This is the kind of video Firefox themselves should be putting out. Very well done Michael, learned quite a bit. Will look forward to more on container tabs, and would love to see more on how you set up the bookmark search shortcuts. A really well done video, top notch.
Wow, the bookmark and container extensions are really a game changer! I definitely have to use Firefox more... Looking forward to the follow-up video's. Another very good en well explained video!
Thank you very much and I am looking forward to making those videos . . . a lot of people seem to want those. :D by the way, the bookmark system is built into Firefox, you dont need an extension for the stuff I showed off on those. :D
Pocket is a choice that you can use or not. Firefox doesn't claim that all tracking is evil, they are of the opinion that some tracking can be beneficial to the user as long as the user has the choice to participate or not. This applies to Pocket as well
@timeofsage Google tracks you everywhere. From the Google search engine, Google own sites (which direct you to a Google page, then redirects you to the page you want to go) and it even applies to pages not own by Google! I highly doubt of Google Do Not Track option, it is a functionless feature, only to make it look like there is a Do Not Track feature.
@@AlfaPro1337 Every single browser has that 'do not track' feature, and that's not a privacy protector, instead it just asks sites to not track you, that's not Google's fault if the website rejects your requests and still track you, Mozilla has a do not track feature as well, and it's the same as Google's, it depends on how ethical is the website you're visiting
@@SimonWoodburyForget Tabs are not something I rely on other than loading pages, I dont think it makes sense to save anything like what you are talking about because if I close the browser I am no longer running the same session. Vim stuff is available with addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tridactyl-vim/ The extensions were broken once because they changed the API used to make the extensions. They don't "keep breaking them" it happened once and that is all and it was planned and warned for 2 years yet some devs didnt bother to port. Why are you saying signing an extension is bad? Reason #1 & #2 of this video are why I use Firefox.
I switched to Firefox for the same reason I switched from daily driving Windows. Privacy. I run Firefox with privacy badger. I love the article you had up about fakebook and the other social medias being garbage. I feel the same way. I'm trying to get away from google, Microsoft and Facebook as much as possible.
Agree with @@TOMinPDX. If you're extra paranoid, there is also Brave (based on Chromium), but I personally just use Chromium (but thanks to this video, I'm trying Firefox again). _If you don't like the taste of aspartame, you should stop drinking soda and switch to fruit juice._ Wut?
@@dmhendricks Using Firefox is also keeping the alternative to Blink alive. Brave, Opera, Vivaldi are all great but we cannot let Google control the web protocols with the monopoly of Blink.
@TOMinPDX Google creates Chromium. Using Chromium or anything based on Chromium benefits Google by pushing the Blink engine. I think people should use whatever they want to but Firefox is the open solution and beneficial to the overall health of the web. Only one web engine would be way too much power, especially for a company like Google to have.
@@michael_tunnell Yes you are correct. I started using Chromium because I found Firefox had become too slow, sadly. It was a real memory hog on my Linux box. I don't like using Chrome because of the strong Google aspect but I really ought to start using Firefox more again.
i was a chrome user for 5+ years and when i installed firefox i thought its worse then chrome but ive been using firefox for a couple of weeks and i find that its better then chrome
Glad to hear it, I think once all the value of Firefox is seen it's easily the best option but it takes way too much effort to see the value because they don't make the cool features default for some reason
Whoa, keywords sound really powerful! That's something I don't think Chrome does, unless a custom "search engine" is created for every single website...which is stupid compared to how Firefox does it. I have to agree, they need to make the keyword field visible when adding a new bookmark. Also, used Firefox Color to create my own theme. In a recent month, I downloaded Firefox just so I could give my website an automatic light theme (default is dark), but found myself using it more than Chrome! Now I basically never use Chrome, unless it's Google's Keep app or Chrome Remote Desktop (since at least that won't suspect me of non-existent "commercial usage" unlike TeamViewer...). After hearing about how ad-blocking is going to be basically destroyed in Chrome, I think I've made the right decision going with Firefox. (Also, used Firefox on Android because add-ons are a must, so I can send tabs between devices too!)
