RMweb Premium 45156 Posted November 28, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 28, 2017 I wonder how many of us experience the same reaction when we encounter a "new and better" version of something, particularly with software, but of course, not only there. Things which come to mind are the various Windows versions (I'm sticking with 7 until it is no longer supported as I'm happy with it and with its features), and updates to browsers. I logged into FIrefox the other day, and it wouldn't start, and went into an update mode, coming back as the "new and better FIrefox with loads of useful features". Wow - NOT. What?: I don't want any new features, thanks, the ones I had were quite fine. The "improvements" all seem to make navigation harder - my bookmarks are now two clicks away, and the bookmark menu now also includes a "highlights" list, which appears to be just a list of sites that I visited in the last few hours - why provide a way to revisit transient sites? The download also managed to clear a lot of my browsing history of the useful sites that I visit, and as a result, I had to log into Amazon and eBay again with password as the memory of these was also cleared. I was happy with the old version, but the new one - but I really don't like Chrome and I won't use IE under any circumstances. It's much the same with many other updates, and it is by no means only in IT that it's happening. Like to share your thoughts, well, please do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chriswright03 Posted November 28, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 28, 2017 There was a discussion on here the other day about how to find the bookmarks since the update. Mine are back to how I want them now. I suspect if you use Firefox to remember your passwords then it may well have deleted them. I don't know because sometime ago I stopped it from doing that as it made the laptop vulnerable if it were stolen or accessed while on line by someone. I agree the changes they have made aren't for the better for me and I also find it irritating when changes seem to be made for change sake. I liken it to supermarkets changing everything round so that you can't just go to where you know the bread or cakes are any more and you have to go hunting. OK in that case it is because then whilst hunting we 'may' see something else we wouldn't normally see and buy that but a browser? Why? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 45156 Posted November 28, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted November 28, 2017 There was a discussion on here the other day about how to find the bookmarks since the update. Mine are back to how I want them now. Chris can you point me to the thread so I can check it out - ta, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chriswright03 Posted November 28, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 28, 2017 Here you go. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/128215-firefox-quantum-bookmarks-arrgh-what-were-they-thinking/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 Yes, it is just the same with Apple products. Each update seems to present new incompatibilities with existing software, and I think Firefox is the worst. In fact I have given up using it on OS 10.13 because I became too frustrated with its inability to keep bookmarks, passwords, etc., from one update to the next. It also tries to change my startup page to one which the company would prefer me to see on a very regular basis. I count myself lucky that I can default back to Safari, but even that is nowhere near perfect. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 I was amazed by the increase in speed in the new version of Firefox, so that's a big for me. The bookmark thing was irritating, but soon sorted. I didn't lose any history, passwords or anything else I'm aware of, or bothered about. Overall, I think it's an improvement (for once!). For most changes, improvements, updates, upgrades, modernisation, or whatever they want to call it, that take place in the world outside of Firefox, I agree. I too have no intention of replacing Windows 7, which is why I'm typing this on a computer running Linux. I've had to keep Windows on another machine to run a few bits of software that don't have suitable Linux versions, and that won't run in WINE. If it was practical, the only windows in my life would be ones that let light in! All my life I've been seeing change. There are/were a lot of things that needed change, but in changing the bad things, much of the good has been thrown away too, and been replaced by something bad. I could spend the whole day listing them, but just for once the latest software update won't be on the list. Now if someone could give the government/HMRC a good kicking, and get them to scrap all their stupid, power crazed ideas for changing the way accounting is done, that would be great. My favourite accounting software is being dropped, because it's not cost effective for the developers to make all the necessary changes. This is one of the reasons I've given up trying to go back to making a living from what I've done most of my working life . 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 (edited) The problem is young people. They just have to fiddle with what was perfectly satisfactory. It's the effect of banning corporal punishment you know. If they had got a good rap on the knuckles from a solid hardwood ruler every time their fingers went near a keyboard we wouldn't have this trouble. (I'll send that off to the Daily Mail and see if they want to run with it...) I find myself wondering how far along we are into the process of evolution of interactive media, which will continue to significantly change the supporting software, until the day that it 'stabilises' into fairly fixed formats. Long way to go yet is my feeling, so we are all in a red queen's race... Edited to add: an eleven year old of my acquaintance, very excited by the computer science facilities of her new school, clearly had trouble believing that my first experience of computing was a demonstration of machine code. Edited November 28, 2017 by 34theletterbetweenB&D 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Torper Posted November 28, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 28, 2017 (edited) This is one of these occasions where siomething was broke - Firefox was slow and cumbersome and was losing ground rapidly to Chrome. To a large extent it has now been fixed; OK, some add-ons don't work (yet). but it is now much faster then it was (and is now faster than Chrome) and much more resource friendly and less bloated. I've had no problems with bookmarks or passwords. As far as I'm concerned it's an excellent and much needed improvement. DT Edited November 28, 2017 by Torper Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter220950 Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 I too get ratty about the BBC Iplayer and the like, that seem to get changed by the IT geeks just because they can, and need to justify their existence. Then I see a Hillman Avenger, or an old brick mobile 'phone, a stack of 78's in a junk shop, and the Amstrad 1512 that's still in the roof, and realise there's probably a point to it all, even if I don't appreciate it at the time. I have a couple of Toshiba laptops still running Windows 95, and on the whole I prefer the tablet running Marshmallow or some other stupid name. Peter 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted November 28, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 28, 2017 As one who makes remarkably little use of a computer beyond Internet access and storing (but v seldom manipulating) photos, I nevertheless also see 'new and improved' as adding v little to my "experience". iOS High Sierra was downloaded and installed here on Sunday, taking bloomin' hours and hours due to my slow connection - my Internet arrives via a roadside pole-route, although there is now fibre in the village 2 km away - but when I dared to take the Apple intro to all the "advantages" it offers the only one that might be good was not auto-running vids e.g. on Facebook. I never understood why third-party browsers were better than the installed variety, so it used to be IE, now is Safari. But - hey! - it all keeps someone in a job! