Suspected PayPal Hackers Seek Deal To Stay Out Of Prison
Did A Google Earth Mistake Cause A Couple's Brutal Murder?
Ask Mozilla a question
Instead of my usual abode deep in the lush green forests of south England, I'm currently in San Francisco. I was here for the Internet Explorer 9 beta launch (which was very cool!) Yesterday I visited Google -- and later today I will be seeing the wonderful people at Mozilla. I have a lot of things I want to ask them, but I figured you guys might also have a few clever questions up your sleeves! So, if there's something you've always wanted to ask Mozilla, leave a comment and I'll do my best to pose your questions to the right people.
Comments
32
Subscribe to commentsKevinSep 17th 2010 2:39PM
If adobe goes though with an actual (non-beta) 64-bit build of flash, can we expect an offical 64-bit build of firefox?
AndrewSep 17th 2010 12:28PM
How come the "Check for updates" feature doesn't always pull the latest version?
i.am.robert.benjaminSep 17th 2010 12:34PM
1. Can we get an expected release date for Firefox 4?
2. Do you think you can keep up with hardware acceleration with IE9 and Chromium pushing on these areas?
Daniel BloisSep 17th 2010 12:40PM
I am wondering a few things:
1) What happened to the new Tab page that was supposed to be in FF a while ago
2) Why didn't they move the tabs into the title bar like it is in Chrome for FF 4. Plus, the FF button should have been just the logo - do it similar to the logo that was in Office 2007. This will make it take up even less space.
3) When are they going to include per-process tabs and per-process add-ons. This will make FF so much more stable'
4) Are they still going to add the download manager into a tab instead of a separate window. Same with the options screen as they were supposed to do in a separate window? I think pop-up windows should be kept to a minimum.
5) Are they going to make the awesome bar even better as a search bar as the other web browsers are doing?
6) What happened to ubiquity? Will they still be adding it into the program
7) Will developers have API access to tab candy - where they can add features to it?
8) What about the ability to create Web-apps as a separate process like chrome and IE9 - that was another feature that they promised. Even better if they add the Jump list support like IE9 is doing.
9) What about better tablet PC support - there is a HUGE push toward tablets. Make FF the first browser that works great with both Pen and touch.
Mozilla is great with innovation but many many times that innovation (sometimes even when promised) never shows up in FF. They need to change that - that is what is making them fall behind. They promised New Tab page, out of process tabs and addons, Ubiquity, Web apps as regular apps - they need all those things to compete.
TuxImpersonatorSep 17th 2010 2:27PM
Second the Firefox home tab question
IridescentSep 19th 2010 9:43AM
2. They are moving the tabs into the title bar. Opera already put the O in the Opera button, people didn't know it was a menu, just like Office 2007, and later Opera added the text "Menu" on it, for Office 2010 it was changed from a completely ambiguous icon to something else.
3. Merging that soon, this is pretty much guaranteed.
5. There are actually absolutely sound usability reasons why this should not happen. It's not about not liking change and that it's another feature.
6. Yes, eventually. Before they do though, they'll try to make a simpler thing that helps people achieve goals (currently called Taskfox but it won't be the final name).
7. Definitely, I've heard others are already doing so.
8. Prism is actually a lot more powerful than Chrome's implementation. Chrome's is essentially just a link. Zimbra is an example of the power, we're talking about desktop integration and other stuff like parts of the Javascript standard that IE have only just implemented and Opera and WebKit don't have. Javascript 2 is closer to a real programming language.
9. You can use Firefox for Mobile on a Windows 7 tablet, it's better suited to it anyway. I think they have actually done something to make it read touch input, I don't have a source though.
Chrome and IE 8's implementation of process isolation is actually process-per-domain, not process-per-tab. I know others don't see it, but I personally see a winner in Panorama, it's actually quite a good interface and has a lot of potential.
Daniel BloisSep 19th 2010 8:09PM
I disagree that they shouldn't make the awesome bar better at search. They should even if they leave it off by default and give the user a choice. On small screen laptops they need to do this to compete.
Plus, how do I install Firefox Mobile on my HP Tablet laptop?
