[Solved] Alternatives to Firefox

[Seff]

I'm starting to lose patience with Mozilla and don't like what I've seen of Opera. Could someone recommend an alternative browser? Ideally it should have File, Edit, etc. at the top and- here's the main thing- it should be easy to contact a real person in order to get help. Thank you very much.

No idea why, but most sites I try visiting in Midori fail with an "SSL Handshake failed" error.

[JerryF]

I've been using Chrome and Chromium. They are fast and reliable for me and the other reason I use them is that I have my contacts and bookmarks synced through my Google account, so when I sign into my account (at home or work), I have everything I need.

If I may ask, do you really need the "File, Edit, etc." drop down menus?

[richyrich]

And if you really like the Menu Bar, just right-click in an open area near the top tabs -> and select (click to add/rem check) Menu Bar.

[Seff]

Thank you both. And Jerry- I thought it was very rude of Mozilla to hide the thing without first telling me. (Maybe they did, in the release notes? If so, why not add a link somewhere prominent?) Things like that bother me- indeed, one reason I'm not using Ubuntu is because the minimize, maximize and close buttons are on the left-hand side. Oops.

I'm looking into using Vivaldi and/or Midori as they seem to be more forthcoming with information and Vivaldi has a forum that's quite easy to find.

[karlchen]

The closest alternative to Firefox is Pale Moon.

[killer de bug]

I thought it was very rude of Mozilla to hide the thing without first telling me. (Maybe they did, in the release notes? If so, why not add a link somewhere prominent?)

It's one click to reactivate it.

I'm not using Ubuntu is because the minimize, maximize and close buttons are on the left-hand side. Oops.

It's configurable and it takes 3 seconds.
EDIT: Seems that the setting for this move has been removed from Ubuntu 16.04 Unity.


You may want to try Vivaldi, but be warned, this is not Open-Sources.

[ralplpcr]

Vivaldi is quite a decent browser - very similar to what Opera *used* to be, before the corporate mucky-mucks messed it up! It occasionally hiccups (especially with certain ads), but for the most part is very stable.

Just as an additional $0.02, in Firefox you can pull up the "File, Edit..." menu bar simply by pressing the ALT key whenever you wish.

[Seff]

Nice answers, all. I might just try Ubuntu again...

Just as an additional $0.02, in Firefox you can pull up the "File, Edit..." menu bar simply by pressing the ALT key whenever you wish.

I didn't know that. Which leads me back to my main reason- it seems like an obscure process contacting a real person at Mozilla, whereas with Vivaldi I just load their website and click 'Forums'.

[Cosmo.]

Which leads me back to my main reason- it seems like an obscure process contacting a real person at Mozilla

Everybody decides for himself about the criteria. Saying that I have the impression, that you are not aware about mozillazine and the many other dedicated Firefo-forums.

[ugly]

Vivaldi.

[JerryF]

Thank you both. And Jerry- I thought it was very rude of Mozilla to hide the thing without first telling me. (Maybe they did, in the release notes? If so, why not add a link somewhere prominent?) Things like that bother me- indeed, one reason I'm not using Ubuntu is because the minimize, maximize and close buttons are on the left-hand side. Oops.

I'm looking into using Vivaldi and/or Midori as they seem to be more forthcoming with information and Vivaldi has a forum that's quite easy to find.

Yea, it was rude of Mozilla. I haven't used it in quite some time now.

Forgot to mention that one other reason I use Chrome is that I have an Android tablet. I enter everything (contacts, calendar events, and bookmarks) through my Android and have everything else (my home laptop, work desktop) synced to get my info.

[Chemical_Ali]

I switched to Palemoon and have not looked back. Firefox also has an addon called 'Classic Theme Restorer', which has tons of options to make Firefox look great again.

[killer de bug]

tons of options to make Firefox look great again.

Tastes and colors are really personal. For me Firefox in it's current configuration looks really great.

[arvY99]

Vivaldi, Palemoon, both are (very) good!
Just missing the 'old Opera' bookmark manager...

[karlchen]

[...] Firefox in it's current configuration looks really great.

Confirmed, it does.


(Click image to enlarge. Press <alt><cursor_left> to return here.)

[killer de bug]

It's only a question of taste. I like the new design. I don't need a toolbar with favorites. I don't need a menu bar. I like the fact that the webpage cover almost the full screen.

[Cosmo.]

[...] Firefox in it's current configuration looks really great.

Confirmed, it does.

The bad news: This attempt with Custom Theme Restorer will - following the known plans by Mozilla - end with the release of FF 57, which is scheduled for 14th November this year. CTR will stop to work with this release, see here. It seems, that at best a part of the accommodations, which CTR does, will be doable with the new API in FF 57. See also here. (Aris is the developer of CTR.)
The good news: With Firefox ESR it will - at least for some more time - continue to work.

[karlchen]

Hi, Cosmo.,

thank you very much for providing these links. Looks like something I will be following up on.
I am aware that the end of CTR as we have known it is near.
Looks like Pale Moon might be the winner. Pale Moon might be my future Firefox. Pale Moon Future Roadmap

Cheers,
Karl

[Moem]

If you like old versions of Firefox, you may also like not just Pale Moon but SeaMonkey too.

[Cosmo.]

Here is a (incomplete) list and discussion of other extensions, which will get abandoned.