greensky, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1Thanks for the tip. RC1 seems a bit better at this than the beta 5 one and it looks a lot nicer too.
- praveenmarkandu, on 05/16/2008, -0/+4just keep doing it. after less than a few days it will list digg.com as the first item
- leeftw, on 05/15/2008, -2/+2Jugded on previous history? mines empty, cant have the rents looking at the porn sites ive visted
- abood, on 05/15/2008, -2/+6love the new bar...it's basically spotlight-esque in its function
- adenansu, on 05/15/2008, -5/+4As said above, the awesome bar is awesome. People that don't like it just don't like having to learn something new. Learn it, live it, love it.
- baldgye, on 05/15/2008, -1/+3have to say i never use the google search bar, as anything i type in the address bar that isn't a site just gets sent to google search anyway
- Philbert, on 05/15/2008, -2/+1That Google Search Bar is how Mozilla makes a good amount of their money.
- baldgye, on 05/15/2008, -2/+1.....you don't points for telling me what I already know
- heatgap, on 05/15/2008, -3/+5Firefox III = teh win , even in beta form. SMILE! It's the Awesome Bar and it's here to watch your children and make milkshakes!
- Philbert, on 05/15/2008, -1/+2I'm going to drink your milkshake.
- Memnochxx, on 05/15/2008, -7/+2The new bar is huge and annoying so I disabled it. I don't need help typing addresses. If I want a shortcut I'll make a keyword for my bookmark.
- rheaume, on 05/15/2008, -6/+2"The Firefox 3 address bar helps users auto-complete the URLs they type in, but it's smarter than it appears at first. The choices that pop to the top of the list as you type are not based just on best text match, but on your previous behavior"
Wow thats going to suck for those of us that like our privacy... - philiras07, on 05/15/2008, -4/+0you mean it can.. read my mind?!?! O_o
- manacit2, on 05/15/2008, -3/+2I've been using FF beta 5, and the address bar is one of the best things about it.. I can search page titles and urls :D
- derubermensch, on 05/15/2008, -0/+7I like that Webware brought up the possible economic consequences of feature progression.
- anaesthetica, on 05/16/2008, -1/+5Yeah, the Mozilla response was just as awesome as the "awesomebar":
"The Mozilla execs expressed no interest in making money from that position--'We hadn't thought of it,' Schroepfer said"
Such an unbelievable breath of fresh air. And, it's comforting to know that Mozilla is really staying true to its #1 priority: making web surfing easy for users.
A lot of people speculate about the possible leverage that Google might have over Mozilla because of the perceived dependency Mozilla has on Google as principal revenue source. This kind of press is a good refutation of that anxiety, and a confirmation that Mozilla is remains on the right track.
Kudos to the guys at Mozilla for putting users ahead of profit.
- anaesthetica, on 05/16/2008, -1/+5Yeah, the Mozilla response was just as awesome as the "awesomebar":
- Asheis, on 05/15/2008, -0/+3I was a webkit kinda guy, but i'm starting to be a reborn firefox convert
- serencewarrior, on 05/15/2008, -2/+1Sweetness!!
- SellotapeGuy, on 05/15/2008, -3/+4I'm using FF3, and I have to say, I find that 'awesome bar' rather annoying. Keeps popping up, distracting me. I'm using the address because I want to type, not click, and if I'm doing that, there's a good chance I'll know what I'm going to be typing.
- clockwars, on 05/15/2008, -4/+2I would totally disable that! why does everything have to be automated?! it encourages laziness!
- Cryoniq, on 05/16/2008, -1/+2Yeah.. let us disable your car, your shoes, your bike, your computer, and this.. and that and yeah that too.. all those things make you "lazy" as well.. :)
My point is.. just because something automate, it doesn't mean it make people lazy. Could just as well mean it makes them more effective on other areas..
But.. hmm.. maybe there is a little truth in it.. Windows users have a lot automated.. and they are often very.. lazy.. and unproductive.. oh noes.. I see it now.. ;P
- Cryoniq, on 05/16/2008, -1/+2Yeah.. let us disable your car, your shoes, your bike, your computer, and this.. and that and yeah that too.. all those things make you "lazy" as well.. :)
- wuxia, on 05/15/2008, -2/+1It says its "not based just on best text match, but on your previous behavior". Great I can see it now, I want to type in Digg.com but it comes out Dirtywetdiapersex.com instead.
