June 08, 2005
Firefox Users Sound Off: Fix Those Bugs!
Even ardent Firefox fans can experience problems with their favorite browser. What are these bugs, and what can you do about them?
By Mitch Wagner InternetWeek
Use Firefox for a while, and you’re almost certain to become an evangelist for the software, telling your co-workers and friends how great it is and urging them to switch. And should anyone dare to criticize your new favorite browser, you’re going to get defensive.
But just between us (and the 800 million people who have Internet access), you have to admit: Firefox has bugs. Why shouldn’t it? It’s not magic ? it’s real-world software. These significant usability issues and problems must be addressed if it’s going to become a serious, long-term challenger to Internet Explorer, and not just a fad.
To first find out what these problems were, we asked people familiar with Firefox to tell us their pet peeves. We started at home with the TechWeb Pipelines editors, many of whom have at least a year’s experience using the browser. And we asked readers to help. TechWeb Pipelines Editor Scot Finnie put out a call for Firefox problems in his Scot’s Newsletter, and Reviews Editor Barbara Krasnoff asked for the same in the Desktop Pipeline Newsletter. All told, we received about 200 responses.
The results? In short, Firefox users cited problems with extensions, performance slowdowns, patches and updates, and incompatibilities with some Web sites. Printing was also a problem for some users.
Some complained they often have a problem re-starting the browser after shutting it down. And several mentioned that members of the Firefox community can sometimes have a bad attitude, blaming the user when a user comes to them with a bug report.
Here’s a rundown of some of the most-mentioned issues:
Extensions: Biggest Blessing And Biggest Curse
Firefox’s extendable architecture is both the browser’s biggest benefit, and the source of its biggest problems.
The benefit comes because the core browser itself is lean and ? at least when it’s working right ? fast. When you first download and install Firefox, the software provides only the basics for HTML rendering, saving bookmarks, and tabbed browsing. Many users are content with this plain-vanilla approach. But if you want more, you can have it: There are hundreds of plug-in extensions to refine your browser tab behavior, customize the user interface, and even play Tetris or check on the weather.
The problem: Some extensions are incompatible with others, or are buggy. This creates problems with Firefox performance.
“Every problem I’ve had with Firefox has been due to extensions,” said user Bob Schuchman. “Often, the order in which they are installed makes a difference.” Schuchman said his favorite extension is Tabbrowser Extensions, which modifies browser behavior (Note: Throughout this article, we’ll link to extensions we think are useful, but we won’t link to extensions that appear to be buggy or otherwise harmful).
Schuchman continued, “Even the author admits that he can’t fix it any more and the Mozilla people warn against using it. Just today I’ve uninstalled it and tried to find extensions that will take the place of the features I was using. Not all of them are available.”
He added, “The extensions just don’t get the attention that Firefox itself does. I don’t know what the solution to this problem is, but I agree that something has to be done to vet extensions better than what is being done now. Maybe the answer is including the most important ones in basic Firefox, especially those related to tabbed browsing ? the most important feature as far as I’m concerned.”
Schuchman’s e-mail suggests a solution to the extension problem: The core Firefox development team should be devoting significant resources to testing extensions for bugs, security holes, and compatibility with Firefox and with other extensions. Extensions that pass the tests would receive certification, and users looking for stability would be able to limit their Firefox use to just those extensions. More adventurous users could continue to try out new, untested extensions as soon as they come down the pike.
Moreover, the Firefox developers should offer an alternative to the bare-bones approach to installation. There are some plug-ins and extensions that most users will want to use, and Firefox developers ought to offer a download with those utilities pre-installed. We can argue over what the Deluxe Firefox should include, but we can start the list with Java, Apple QuickTime, Macromedia Flash, and Adobe Acrobat. Not all users will want these, but the overwhelming majority will, and users who don’t want them would continue to have the option of using bare-naked Firefox as it is now.
Think you have problems with extensions? Here’s how to diagnose the problem and fix it.
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One problem I struggled with even as I researched this article: No standard way to uninstall extensions.
Or, rather, there is a standard way to uninstall extensions, and developers adhere to that standard almost all the time. It’s that “almost” that’s the source of the problem.
The normal way to uninstall extensions is to click the Tools menu, select Extensions, select the extension you want to get rid of, then click “Uninstall.”
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Curing The Crash
Firefox has crashed, and now won’t relaunch. What to do? Here’s a simple solution.
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Locating Erring Extensions
Sometimes, a Firefox problem is in an extension that isn’t behaving itself. Here’s how to find out which one, and get rid of it.
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