@@horserehab8454 "extensions 98% broken" - Most addons are transitioned to the new Quantum engine or I found alternatives. Some security addons became obsolete, as the functionality got integrated to Firefox itself or other addons. I have currently 14 installed and some of them are disable most of the time. I am very happy with it right now. "Who are you then?" - just a regular Firefox Luser (L=Linux user=user)
@@horserehab8454 Overall it feels a bit snappier and lighter. The old one was a bit clunky. And besides that, the old version was on its limit, while the Quantum is still in heavy development and the change to the new addon system was a good decision in the end. In example it allows for the addon developer to release same version on all platforms (with slight modifications), in example in Chrome. Most or some addons are even available in mobile Firefox browser. And performance and memory usage and so on is a huge improvement, depending on the system.
I switched from edge to Firefox because I really don't like that Microsoft is tendering to its chrome audiences and switched to Chromuim I was furious when this happened I've never regretted my decision of switching to Firefox.
Your discussion of features seems focused on and advantageous to those who use the keyboard frequently. I do not. I use the mouse mostly. Therefore mouse gestures concern me most. Firefox has much better mouse gestures than Chrome. Chrome gestures on the Mac (my main platform) are too often flaky. The Chrome gesture add-ons developers say it's not their fault; that it's the nature of how Chrome is built; which interferes with how the Mac uses the right context menu button on mice. They do their best to fix the issue but like I said…it's still flaky.
João Fernandes I’m puzzled by Firefox’s inconsistent CPU usage. On some of my computers, Firefox is lightweight and uses less CPU than other full-featured browsers. But on other computers, it’s a resource-heavy bloated mess.
That's interesting that you two are having problems with CPU usage on Firefox. It's been the opposite for me in that Chrome has that issue for me. Very interesting
@@michael_tunnell It might be the extensions, I use HTTPS everywhere, decentraleyes, cookie autodelete, privacy badger and ublock origin. I use the same set of extensions on brave
I love Firefox and use it wherever I can. However, the Arch Arm build for Pi3+ quickly results in escalating CPU usage till the Pi crashes and has to be rebooted. I don't get that with Chrome and sadly I've had to use that on my Pi. I'm still trying to work out why.
I think there is no way to convince you to consider alternatives. You want it exactly the way you want it and that's fine. I adjusted my workflow to the new Firefox and I think it is better than what it was. You don't and that's fine but that does not mean I am wrong just like it doesn't mean that you are wrong either.
So far I only used these keywords on search engines but seeing how this words on basically any site with a search page, it makes browsing websites so much better! That said, yes, I'd welcome you to do a separate video on Firefox keywords! Firefox ftw!
This video was incredibly informative. I switched to Chrome long ago because it's a lot faster and has better dev tools/extensions, but your #1 and #2 tips _alone_ has made me want to try Firefox again. I just need to figure out how to accommodate my development needs, but I think it's worth the effort. Nice work! EDIT: I had actually been considering Patreon for awhile now because of This Week In Linux, but this video finally made me overcome my laziness and do it.
Thank you very much! I'm glad you found it useful and I agree #1 & #2 are such great features they alone are what keeps me on Firefox. Thank you so much for supporting the channel! That means a ton to me!