- crashposition, on 05/15/2008, -4/+1del.icio.us integration please!
- nekochan, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1http://blog.delicious.com/blog/2008/04/firefox-3-d ... ?
- D3koy, on 05/15/2008, -2/+1Yeah I'd be down until it screws up once...then I'm going back...
- Tyrax, on 05/15/2008, -2/+2Its a good idea, but I hate the fact that they are displaying information for a single site on multiple lines. For me, ideally this would be a single line list. Easier to parse the information
- walkerj, on 05/16/2008, -2/+6Isn't this kind of thing the antithesis of what Firefox was originally meant to be? Mozilla became huge and unwieldy with all its built-in features, so they stripped it back to the simplest usable kernel of a browser and made it easily extendable so that people could add the functionality they wanted. Firefox was originally the Emacs of browsers-- a platform on which to run your own extensions. It looks like Firefox 3 is destroying that, with the addition of the new address bar. This trend possibly started with Firefox 2 and the built-in spell checker. No matter how good these functions are, shouldn't anything beyond the basic functionality be an extension?
- DarkDx, on 05/16/2008, -2/+2You may want to check out opera, HIDDEN to your view so the interface isn-t bloated and the perfomance isn-t bloated either.
- mbyrd, on 05/16/2008, -1/+1I agree. While I've only played around with the Opera 9.5 beta for a few days I was immediately impressed by the page load speed and -- what Firefox consecutively gets worse at -- the initial startup time. Firefox just feels like it's getting unnecessarily bloated and they're going to be finding themselves in the same boat as Microsoft if the trend continues.
- DarkDx, on 05/16/2008, -2/+2You may want to check out opera, HIDDEN to your view so the interface isn-t bloated and the perfomance isn-t bloated either.
- DarkDx, on 05/16/2008, -8/+4Copied from Opera. And it works faster in opera. Digg me down if you want (I-ll probably get dugg down) but it-s the truth, not saying that its bad but I wish they didnt take credit for it.
- AppleMacStud, on 05/16/2008, -3/+1And who did Opera copy? Safari. It works faster in Safari 3. I just wish Opera AND Firefox didn't take credit for it.
- DarkDx, on 05/16/2008, -0/+2Lol, this IS NOT PRESENT in Safari, so I don't know wtf your talking about.
- indesignout, on 05/16/2008, -4/+4DarkDx is right!
All of Firefox's "innovations" were done by Opera first (except the open plugin system!).
It's funny, there's been 110 comments (as of when I am typing this) and only one comment knew that Opera did it first.
Incredible what social engineering can do!
Yes I do use Opera when I want to browse the web, but I web develop on Firefox. - thegreatanti, on 05/16/2008, -2/+1No Firefox was earlier with this feature than Opera. This has been available since the very early beta's even before Opera 9.5 first public build was released. Overall I'm not impressed by the way Opera has implemented it. Looks way too busy. In Firefox 3 it looks nice and clear.
- AppleMacStud, on 05/16/2008, -3/+1And who did Opera copy? Safari. It works faster in Safari 3. I just wish Opera AND Firefox didn't take credit for it.
- HydrogenOxide, on 05/16/2008, -0/+2While the awesome bar is one of the best firefox additions, I don't like that passport thing. There are some sites that I need to get to that are on Mozilla's blacklist, but I can't seem to find a way around it as of beta 5
- GavinZac, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1Disable the blacklist in preferences?
oh, its called Options in windows, afaik. preferences in linux.
- GavinZac, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1Disable the blacklist in preferences?
- ajadoniz, on 05/16/2008, -8/+1NEW COMMENT SYSTEM!
- HenrikG, on 05/16/2008, -1/+5I have actually been using Firefox 3 Beta for a while. I really like how it auto completes. Not only that, I noticed that even when I start typing www (even though now I really don't have to) it still jumps to the website I was thinking about when I typed www. Must be cause it's the only one I actually type www for. LOL
GG Firefox. It's like the Google of browsers. :P -
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