Mozilla reveals plans to revitalize Firefox

[steven36]

Firefox's tentative plans for the future include ditching its legacy XUL technology, long regarded as a hindrance to the browser's evolution

Mozilla's next big move may not be adding features to Firefox, but rather removing them.

In a post on Mozilla's firefox-dev mailing list, Director of Engineering for Firefox Dave Camp outlined the bare bones of a plan to move Firefox off its legacy XML User Interface Language (XUL) architecture and onto a newer stack that more directly complements the modern Web.

"There's a huge body of shared wisdom about how to build applications on the Web," wrote Camp. "It's time to go back and examine how we can bring that wisdom back into Firefox."

Camp pointed out how XUL and its associated technologies don't receive the kind of platform attention as HTML itself, creating issues of performance and unneeded complexity. "It's harder for even experienced Web developers to get up to speed. It's further from the Web, and that doesn't help anybody."

Right now, there's no clear successor for XUL, either in terms of replacing it with or in carrying it out. However, there's the sense that a replacement is needed and a conversation needs to take place. One technology likely to be involved, Mozilla's Rust language (now in its 1.1 incarnation), has not yet been explicitly tapped to build the next generation of Firefox, but the Servo layout engine being built with Rust has long been rumored to be a candidate technology.

A post to the official Mozilla blog dated July 2 hints at more changes for Firefox, but it focuses on end-user, nontechnical details. The discussion revolved around functionality like support for HTML5 video, the WebRTC-powered Firefox Hello app, and the emphasis the company has placed on privacy.

Mozilla has experimented in the past with new ways to assemble and present Firefox, but most of them have not resulted in actual products. The Prism Firefox Labs experiment, unveiled in 2010, was an attempt to create an HTML5 app wrapper akin to the node-webkit project, although Mozilla's work never enjoyed uptake.

Likewise, the Chromeless project experimented with "removing the current browser user interface and replacing it with a flexible platform which allows for the creation of new browser UI using standard Web technologies, such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript."

Source

[Roy W]

"Anything" to make Firefox "better" would help!

[CODYQX4]

They're about due.

Last time I used FF as my main browser, it had degenerated to garbage with a few addons instantly.

Then they fixed all the massive memory leaks until it was usable.

But it's so much more an awkward app to use, and way more rough around the edges than Chrome, even if more featured.

Also, I know it's really minor, but could they enforce a standard on add-on icon sizes like Chrome? It's the most screwed up looking browser I've ever seen to have 10+ icons and they're all different sizes.

[oliverjia]

I don't think this move will save Mozilla. FF has lost its glory, maybe forever.

I have not used it for more than a year now. Either Chrome, or IE.

[Chancer]

I suspect they have had a rethink after playing with Edge!

[maddoxx]

Mozilla's next big move may not be adding features to Firefox, but rather removing them.

What else is new? They've been removing features since they decided to be a Chrome clone. I wish they'd stop it, if I wanted to use Chrome I would.

[mjall]

mozilla proofed that it's not a leader because they panicked with chrome coming out which I think is not an even better browser but mozilla did lose their edge

[steven36]

I don't think this move will save Mozilla. FF has lost its glory, maybe forever.

I have not used it for more than a year now. Either Chrome, or IE.

This here is like sort of a last attempt for Firefox to stay in the race while they still have a chance they still have 500 mil users. Firefox dont care about the numbers really they just want to keep the users they still have. ^_^

Mozilla finds itself in an odd position with Firefox in 2015. Firefox's market share has trended steadily downwards for the last five years, mostly shedding its percentage points to Chrome. Mozilla hasn't released active user numbers in a long time, but it's probably still sitting at around 500 million. From off-the-record conversations with Mozillians, they don't seem to be too fazed by the diminishing numbers; Mozilla's mission isn't to dominate the Web, after all. The main concerns, however, are that the downward trend will continue, and developers (and users) will then jump ship to the next big thing.

Right now, Mozilla still has enough market share to effect positive change on the Web, but it will need to fight a little harder to retain that privilege in the future.

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/07/big-changes-are-coming-to-firefox-to-win-back-users-and-developers/

This posted last week IE still has 54% of the marketshare .

Internet Explorer: down 1.15 points to 54.00 percent

Chrome: up 0.86 points to 27.23 percent

Firefox: down 0.18 points to 12.06 percent

Safari: up 0.06 points to 4.99

Opera: up 0.08 points to 1.31 percent

http://venturebeat.com/2015/07/01/ie-falls-below-55-market-share-as-chrome-and-firefox-gain/

With IE still owning 54% of the marketshare and the chrome only at 27% and Firefox at even less tells me there's no really great Browser out there to do back flips over or over half wouldn't be still stuck using IE witch Ive not used in many , many moons for any length of time . I'm waiting on the next big thing to come out. :P

[oliverjia]

Firefox appears to be the only one left that still does not have a built-in sandbox yet. It used to be the most secure browser, now almost the most insecure browser. When they implement a sandbox, I'll then try it out. But until then, I'll stick with Chrome+IE. When Win10 comes out, maybe Chrome+Edge.

[steven36]

Firefox appears to be the only one left that still does not have a built-in sandbox yet. It used to be the most secure browser, now almost the most insecure browser. When they implement a sandbox, I'll then try it out. But until then, I'll stick with Chrome+IE. When Win10 comes out, maybe Chrome+Edge.

They may have a sandbox but really it dont make it no safer than IE or Firefox Just ask some authors of malware... Trojans runs better on Chorme

Malware does not run smoothly on IE and Firefox

One of his creations, identified by Trend Micro products as TSPY_BANKER.NJH, can recognize the URL for a targeted bank when typed in the browser address bar and immediately closes the initial browser window and opens a new one with a spoofed version of the website presenting an error message to the user.

Malware analysts say that on Chrome the routine is almost unnoticeable, but on Internet Explorer and Firefox the original window is preserved along with the fake one.

“If the user enters his login credentials in the fake window, the malware sends the information back to the attacker via email—the same email address Lordfenix used during his “Filho de Hakcer” days,” the researchers say.

And for Microsoft Edge to ever have a chance there going have convert most everyone to windows 10 and it ever does it will be years down the road.