wot: ff 29?

bdg wrote on 5/3/2014, 12:24 AM

I hate the new ff I've done everything I can using the classic theme restorer to get it back the way it was but it's still not the way I like it.
I might have to try using Sea Monkey again. Ahh yes, Sea Monkey is still OK.

Kit wrote on 5/3/2014, 12:43 AM

Gave up on Firefox a while ago. I use the Pale Moon fork, 64 bit version. All the addons I use still work and updates are less frequent.

_Lenny_ wrote on 5/3/2014, 2:29 AM

I like the new look.

What I don't like is that Firefox seems to run a little slower with every release, flash remains unreliable with it, and I regular have 'unresponsive script' messages pop up.

The only thing stopping me from moving to one of the Chrome variants is the lack of a embedded-video-download tool for Chrome.

ushere wrote on 5/3/2014, 6:31 AM

how about this?

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/video-downloader-professi/elicpjhcidhpjomhibiffojpinpmmpil

paul_w wrote on 5/3/2014, 7:33 AM

No problems here at all. I like the GUI. Running on Mac, Linux and Windows here. No crashing. Not sure what the problem is really. Not really a fan of Chrome, rather tired of Google owning everything. Turning into Microsoft. </Opinion>.

Paul.

_Lenny_ wrote on 5/3/2014, 8:10 AM

how about this?

"Caution: The download of YouTube videos to hard drive is locked because of restrictions of the Chrome Store. The download of protected videos (RTMP protocol) is currently not possible."

In other words, google takes down any extension that allows the user to download videos from YouTube.

As I work a lot in educational establishments where access to YouTube is blocked, sometimes it is necessary to download YT content for pupils viewing.

Chienworks wrote on 5/3/2014, 8:28 AM

Been using nothing but SeaMonkey here (at least on PCs) for probably 12 years or more. The firefox update cycle is out of control.

On my tablet & phone i use the default browsers because they've never caused any trouble worth even thinking about changing. One uses Chrome, the other uses Safari, and i really can't be bothered to notice which one is which. One calls its windows 'tabs' while the other calls its tabs 'windows', but other than that (actually, even *including* that), there isn't enough difference to bother being aware of.

Chienworks wrote on 5/3/2014, 8:29 AM

Lenny, purely curious question here, but how often is it necessary to show youtube content in class?

_Lenny_ wrote on 5/3/2014, 9:53 AM

It is never necessary, just like it isn't necessary to have text books, an interactive whiteboard, or computers in the classroom. The are merely desirable teaching tools that enable the pupils to learn using technologies that are relevant to them, give the children a richer learning environment, and help the teacher in their job of making learning accessible to all.

Was it necessary to upgrade to Firefox 29? You can downgrade to ff28 by downloading from someplace like filehippo.com which maintains a great database of current and previous versions of many different applications.

TheHappyFriar wrote on 5/3/2014, 1:01 PM

I didn't know about FF29 until I just read this thread, so no, no reason to update.

I don't like chrome. I use it so I can ALT-TAB between multiple yahoo accounts (the Yahoo Win8 tile looks like it's even handier on that, haven't played with it much though). FF stopped letting me CTRL+T from any tab with flash content a while ago. Chrome regularly stops updating whatever is in the tab & I have to close the whole browser to get it working again. FF starts eating memory like a fat kid as an all you can eat buffet until it either gets unresponsive or I close it via task manager. Chrome doesn't like my RSS feeds in the bookmark toolbar. Has these issues on WinXP & Win8.1, in every version over the past couple years.

They're both really, really, really annoying. Chrome logged me in to my Google account and I never logged it in. Did it one time when I used Google Drive, Youtube, Gmail, something. Never asked, just automatically did it.

Lenny, the stuff you want on Teachertube? Most school filters don't seem to ignore that.

EDIT: Hey, FF29 looks like Chrome, except they have my toolbars and RSS feeds work. Besides some new icons not sure how the UI is any different.

_Lenny_ wrote on 5/3/2014, 1:35 PM

I'd never heard of TeacherTube before, so thanks for mentioning it. I've had a look and the content I wanted to access is not available on it.

I do have a portable app that will circumvent firewall software, but am loathe to use it in schools.

TheHappyFriar wrote on 5/3/2014, 3:18 PM

Yeah, don't use it, you could loose your net/comp access (I work in a school part time).

If you're a staff member, any reason they can't give you youtube access? All the staff at my local school do, but they're still filtered.

