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Here is what will happen when Mozilla launches Australis for Firefox


Matsuda

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Australis-no-Firefox_M.jpg

If you are a regular here on the site you know what Australis is. It is a visual refresh of the Firefox web browser, and while that sounds like a good idea, it has consequences in regards to functionality.

As things stand now, Australis will be launched in Firefox 28, which will be released to the stable channel of the web browser on 4.3.2014. There is still at least one blocking bug at the time of writing, which means that it is still possible that Australis will be postponed once again by Mozilla if the bug cannot be resolved in time.

So what is going to happen when Australis launches?

Regular Firefox users, those on the stable channel, will be updated automatically to Australis when Firefox 28 gets released. While some users may block automatic updates from happening because of Australis, it is likely that the majority will get the update when it is released.

Firefox ESR users won't get the update in March. They will get the update when the jump to ESR 32 is being made which means that those users won't experience the new design for another 4 release cycles.

Some users on Firefox 28 will like the visual refresh of the browser. Especially those not impacted by any of the changes will. If you do not use the add-on bar, have tabs on top, do not use custom toolbars, and do not move browser UI elements around, then there is little to worry about.

Some Firefox users will notice that a feature that they have been using is not available anymore. Maybe it is a custom toolbar that is no longer working, the fact that all add-on icons that were placed in the add-on bar are not cramping up the main toolbar, that tabs have been forcefully moved to the top, or that interface elements cannot be moved anymore or are restricted in this regard.

Those users will be very vocal about the change. They will criticize and vent on blogs, sites like Reddit and social networking sites, and it is very likely that this will paint Mozilla and Firefox in a bad picture.

Companies get criticized a lot for much smaller changes, and Australis is major in comparison. It is not just one element that got changed, but an overhaul of the browser's complete user interface.

If you look back at how Firefox 4 was perceived at the time, you will notice that the situation was similar to what is in store with Australis. There is one core difference though, and that is add-on compatibility. While Firefox 4 changed things around a lot, Australis won't have a similar impact on add-on compatibility.

So what are users going to do who do not like Australis?

  • Some will switch to ESR to buy some time and make a decision at a later point in time.
  • Some may block automatic updates and keep using the last pre-Australis version of Firefox.
  • Others may switch to another web browser, custom builds for example, or established spin-offs like Pale Moon or SeaMonkey which won't implement Australis. The main advantage here is that most add-ons and customizations will work just fine in those browsers as they use the same code base.
  • The majority will probably run browser extensions that undo Australis changes in Firefox.

It is still possible to use add-ons to customize Firefox in a way so that functionality that was changed or removed by Australis will get restored in the browser. While that means putting all chips on third party extensions, and hoping that the authors of such extension won't stop updating them, it is probably the best option for many Firefox users who love the browser but do not like Mozilla's design decisions.

It will be very interesting to see how Firefox users will perceive the Australis update, considering that Mozilla seems to think that most users will like it a lot. What you can be sure of is that I'll do my best to review all the options that you have to mitigate any changes that Australis makes to the web browser.

Have you made up your mind yet what you will do when Australis comes along?




sherlock01jiv.gifView: Original Article

Edited by Matsuda
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  • calguyhunk

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  • killbit

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  • ben01

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I used to use Palemoon on my desktop Win7 installation. On my Win 7 Lappy and desktop Win 8.1 parallel installation, I'm using Firefox. Now that Mozilla's switching over to the fugly Chrome-type UI, I will most probably be using add-on(s) to get back the UI I've known and used for the last few years. :)

Not moving from FF because of add-ons and customization options, but what's up with Mozilla, trying to force this new UI on us, so reminiscent of what Microsoft did with Win8? :o

All consumer facing corporates and institutions (including non-profit organizations like Mozilla) will do better to listen to their customers. Nokia, Microsoft etc. have all found out to their utter dismay what happens when you think that you can actually force the market to accept your half-baked ideas just because of your leadership position :angry:

Edited by calguyhunk
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Firefox is still better than the rest of the browers.

I completely agree.

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Unlike damned chrome, FF allows users to get their old beloved UI back if they don't like the new one! Great news for all and gg FF.

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Mozilla is making a huge mistake by going to the Australis design model. All it accomplishes is reducing browser functionality and extensibility and making Firefox more Chrome-like. If I wanted to use a browser that looked like Chrome, I'd just use Chrome. What Mozilla will find, in my opinion, is that the majority of users won't care one way or another, but a vocal minority of power users will either stay with an outdated (and thus likely insecure) version of Firefox or they'll abandon ship altogether.

If Mozilla's goal is to alienate their most ardent supporters, they're doing a damn fine job.

Edited by killbit
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Nice. A new reason to stick to Maxthon :)

Hope Opera never falls for this mistake.

Edited by pintas
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You can revert to old UI easily.

What, with the add-on referenced in the post quoted below? Nonsense. The easiest thing would be for Mozilla to stop dumbing down their flagship program in an attempt to attract new users. Firefox was head and shoulders above other browsers because it was customizable and extensible. Now, Mozilla is trying to lock down as much of the program as possible, thus taking away the two things that made it better than the others. Taking choice and functionality away from an established, supportive user base to market your product to people too lazy or inept to figure out anything more complex than programs like Internet Explorer and Notepad is just bad business.