@@michael_tunnell Oh no! I've been trying Firefox again, and while the speed is acceptable and the killer features are... killer, I think that I may have found a deal breaker: *Tab switching!* It is extremely unpleasant in #Firefox: 1. Sometimes it has delayed responsiveness, even on my 32GB i9. Very minor, but noticeable if you switch tabs frequently. 2. The thumbnail gallery thing is incredibly, visually jarring and in-your-face. 3. *Worst:* Control+Shift+Tab doesn't work unless you _first_ hit Control+Tab to bring up the annoying thumbnail gallery, and only _then_ you are allowed to tab back! This is not consistent with _any_ other program on macOS (and I'm assuming on Windows as well - Linux I have no idea because I only use command-line Ubuntu or CentOS [because #GUI == wasted resources], but nothing is ever consistent in Linux GUIs [GNUIs?] anyway). It is *quite* frustrating when you switch tabs very frequently. :(
@@dmhendricks ok so there are a few things to unpack in your comment. (also sorry for the delay in response, RU-vid decided this comment needed review for some reason and didn't bother to tell me that) #1. Firefox default tab switching system has become a weird experience. I agree. I think that Ctrl+Shift+Tab activating that weird dropdown menu is just super awkward. I also agree the thumbnail gallery for switching is rather inefficient and annoying. HOWEVER, thankfully . . . you can turn this crap off. -- Go to Preferences -> General -> Tabs and you will see an option labeled "Ctrl+Tab cycles through tabs in recently used order". Uncheck this option to go back to the normal Ctrl+Tab forward and Ctrl+Shift+Tab backwards. #2. Delayed response should be gone after unchecking that weird setting as well. #3. a GUI on Linux is not wasted resources. If you are using Linux on a server then sure that would be wasted resources but Linux on the Desktop is awesome and certainly having a GUI there is fairly needed, I'd say. :D #4. Nothing is consistent with Linux GUIs? That's not fair to claim because there is a lot of consistency however through innovation there will be differences and thus not everything is possible to be the same. Windows and Mac don't innovate . . . anything well not for decades anyway. It is possible that Apple innovated the dock paradigm but Linux had that very early on as well . . . so hard to know but Apple probably did that one. However, Workspaces aka Virtual Desktops are now in both macOS and Windows but those were innovated in Linux so this lack of complete consistency is what allows innovation and what allows macOS and Windows to steal their ideas. #5. with that said, there are a lot of differences and that can totally be jarring to people so I don't deny there is an issue there. That is one of the reasons I made my channel to help people transition to being Linux users and find out why Linux is such an awesome option for the desktop computing. :D
I did a "trail" to switch to safari/chrome a few months ago. I end up switching back to FF because of all the add-ons I am using. There are things Safari / Chrome do better, but FF win over all for me. I used Safari for few years and loved its pinned tab, which is handled separately from other tabs, and won't disappear if you close the wrong window last. FF team refused to change the pinned tab behavior and I have to live with it for now. (Though I am changing to a new work flow and get rid of all my pin tabs). Chrome has most the plugin I use in FF, but can't stand the lack of build-in proxy support. On a Mac, the Chrome proxy setting button actually open the OS network settings. Though proxy add-on is working.
I know im late to this i used google for my whole life and recantly i swaped to firefox and i can't say im suprised that it is better than google fire fox is my go to from now on EDIT:Its actualy sad that you don't have firefox already installed on ur pc when you first get ur pc cuz its a lot better than google in every way
@@souvik.mondal Because it does everything I need. Because Outlook Express is still the best most efficient Email Client. Because I have 10K worth of software that works better than any of the new crap and they never updated the software for newer OS. Plus, all the new operating systems are spyware.
@@UtwoBed "all the new operating systems are spyware" this only applies to Windows. I use Linux and I never have to worry about whether or not my OS is spyware because its guaranteed not to be . . . I dont even have to worry about spyware and malware from 3rd parties because Linux is designed so much better for security to not be a virus playground like Windows is. :D by the way, if you insist on needing Windows you could still do that in Linux as a VM and still have whatever you need without having to worry about viruses . . . even with Windows XP. I can show you how to do that. :D
@@michael_tunnell Right you are, in fact my newest computer is a Linux system. The only reason I still use Windows XP is because of my large investment in proprietary software that will only run on that OS. Interesting fact... MS has a special arrangement with the IRS to keep their XP system running because nobody can figure out how to update the system.
@@michael_tunnell I really do not worry about viruses. Malware-bytes and script blocker keep me out of trouble. The biggest issue is compatible hardware drivers, and I don't think doing a VM in Linux will work.