Free Download Manager allows you to download Flash videos. I have (had with FF29, not compatible yet) a browser extension that puts up a little "Download with FDM" in the upper left of a video so I can download it. Handy. :)

wwjd wrote on 5/3/2014, 4:14 PM

haven't FF'd for a few years now. just too slow.... I gots things to do! Chrome always, IE for random experiments

TheHappyFriar wrote on 5/3/2014, 6:51 PM

Just found out in ff29 you can arrange your two menu bars however you want. Put the button shortcuts anywhere, add/remove them. neat.

ushere wrote on 5/3/2014, 7:00 PM

re youtube.... this works perfectly:

http://www.overbits.net/chrome/youtube/

paul_w wrote on 5/3/2014, 10:08 PM

Odd, FF working great here. No slower than Chrome or IE. Finding it strange hearing people turn away from an open source project like FF. And for Dev use, its got an excellent HTML inspector built in. Great for web debugs. Weird.

Paul.

craftech wrote on 5/11/2014, 8:37 PM

I made the mistake on one of my computers of "upgrading" to Firefox 29, and like many people hate the ugly non-user friendly "Chrome" look.

Fortunately there is an add-on extension that will allow you to restore most of the look of Firefox 28.

It is called Classic Theme Restorer.

After you install it, under Tools you can click on Classic Theme Restorer and customize it any way you like, but most of the restoration can be done under Toolbars / Customize. Click "Normal Buttons" and "Title Bar".

John

riredale wrote on 5/11/2014, 9:51 PM

I really dislike updating software that is working fine. I'm still on FF14 (easily downloadable on the the Internet), and it works perfectly. I saw no reason to have to deal with tabs on top so I installed an add-on called "Firefox 3 theme" and now my browser looks and behaves just like the previous versions of Firefox I've used for so many years.

Newer is not necessarily better.

ushere wrote on 5/12/2014, 2:11 AM

john, i did try all that almost immediately - such a palava for something so simple (rather they should have given the option to use 'old gui' or the like).

i did really try - but even with a good couple of hours playing around it wasn't what i wanted, or was used to.

i now read moz. are contemplating ads on blank pages... wow, going to the dogs at light speed afaic.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27369402

craftech wrote on 5/12/2014, 1:00 PM

" I installed an add-on called "Firefox 3 theme" and now my browser looks and behaves just like the previous versions of Firefox I've used for so many years."
------------------------------
That add-on only works up to version 27. If you have version 28 or later you can't install that add-on.

Here is the link to the previous versions of Firefox.

John

craftech wrote on 5/12/2014, 1:01 PM

"i now read moz. are contemplating ads on blank pages... wow, going to the dogs at light speed afaic."
====================
Now that really is disturbing Leslie.

John

ushere wrote on 5/12/2014, 6:49 PM

and i also read that gmail is getting a make over:

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2344317/google-will-overhaul-gmail-to-look-more-like-google

i just wish they'd leave things well enough alone, or, if the designers really need to justify their positions, a simple 'back to previous interface' button.

i have to admit to never having used gmail's interface - i'm so old school that i NEED folders, so used to use thunderbird, and more recently wlm, both of which offered me folders, and a 'familiar' workspace, along with off-line ability (not that the latter is very important nowadays)

Chienworks wrote on 5/12/2014, 8:27 PM

Definitely agree with you on the gmail thing. We use gtalk at work for all of our staff to communicate. Used to be our conversations were archived in historical threads that were easy to navigate and search. Now ...

every

single

message

becomes it's own separate email and we end up with thousands of them, with only the other person's name in the subject line, no indication of the contents. Searching barely works and usually returns messages that don't contain the searched text. Absolutely useless.

And to really add to the insult, quite a few new messages go straight there without ever appearing in our gtalk message windows.

I was reading google's user feedback forums when they asked the general public what new changes would be wanted for improving gmail. At least 90% of the responses were "put it back to the old way it used to be; that's the biggest improvement you could possibly make!" Google's response was pretty much, "yeah, haha, very funny guys, but ... any serious suggestions?"

The unmitigated chutzpah, taken to a brazenly insulting level.

It must be admitted that there is a small group of users who are more interested in the interface design being new and fresh than in the functionality of the software. There are some who feel that if interface isn't redesigned every 6 months then the software has become stagnant and useless. On the other hand, i'd say that almost all other users couldn't care in the slightest about the appearance, but just want something that functions and for all those functions to be where they are used to them and have come to expect them