That add-on is still in the planning stages, and may never come to fruition. Not to mention that an add-on that alters so many UI elements will have a noticeable impact on performance. Why should the end user have to jump through hoops to fix design mistakes that were perfectly avoidable in the first place?

Edited by killbit
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It weren't broke until they broke it.

Maybe they could make 2 versions=>

NL = non-lobotomized;

FL = fully lobotomized.

Then they could attract those who enjoy the REAL Firefox as well as those who want the whole world to look like chrome.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The new version of Classic Toolbar Buttons that I downloaded does NOT have the choice to bring back the add-on bar. HATE IT!!

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I will most probably be using add-on(s) to get back the UI I've known and used for the last few years. :)

Firefox 4.0 was released just two years ago. :P

It redesigned the interface and introduced a addon bar.

While everyone is unhappy about addon bar missing from Australis, pre-Firefox 4.0, we didn't have an addon bar. So things without the addon bar will work the same way as it did before 4.0.

Having said, addon bar missing is something I'm worried about too. Something that we should voice our opinion about. But, from what I'm seeing from latest updates, customizers might not need an addon bar, however, too early to say.

As for the old vs new design release, even I want to see two versions or an ability to enable / disable Australis, but Mozilla has said that it's not going to happen.

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... addon bar missing is something I'm worried about ...

I'm not. Haven't used that in a long time. And there was a 'Status Bar' with added functionality in place of the Add-on bar before the renaming exercise. You can still get that with the Status-4-Ever add-on.

As for the old vs new design release, even I want to see two versions or an ability to enable / disable Australis, but Mozilla has said that it's not going to happen.

I'm not really worried about the curved tabs etc. although given the choice, I'd much rather have the squared tabs, thank you. I'm more worried about the loss of functionality with the 'under-the-hood' changes, and yes, some of it has to do with the UI change as well. Like even with the Classic Theme Restorer, I can't seem to get back the drop down open-tab-list button. Absolutely of paramount importance to me :(

As for Mozilla giving it's users the option to disable Australis, this is what I read on G Hacks :think:

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Firefox’s Holly Branch, a temporary escape from Australis

Since it is a giant undertaking for Mozilla, a decision has been made to maintain a temporary branch of Firefox without the Australis changes.

Those builds, codenamed Holly, offer all features and updates that Mozilla implements into the browser but without anything Australis related.

Interested Firefox users can download the most recent build of Holly from the Mozilla FTP website.The directory lists a lot of builds, and the easiest way to find the right one is to press F3 to open the on-page find box and enter holly as the search term in it.

This should jump straight to the first Holly entry, and all that is left here is to select your operating system, e.g. holly-win32 and in it the latest date folder. It is then only a matter of downloading the release to the local system to either install it, or run it right after you have unpacked it.

Please note that Holly is equivalent to Firefox Nightly in terms of stability. While that means that it is very stable for most of the time, it can result in issues occasionally which make the builds not suitable for productive environments.

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Here is what will happen when Mozilla launches Australis for Firefox...

Once you open it, you get a MASSIVE headache;

Your brain is now turning into goo;

Your final thought is asking whether this is just Chrome...

But then your brain goes dead and it doesn't matter anyhow !!!

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... addon bar missing is something I'm worried about ...

I'm not. Haven't used that in a long time. And there was a 'Status Bar' with added functionality in place of the Add-on bar before the renaming exercise. You can still get that with the Status-4-Ever add-on.

As for the old vs new design release, even I want to see two versions or an ability to enable / disable Australis, but Mozilla has said that it's not going to happen.

I'm not really worried about the curved tabs etc. although given the choice, I'd much rather have the squared tabs, thank you. I'm more worried about the loss of functionality with the 'under-the-hood' changes, and yes, some of it has to do with the UI change as well. Like even with the Classic Theme Restorer, I can't seem to get back the drop down open-tab-list button. Absolutely of paramount importance to me :(

As for Mozilla giving it's users the option to disable Australis, this is what I read on G Hacks :think:

True. You win in that Status Bar argument. :P Thing is, Mozilla is going to allow more addons in that dropdown list, so I'll be willing to see how it works.

As for your List All Tabs requirement, if I'm correct, there should be an addon sooner or later.

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As for your List All Tabs requirement, if I'm correct, there should be an addon sooner or later.

I wrote to the dev, Aris, and he initially replied back saying that he'll be working on that in the subsequent releases. Looks like he's implemented that in the latest dev build now that he's posted a link to it. I'll have to check that out once I'm home :D

Thanks a lot for your Add-On, Aris. And congrats on a great project well implemented. Will benefit a lot of pi$$ed off users in the weeks and months to come.

Works as advertized for the most part. Just the one thing though - it doesn't seem to have the option to add the drop down open-tab-list button to the navigation/search bar that is present in the pre-Australis versions.Or am I missing something? Screenshot of the button I am referring to - http://oi41.tinypic.com/2rntoug.jpg

by Aris (Developer) on November 20, 2013

Thanks, the abbility to move more buttons will be added on next update.

- alltabs-button

- webrtc-status-button

- social-share-button

- social-toolbar-item

Edit:

Install latest dev build. ;-)

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=2773133

Edited by calguyhunk
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