Did you know that Google who owns Chrome also own RU-vid? They purposefully disable the animated thumbnails on Firefox to make it seem worse than chrome, however there's many sites that DO use the animated thumbnails in Firefox. They also make RU-vid a tiny bit slower for FF users. Not sure if that's still a thing tho.
Google most certainly makes things not work right. They even do it for Google Docs as well not allowing copy and pasting with the mouse. Google is malicious to competition in some ways for sure
@@michael_tunnell Yeah, same thing with Google Earth. You cannot use it in Firefox. It just shows how far they will go to shy away people from using FF.
the bookmark thing u did was great , please make a video on that One more thing my morzilla has recently seriously started to lag and use high cpu with just over 7 tabs open any fix for that ?
I like Firefox and its Gecko engine. I have been using Firefox and anything Firefox-based for about 2 years now. I haven't used Chrome since 2020, however, I'm aware of its existence.
It's my favorite because for years I used Chrome. Then I realized it was disrupting any videos I tried to watch on my Windows 10 computer. After switching to Firefox no problems anymore
why Firefox does not have an e-mail service ??? imagine that in the near future we have it .. then it should be like : bla-bla-bla@Ffox.com .. or bla-bla-bla@Qbee.com .. what's Qbee = 9 tails from naruto .. MAN THAT WILL BE WONDERFUL
It's an interesting point but I think I'd like to see them make a service like Librem One where it's a suite of services with like Nextcloud and such. That would be so cool
while I have been sidetracked with other things, I have reasons I need to test stuff in different browsers, though I admit (Firefox may be my "main browser" lately i admit) ... even I didn't know about some of these. Personally, I'd LOVE to see a how to video on the keyword shortcut stuff ... I am doing bash scripting now and that exact example you showed (search for packages in different browser bases) would really come in handy .... hell I am thinking of different sites I visit unrelated to that, where this type of thing can really come in handy
Firefox is my favorite browser ive been using it for more than 10 years now. Never got into chrome. Ive always used Firefox even when chrome was becoming the go to browser i never switched and stayed with firefox
My top reason for favouring FF is its configurability. I can make it look like Netscape, I can harden it for privacy and security, and I can make it as fast as anything. All through a combination of tweaking the config, installing addons, and changing css files.
Sorry, you cannot easily disable telemetry. Only when one installs configuration file prepared by Librefox, Firefox really "shuts up" until it is asked to load a page. But I agree that FF is the best browser right now. I like Vivaldi also, but they don't give an option to fully disable connections to google and perhaps other entities.EDIT: 60 tabs - LOL; I currently am juggling 437 tabs in 3 windows... :)
Interesting, I'll need to look into that telemetry issue you mentioned. I was actually laughing at the 60, that's my minimum usually lol I typically have about 150 but limited it for the recording lol
I assume it is connecting somewhere because it asks DNS to resolve names like shavar.mozilla.com or whatever. It's probably something benign, but I have my ideal - no connections when I'm not asking browser to connect. And right now only Firefox with Librefox configuration does this (which involves lots of about:config options). And I'm not pleased that Mozilla starts doing some questionable things; in comparison with Google it is minuscule, but still I don't like it. Like disabling unsigned extensions or requiring to install some extension to update certificates for extensions signature-checking.
You can also get themes by visiting addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/themes/ I love customizing firefox and making it my browser. And I love that it's fast to start up and works quick too. Chrome is slooooooow on my 10 year old Windows 7 computer.
@@michael_tunnell I left a review on the preview suggesting some basic features e.g. single press/hold option for a new tab (outwith home page), scroll to top, prev/next page (although swipes might be coming (??) which would fix that) and I also think a search icon at the bottom instead of the address bar would be better and less ugly. I was impressed at how fast it was though. Anyway they replied saying it's a work in progress with features to come so I'm hopeful we get a Samsung browser competitor - which I think is the only option for now which does everything really well.
How can you say it is light on resources? Firefox is almost unusable on my PC as it tries to gobble up ALL the resources I have! I have watched as it spends 4 minutes caching on close!! Uninstalled!
