updates Meet the browser: Firefox Next

[oldtimefighter]

I meant that existing store apps are all XAML and such, and support full screen mode because they run on Windows 8.

That said, store apps are the future with the changes MS made in 10, 99% of apps can gladly run as store apps and users will benefit (They can be sandboxed, they've got automatic updates, etc.).

Thanks for the Microsoft marketing promo... Win32 programs work just fine right now, FF already gets automatic updates, and I have no security concerns. It seems to me a win32 program running in a hypervisor would result in a performance hit. Yes? No?

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Store apps in 10 can be plain Win32 apps, that's the big change MS made to it (They can access any APIs now, you can port existing Win32 apps to be store apps without changing lines of code in most cases)

And the sandbox isn't really any different to the existing UAC virtualisation applied to applications, and even if it was proper virtualisation it still wouldn't effect performance much.

[oldtimefighter]

Store apps in 10 can be plain Win32 apps, that's the big change MS made to it (They can access any APIs now, you can port existing Win32 apps to be store apps without changing lines of code in most cases)

And the sandbox isn't really any different to the existing UAC virtualisation applied to applications, and even if it was proper virtualisation it still wouldn't effect performance much.

That may be so but what is the benefit to advanced user? I am still more concerned with FF stable going 64-bit with e10s then be listed in the store.

 

I see a future where Microsoft drops win32 program support, requires a Microsoft account, and removes admin accounts for the home version. Will one need to root their PC to sideload a non-approved app? PCs will just become over-sized mobile phones. Ahhhhh... Maybe I am just paranoid but I think that's their future plans.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

They tried that with WinRT, went about as well as you'd imagine.

[+Red King Subscriber²]

That may be so but what is the benefit to advanced user? I am still more concerned with FF stable going 64-bit with e10s then be listed in the store.

 

I see a future where Microsoft drops win32 program support, requires a Microsoft account, and removes admin accounts for the home version. Will one need to root their PC to sideload a non-approved app? PCs will just become over-sized mobile phones. Ahhhhh... Maybe I am just paranoid but I think that's their future plans.

64-bit will happen when someone files a bug like "this complex javascript game / app crashes due to 32-bit OOM" IMO

Stores are needed to filter the devastating trash available on the internet. Average user is not intelligent enough for Mac, Windows, and by far not desktop Linux.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

64bit will become priority No. 1 when something like Facebook causes OOM errors on a average system on loading

The increased ASLR entropy sure is a nice thing to have, but it's just increased entropy, not an extra feature that the 32bit builds don't have (And e10s puts off the need for 64bit binaries for a long time)

[oldtimefighter]

They tried that with WinRT, went about as well as you'd imagine.

WinRT failed because you still had regular old Windows but when Windows operates that way (and is free) and is the only game in town AND all the apps you use are in the store. It sure looks like they are building the pieces to do just that...

 

EDIT: This is off-topic so my last comment on this subject.

[+Zlip792 MVC]

Here comes the 64-bit Release Channel Firefox - https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1180792

 

Either in 39.0.1 (if ever released) or in 40...

[Boo Berry]

Huh, that's quicker than I thought it'd be. Is it actually ready? AFAIK, the Primetime CDM still isn't available for 64-bit Nightly.

[+Zlip792 MVC]

Huh, that's quicker than I thought it'd be. Is it actually ready? AFAIK, the Primetime CDM still isn't available for 64-bit Nightly.

 

There is wider audience who can get out of OOM and take advantage of 64-bit, so I think for the first time Mozilla doing some rationale and sane decision based on user preferences.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Ehh, that seems quite sudden.

[MikeM97]

There is wider audience who can get out of OOM and take advantage of 64-bit, so I think for the first time Mozilla doing some rationale and sane decision based on user preferences.

 

Finally.

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Future versions of Firefox will move away from XUL and XBL to render the UI: https://mail.mozilla.org/pipermail/firefox-dev/2015-July/003063.html

 

(via http://venturebeat.com/2015/07/06/mozillas-plans-for-firefox-more-partnerships-better-add-ons-faster-updates-and-more/ )

[Excelsis]

Anyway to trick Firefox/Nightly into thinking it's running on a different OS so it changes theme? Can't stand what they're doing with it on Windows 10, it looks horrible, plain and simple, would rather have Windows 8 styling.

Tried compatibility mode but that does nothing.

[bawz]

give us a screenshot of it under windows10

[Excelsis]

http://people.mozilla.org/~shorlander/mockups/Windows-10/Windows-10.html

 

Starting to look like this, which is being made specifically for Windows 10. I prefer the look in Windows 8, not to mention it breaks my own theme I hacked up. I can't code worth a damn, I just poke around until it works the way I want it too but these changes are too big for me to fix up at this point.

[bawz]

i dont mind it, looks far better in 10 than it has in  windows8

[Excelsis]

I guess it's not that bad, it just bothers me that Fx40 is going to break my theme with pretty much no way for me to fix it all unless I learn to code from scratch in less than 2 months.

Most likely gonna have to start from scratch and do something different. Probably would've had to anyways based on the big changes Mozilla is apparently going to bring, just gonna be sooner than expected.

 

The 2px borders in the address/search bars are ugly though.

[Konstantine]

Anyway to trick Firefox/Nightly into thinking it's running on a different OS so it changes theme?

wtf did I just read....

[Excelsis]

Wishful thinking with a bit of nonenglish, I guess. Mozilla must have a way to test their theme variations for different OS without having to use said OS to make things easier on them, no? That's what I was looking for.

[indospot Veteran]

I can't see the new styling in Windows 10, sadly. I installed the latest Nightly both in 32 and 64 bits and neither showed the new theme.

[Konstantine]

I can't see the new styling in Windows 10, sadly. I installed the latest Nightly both in 32 and 64 bits and neither showed the new theme.

Who said that the new theme is implemented in Nightly? o_O;;;;

[indospot Veteran]

Someone on the news article about it.

[Excelsis]

It's not complete, but it's there. The urlbar is bigger (24px > 28px) and has different borders, as well as hover/active state borders. The icons are darker compared to the ones in stable/beta and they've done some funky thing to the identity box (although I think that's gonna be for all OSs). Only thing different from the mocks I posted up is the border between the dropdown arrow and the reload/stop/go buttons isn't implemented yet, the tab close icon and the tab borders seem a little lighter in the mockup.

 

I don't think they're adding the gray background behind the tabs, that was from an older build, if that is what you guys are looking for.

[indospot Veteran]

I was looking for the flatter tabs.