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Mozilla to let enterprise users build custom Firefox-based browsers
The idea is that IT professionals will be able to customize the browser to include custom branding, a preselected group of bookmarks, or other features. Once the custom browser is ready to go, you can create an installer and deploy it on as many computers as necessary.
Theoretically, this could help Firefox make inroads in corporate settings where Internet Explorer is currently the dominant browser because Microsoft provides IT administrators with tools that make it easy to install and control the browser across a corporate network.
The Build Your Own Browser project will launch sometime after Firefox 3.5 is launched this summer.
Comments
8
Subscribe to commentsNonprofitTechJun 9th 2009 1:23PM
Doesn't seem like this is something they should prioritize. I hope they are not wasting too much dev time on this.
At work, I won't roll this out till there is a way to centrally manage updates.
At home, I won't switch back till they fix the "awesome bar". I hate it. All I want when I click on the down arrow of the address bar is a list of the sites I previously visited. Oh, and fixing the memory leak would be sweet too.
bradwjensenJun 9th 2009 2:06PM
"All I want when I click on the down arrow of the address bar is a list of the sites I previously visited."
You can do that already! Just go to the 'Prefs' and then to the 'Privacy' tab and on the very bottom where it says 'When using the location bar, suggest:' you just choose 'History'.
octoberasianJun 9th 2009 2:07PM
That memory leak is priority number one. They still haven't resolved it since Firefox 2.0.xx! Using the suggestions found on the Mozilla forums and various other websites, I still cannot for the life of me reduce the memory usage by Firefox.
Opening Firefox alone and its RAM usage jumps to 64 MB to 128 MB. Having 8 or more tabs opened balloons it to 200 MB and more. I have seen it go up to 480 MB after leaving it open for 6-plus hours. I'm already using ten less add-ons than before. I've used to have 18 total add-ons. I can't even use PicLens because that add-on just jumps its RAM usage even more.
I've tried Explorer 8 and IE8 has finicky issues with certain websites still. I've tried Opera 9 and it has quirks with certain Java and AJAX-based websites. I would use Chrome since it uses 18 MB RAM total average but there aren't any extensions or add-ons like Firefox. And, why is it I open Chrome I get two instances of it in Task Manager-- 9 MB each?
Another thing I'd like to see is more 64-bit compatibility, even from Adobe and their Flash player and Apple and Quicktime player 32-bit. Firefox 3.0.10 32-bit has a certain issue with some AJAX websites and crashes completely when used under Vista 64-bit. I can't use 64-bit FF3.0.10 (aka Minefield) because no Flash Player support.
Brad JensenJun 9th 2009 2:18PM
"All I want when I click on the down arrow of the address bar is a list of the sites I previously visited."
You can do that already! Just go to the 'Prefs' and then to the 'Privacy' tab and on the very bottom where it says 'When using the location bar, suggest:' you just choose 'History'.
SorrJun 10th 2009 5:05AM
Memory leaks!
you gotta be kidding, i use firefox for about 10 hours per day with hundreds of tabs opened and closed. i never passed the 150 MB mark at max.
Money MikeJun 9th 2009 3:32PM
I already have Firefox at work and have it customized the way I want, so my fear is that this corporate package would kill what I already have.
Of course, I could easily restore my entire profile with FEBE, but what if they set it up somehow that you couldn't change anything and had to use it exactly as how they had it configured? From their standpoint, it makes sense to have everyone configured the same, but that would drive me nuts.
NonprofitTechJun 9th 2009 4:19PM
Brad,
I have that option checked. I go up to my address bar and type in www.data.gov. I go to the site. Then when click on the down arrow, data.gov is NOT in the list of sites it shows there. Nor is there after browsing away, after restarting the application. There are 12 sites displayed there, I have no idea where they are coming from, but it isn't my recent history, that is for sure.
This has been an annoyance for me in every version of FF on every computer I have used since 3.0
hazardJun 9th 2009 10:11PM
Bit of a gimmick. What would be truely useful is a decent API so that application devs could automate Firefox. That would get a lot more traction than this ..