I stopped using Firefox because they ruined it. 1) They kept changing the user interface. 2) They decided to stop supporting most extensions. This last was the unforgivable sin that broke the camel's back, so to speak. As long as they supported extensions competently, ambitious extension writers could always give me the option of getting the old UI back. I'm now on Palemoon. My preferred UI doesn't change and practically all of my extensions still work. Goodbye Firefox, it was a nice idea before you went and totally screwed the pooch.
I used to like Firefox but recently I've been having issues with it and Mozilla so I've chucked it in favor of Brave. Still a good browser for most people but not for me anymore.
PLZZ..from one Michael to another..do the tutorial on how to use the bookmark/keywording/search function !!!! I really like the function and it seems like a useful and timesaving tool !
I'm glad I could show it for you. The next video for that is going to be much more extensive and I will show my custom setup that makes it so much much better! :)
I started using Firefox when explorer kinda stop updates with the older systems. I never used Google and chrome. Now this all the bad press I wont use it. I am very happy with firefox.
I don't care wich browser is faster. I care about user experience and for me Fireofox is the best user experience. Using it since version 1. Bitwarden is great.
Wow! The multi-container is a game-changer. I always have to switch between 2 windows for chrome while at work to go between accounts and it used to frustrate the hell out of me. Time to switch. :D Thanks, bruh!
I would love to use Firefox. However, Vivaldi is the only web browser that implements tab stacking in any useful way and until other browsers get on board i'm stuck where I am.
I use Chrome and Edge all the time. How would I even begin to migrate away from these to Firefox? Do I eventually delete/disable them so I as to free up those resources? It seems like Chrome is pretty integrated considering gmail and such.
Thanks for commenting and those are great questions. I'll do my best to answer them. Migrating isn't that big of a task as it might seem, for example bookmarks can be automatically imported from both of those other browsers. When it comes to passwords, you should not store passwords in a browser regardless because they tend to have poor security for that. You should migrate your passwords to Bitwarden password manager bitwarden.com/dln (#sponsor) This way it doesn't matter what browser you use the passwords are always accessible and the security is much better. Otherwise, I'm not sure what else you may need for migration tips, feel free to ask questions. Chrome is integrated with Google services which is to be expected due to Google making Chrome too but nothing is really a deal breaker to using Firefox. I also have Chrome installed because of garbage stupid websites that require it for their service but I absolutely hate those websites. There used to be a time where jerks would be like "best viewed in Internet Explorer" and now we're driving right into that stupid wall again just with Chrome this time. A single browser engine is never good because it destroys innovation and competition. Firefox is really the only true competition since everything else just seems to use Chrome's engine anyway. So you may still need Chrome but 99.99% you won't. I very very rarely open Chrome. At most once a week but usually once every few months. Firefox has so many more awesome features that Chrome is of no interest to me. Oh by the way, I have a video on my channel for more details on Container Tabs (#1 in this video) if you want more info on that. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FfN5L5zAJUo.html
I've been off and on Firefox since way back, but definitely back on for the past year or two. In addition to the features that you mentioned, I like Tree Style Tabs. Vivaldi has grouped tabs, but not tree-style. Chrome has/had a tree style tab, but it was in the form of a separate pop-up while the the top tabs remained in place. With Firefox Color (thanks for the suggestion!), my total-dark theme is almost perfect. I still have to wrap my head around containers, though... Great video, sir.
I'm still using chrome just because it has built-in webpage translation. Do you know any extension that can provide "accurate" translation like chrome does? Another issue is that there is no Mailtracker extensions for Firefox :/
Translation can be done with Google just like Chrome = addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/search/?q=Google%20Translate Not sure about mail tracking but that isn't the only extension to do that. I've never used these before but check out the options at = addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/search/?q=mail%20track
no.1 for me is Firefox and it's derivative are the only modern web browser I know of that have option to enable old style menu (that "File, Edit, View, etc." that we familiar with since old ages). I'm just weird person who dislike the hamburger menu :P
@@michael_tunnell i was kind of reluctant at first to see a mid term update few years ago kind of disappointing then i just wait for optimization era. chrome has been disappointing lately has frequent hijacked by flash script. i forget firefox has strong security when it comes to browsing.