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chriswright03 Posted November 28, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 28, 2017 The only problem I had found with the old version was playing videos on Facebook which could have been an issue with either I suppose. Certainly I keep getting a reminder that Edge is faster than Firefox but on my laptop it just freezes and I have to do a big button shut down. Windows 7 upgraded to 10 and maybe that is some of the problem. Even if Firefox had slowed down why could they not fix the bugs, make it quicker and leave everything where it was? OK it hasn't taken long to get things back to where I can use it just the same but why even bother moving stuff around if it worked before? Example the Home button and then the Bookmarks. I am sure the bugs could be fixed without having to redesign the whole front page. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chriswright03 Posted November 28, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 28, 2017 EDIT: Since I started posting in this thread Windows has done an update and restarted. Ever since then Firefox has been on a go slow. Even getting the Firefox has stopped working warning. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Reorte Posted November 28, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 28, 2017 This is one of these occasions where siomething was broke - Firefox was slow and cumbersome and was losing ground rapidly to Chrome. To a large extent it has now been fixed; OK, some add-ons don't work (yet). but it is now much faster then it was (and is now faster than Chrome) and much more resource friendly and less bloated. I've had no problems with bookmarks or passwords. As far as I'm concerned it's an excellent and much needed improvement. People say it's slow but I've never noticed anything that I'd call a speed issue with Firefox (or at least a speed issue that can't be laid at the feet of my connection). Mind you I've got a pretty hefty computer to run it on. Still, the under the bonnet improvements sound pretty good, but I'm loathe to entertain the idea of Firefox without Classic Theme Restorer. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 The thing is you might be happy with a program, but there are many other users out there who are crying out for a change of some kind (or more likely deciding that another option does it better). There's also the issue of security; everything has flaws and the developers have a duty to plug whatever holes they become aware of with updates. The content on the internet isn't standing still either. Fire up internet explorer 6 and see how many websites you can load up and use. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Reorte Posted November 28, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 28, 2017 The thing is you might be happy with a program, but there are many other users out there who are crying out for a change of some kind (or more likely deciding that another option does it better). There's also the issue of security; everything has flaws and the developers have a duty to plug whatever holes they become aware of with updates. The content on the internet isn't standing still either. Fire up internet explorer 6 and see how many websites you can load up and use. That's why the under the bonnet bits updating are good, but having to put up with the bits that just look like change for the sake of change is not. More choice is fine, forced change rather less so. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kylestrome Posted November 28, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 28, 2017 But - hey! - it all keeps someone in a job! That, in a nutshell, is the reason for most updates! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 People say it's slow but I've never noticed anything that I'd call a speed issue with Firefox (or at least a speed issue that can't be laid at the feet of my connection). Mind you I've got a pretty hefty computer to run it on. Still, the under the bonnet improvements sound pretty good, but I'm loathe to entertain the idea of Firefox without Classic Theme Restorer. It's not so much the speed of Firefox, but the vast amount of memory it now needs to function properly. My old laptop only had 4Mb RAM and if I had Firefox running in the background everything else would struggle to load properly because there was not a great deal of RAM to play with. Also, Firefox would take an age to shut down and often would interrupt the shutdown (or restart) process and I ended up having to force-quit it before I could do anything else. I had no idea what it was actually doing; but after it lost all my bookmarks (and refused to load them from my backup copy) I gave up with it altogether. My theory is that the programmers have just bolted more and more onto the original Netscape Navigator, that it has become like Topsy and I wonder if there are subroutines that no one knows what their function is, but dare not delete them in case something elsewhere in the software crashes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Rixon Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 My theory is that the programmers have just bolted more and more onto the original Netscape Navigator, that it has become like Topsy and I wonder if there are subroutines that no one knows what their function is, but dare not delete them in case something elsewhere in the software crashes. More like the opposite: the core has been changed around so many times (breaking most of the extensions and add-ons in the process) that it did not stablise and get highly optimised. i don't think there is much of the original Navigator left. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Torper Posted November 28, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 28, 2017 It's not so much the speed of Firefox, but the vast amount of memory it now needs to function properly. I think you'll find that that is no longer the case. Memory usage in Quantum is considerably improved over previous versions of Firefox and is said to be 30% less than that of Chrome. And like Guy above, I doubt if there's any of the old Naviagtor left - Quantum is a complete rewrite. Another advantage to Firefox, of course, is that it keeps you out of the clutches of Google, particularly if you use something like DuckDuckGo as your default search engine. DT Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 Does anyone use Tor? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 Does anyone use Tor? I'm sure someone does, otherwise there's no point in it existing . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 I'm sure someone does, otherwise there's no point in it existing . I did download it once, but never got around to installing it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 I have used it in the past, and it is really just 90% Firefox with added security from accessing the internet via various European connections in an attempt to hide where the user is located. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 Just wait until I set up the next version of RMweb; then the moaning will really start! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelson Jackson Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 Just wait until I set up the next version of RMweb; then the moaning will really start! We're already moaning about the lack of classifieds section! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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