Optimize Firefox UI to use with computer mouse

[Torbins]

Mouse is still a king on the desktop. But for some strange reason, with every new release, Firefox UI is less and less suitable for usage with mouse. Just to name a few recent issues:

• Hiding scrolls, that a hard to find and grab, when you need them
• Huge tabs and other UI elements. They are wasting screen space and do not add any additional comfort.
• Browser is not friendly to a tipical mouse gestures. For example you need to click on an item in main menu, instead of just hovering over it. Tab overflow menu does not support drag and drop.
• Menus have lost icons, which have been a great way to speed up navigation.

All of that should be fixed in default UI behavior, and touch friendly features moved to some special UI mode.

[Anonymous]

Firefox should not make the same mistakes as Windows 8. Touch displays are not widespread.

[NeonOchka]

everything is solved via about:config. there are also css-themes

[Anonymous]

@NeonOchka Since about:config is a hidden setting, it can be disabled by updates. That makes me nervous.

[Jon]

Hey all,

Here with an exciting update…

Your idea has quickly received a great deal of votes (kudos) and support here in the Mozilla Connect community, so we are upgrading the status to “Trending idea.” This means it’s now one step closer to reaching our internal teams for review—learn more about The Idea Journey.

Please keep the conversation going and stay tuned for updates 😃

-The Community Team

[Torbins]

@NeonOchka  I have tried CSS fixes for Firefox UI one year ago. While the features where nice, these css styles do not support HiDPI. Also author does not provide any means to automatically update them. And they need updates, because they break almost with every new Firefox release.

[Gustav]

I agree that the FireFox team needs to focus on the GUI and make it work so that users can get the most out of the product.

Also it can not be "dumbed" down to much because then the more experienced user will leave and thereby slowing down the new addition of users, why?

Well if less computer savvy users ask their "tech guy" that they know which browser they should use the recommendation will not be FireFox if the person they are asking left FireFox because of bad GUI - s/he will then instead recommend whatever they are using that is not FireFox.

So a commitment from the developer team for a GUI that can be setup in the official setup page that can accommodate both novice and experienced users should be the way forward in my opionion.

[sfink]

@GustavThat sounds like a separate idea. I recommend filing it as one, since the original idea here has some specific problems listed out and is therefore actionable separately from your idea.

[cw]

I'm using the latest version 107.0.1 and mouse hovering seems to be broken. It flashes and then disappears before it can be read. Has this been mentioned?

[brixter]

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@Torbins wrote:

• For example you need to click on an item in main menu, instead of just hovering over it.

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I don't agree with this. Clicking is better than hovering because you can easily make mistakes by just hovering over an item. What if your mouse hovers over "Delete" or "Exit" for example. Users need to click to confirm their actions.