I agree that this feature is awesome BUT to clarify something, Bookmarks Sidebar was not taken from Safari at all. Mozilla Firefox is a derivative of the old Netscape browser. Netscape and therefore Firefox had Sidebars way before Safari ever existed.
I'm an oddly attentive RU-vidr :) Glad to hear it! Firefox is so freaking good! :D In fact, I recently made a new Firefox video about Multi Account Containers that are ranked as #1 in this video. So if you want to learn more about that feature it's in the channel. I should add that to the end screen though probably :)
Windows 10 user here. Loved the new FF but man does it eat up memory contrary to what your saying. I switched to IE Chromium Beta that seems to be the best of using less Windows resources. Ill update the latest version FF and see if its different now.
I am curious how you were testing the memory eating issue. I don't use Windows so that could be why I don't experience a similar problem but I am still curious what your experience was like.
TuxDigital yeah, Windows 10 desktop. I would just use it over several days accumulating tabs and with Excel and Outlook running I would have to close FF to reclaim memory. Probably would drop from 80% usage to 60, sometimes 50. That was many months back as i started to use IE Beta Chromium with better memory usage. Ill spark FF back up and see how it goes and let you know.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS! This is the Firefox vid I've been looking for. Firefox saved my life and rescued me from Chrome hell! I love Firefox for the exact same 7 reasons you've stated. In addition, I love the add-ons you can download, especially AdBlock Plus.
You're welcome. I'd also recommend Ublock Origin instead of AdBlock Plus because AdBlock Plus has exceptions that companies can pay them to ignore some ads which they classify as "Acceptable Ads". Essentially, companies just pay ABP and ABP let's them through.
@@michael_tunnell You're right about AdBlock Plus. I installed it previously and it still doesn't block those darn ads at all. I removed it and installed uBlock Origin. It's DA BOMB DIGGITY! Now I feel 100% better and have an awesome browsing experience. Because my PC laptop is a 64-bit system, I'm using the 64-bit version of Firefox.
Chrome has some weird issues that Firefox doesn't. On Windows 10 using Chrome I have trouble with Amazon--something Firefox can handle. And chrome can't handle other sites like the USGS map features. No body had an explanation. Chrome is so bloated and confusing compared to Firefox.
also on firefox you can download youtube videos like this one, you can on chrome by running an opera extention but it is slooooooooooow, my 2 browsers are firefox and brave, some sites detect ublock origin so l found adblock ultimate to be the best adblocker that avoids detection, the chrome based browsers are slightly quicker to load than firefox but not by much, been a firefox fan since day one
"Firefox also tracks you" Who cares, at least it's not Google or Facebook. Also Container tabs feature is something chrome is majorly lacking. Using them on Firefox has saved me a lot of trouble. My only issue is I can't figure out how to get Music Controls to work on my keyboard in Firefox.
There's only one thing that annoys me about Firefox & that is I can't use my extra bold font I need to surf the web so I relegated to chrome bases browsers at least there's a extension where I can import my font, However when It comes to privacy Firefox is good & another browser which has privacy In mind is Srware Iron It's been around for 10 years & is till being maintained. The browser has a lot of the google stuff taken out so In terms of privacy so it's a lot better than Chrome Itself Brave Browser should also get a tick for privacy I've never used Epic browser so I can't say If it's any good. In terms of memory Cent Browser allows you to use single extension memory purge which means you use memory as If you were using a single extension Slimjet also has this feature but I found the browser let popus adds through even when you enable the adblocking feature.
I personally started hating firefox recently. It is really really slow. Chrome, Opera, even Internet explorer have no problems. I scroll in firefox, it comes after I have scrolled. RU-vid videos lag, everything is very delayed