GenericSep 17th 2010 12:43PM
Will you do something about the bookmarking UI like you did with tabs. Bookmarks are one of the most stagnant areas of development in any browser. The only thing that is remotely related to links is Google Chrome's most visited sites on a blank tab, but then again that is browsing history and not bookmarks.
I don't want to have a bunch of extensions to make my local bookmarks usable.
Daniel BloisSep 17th 2010 1:12PM
I agree with Generic,
Bookmarks need a huge refresh. Three Ideas:
1) I always wondered why Bookmarks and a Password Manager are separate. They should be put together. A Password should be a bookmark with a password and userID, etc.. attached. The a regular bookmark should be the same thing with no Password attached.
2) How about making the Bookmark side bar finger friendly. Again this should be able to be turned on and off. But this would be very useful for Tablets
3) How about adding the ability to get rid of the Bookmarks Toolbar folder in the sidebar and the Unsorted Bookmarks as well. I never use either of them and they just take up room.
Daniel BloisSep 17th 2010 12:56PM
one other idea that I had -
How about making the Tabs bar more like the Windows 7 SuperBar. Tabs shrink down to their favicon and groups all tabs that are from the same site under the one favicon. then if you hover over the favicon it will show a live screen shot of all the opened tabs under it and allows you to interact with the site while on the screen shot - backwards, forward, reload, close, open another, etc.. Plus then I would make the tabs a little taller to make them touch friendly like the Icons on the SuperBar in windows 7. Even add Jump List support - so when webapps start supporting them they will be usable in FF right away.
and Of course I would make it completely customizable so people can use this new way or the old way. I would even go further and work in Tab Candy. So I can have the same Favicon under different tab groups with only the pages I put in that group. This would be an amazing feature in FF
SamuelSep 17th 2010 1:05PM
Will Firefox eventually get an open new window in Private browsing, without closing existing windows? Or is this not doable with the current code.
DamianSep 17th 2010 12:53PM
What's the best modal for building software? Do you think your choice has made Firefox the special program it is today?
How long do you think till Mozilla's mission will be complete? And what is the future for Firefox after that?
Is it more or less difficult to work in the most open company out of any well known tech name?
OtafuSep 17th 2010 1:06PM
My only question:
Why did you decided to create a whole different browsing engine?
DamianSep 17th 2010 1:18PM
That question doesn't make any sense. Like all major browsers their rendering engine has a long long history and like most of them they didn't start off that history (I think the exception there is Opera).
OtafuSep 17th 2010 1:40PM
I disagree. I would like to hear their first steps in the industry and their reasoning, and the challenges they faced along the way.
I think all questions are valid (like yours), and also, I never had the opportunity to ask my personal doubts to the real people.
Sure, I could google "Mozilla History"... but that's not my point...
DamianSep 17th 2010 3:02PM
But they didn't create a whole new browsing engine, they built on what was already there.
Similar questions like "why did you take the browsing engine the way you did?" make a lot of sense, but I wouldn't want to get a one off opportunity and mess it up by asking them questions without research.
FlorySep 17th 2010 1:26PM
Why don't you remove that stupid orange button in Firefox 4 to save space?
JeffreySep 17th 2010 2:01PM
Here's a few good questions to ask them:
Is there any interest in fostering another "skunkworks" browser project like Firefox started as?
Is there any interest in fostering competition in Search engines since they are so fundamental to the web now?
Is there any interest in making a HTML5 Video Player plugin to compete with Flash Player and perhaps the H.264 codec?
JoshSep 17th 2010 2:10PM
With Firefox 4, the GUI team has gone even further away from Apple's HIG for the OS X ecosystem. Why does Mozilla keep doing this? Using the default theme on OS X is like nails on a chalkboard: it's too dark, too curvy, the "pill" buttons are not correct, none of the corner radii seem to match, there are favicons all over the place, etc.
With the seeming end of the best theme for OS X, GrApple, Firefox 4 is looking like a grim update for many a Mac user. It's even had me, a Mozilla faithful since the days of a dinosaur icon, considering Safari just so the interface experience in OS X is much more smooth and integrated.
Daniel BloisSep 18th 2010 9:50PM
I would argue that OSX is a terrible and convoluted interface but some people like it. I do not know why they can come up with a great interface for the iPad but still not on the desktop.