Numerous add-on developers have expressed their anger (here are some more angry replies in response to their plan to move solely to WebExtensions). What I find most telling is the fact Mozilla representatives seem to refuse to answer or even acknowledge peoples anger, even on their public blog. It leads to the feeling they only discuss and listen within their "open" forums/echo chambers designated for these decisions and discussions. It might seem unfair to label them as such, as this is how open source development generally happens anyway- But it's a label I stand by, as the reality is it can feel intimidating as the average user to even contemplate visiting such a place to air your views... And, more to the point, the "simplified" experience they're aiming at the more beginner user likely hasn't even been discussed and considered with the help of these kinds of users on said forums. Instead, they seem to rely on "questionnaires" which have that sinking feeling of seeking confirmation bias with how they are worded... You know, like when a town council holds an "open consultation" about a project it already intends on doing anyway. It adds weight to the arguments that some people within Mozilla have a "holier than thou" attitude, and think they know the best for their community. It is also an alarming direction to take for an organisation that claims to support the "open web", and seeks pride in being the last big non-profit browser (despite acting incredibly corporate).
But anyway, Mozilla is still an organisation that garners my support, maybe against my better judgement. Their products are those I keep coming back to; I even have gradually changed my add-on habits to ensure I'm no longer using "legacy" extensions. It has meant I have lost some functionality, which only Pale Moon (and in some cases even Google Chrome) can provide.
Then I launched it. And my first thoughts? It's actually incredibly fast. Even with Pale Moon preaching "benchmarks are useless, it's the subjective experience that matters"... My subjective experience, within the first 30 seconds, was that everything felt much smoother and more intuitive. I like the redesigned new tab page (as I mentioned previously, being an avid Pocket user I actually appreciate the integration as well as the fact their article suggestions are, generally, interesting and well-researched). Tab loading is speedy, moving a tab outside to its own window is quick and doesn't result in any video stream freezing (I most do this with Youtube, so I can watch it on one side of the screen whilst I do work on the other). Within a minute, I made it my default browser again, after a few months of uncertainty.,
This doesn't stop me feeling cross with Mozilla. I find their biased language praising moving to "modern web technologies" disgusting, in one stroke implying all the complainers within the add-ons community (as well as the users that champion those add-ons). Equally, I have no problems with WebExtensions, in comparison to the Pale Moon scripture which outright refuses to support them like a toddler. I have never had issues with moving to support them: my only issue is dropping support for well-established add-on systems when WE still isn't feature compatible (and where, in a handful of cases, it never will be). The ball was already dropped with Firefox becoming the browser full of bloated add-ons when Chrome proved it could implenment add-ons in a speedier way. People who jumped ship for speed already made their minds up nearly a decade ago; and Mozilla has been chasing Google's Porsche when Firefox was more of an off-roader in the first place... A Swiss army knife, more focused on customisation. Don't get me wrong, the speed increases they gained within just a few years of Chrome's launch, and without hugely breaking compatibility too, were amazing. But since then they have launched a cocktail of projects which they inevitably ditched... At a time they maybe should have consolidated on just the browser, before the Google Search revenue spring dried up as a result of making Google Default just not having the same value it once did. On top of all these projects, Mozilla put down increasingly difficult hoops for developers to jump through (electrolysis anyone?) leaving most add-on developers feeling fed-up and closing shop.
In my opinion, the best situation would be to either focus on making WebExtensions 100% feature compatible... Or focus on keeping legacy add-on support until it is compatible. I really hope Mozilla realises the error of their ways, before it falls into obscurity. Otherwise it really will be a frightening world where just Google and Microsoft are the internet heavyweights...
To try Firefox 57.0 with Firefox Developer Edition, click here
Mozilla recently updated their "Firefox Nightly" Blog with details of browser version 57 with Firefox Quantum.
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