I've been trying to use Firefox as my default browser for a while, and I haven't stopped thinking about everyone else

It's been about three years since the moment when, motivated by the most alarmists, I decided to try a Chromium-based browser in case the monopoly ended. At that time, Mozilla was already lurching with different projects, and there were voices that came to ensure that Firefox could disappear. My choice was Vivaldi, knowing that it was used by a minority, but also that it tended to include features for demanding users.

After some time with my new choice, I wrote an article explaining why he used Vivaldi, and things have only gotten worse since then. It's hard to take a step back and forget about what you already take for granted, but I tried it to see how it felt.

Trying to use Firefox by default

As an editor who writes articles for outlets like this, one of the things I liked best about Vivaldi was its option to tile tabs, i.e. split screen. In fact, in 2020 I wrote an article about an extension that allowed to display a tab on the edge of a Firefox window, but it's not the same, nor even close. Now, if in part I decided to try to spend more time with the red panda, it was thanks to KDE and a plasma 5.27 that allows windows to be stacked, shrinking some when others are enlarged... but it's still not the same. They are two windows that have to be managed separately for actions such as minimizing them or moving them to another desktop. As data, Edge is also going to tile your tabs.

I have also gotten used to the Vivaldi panel, its notes (I started this article in a note in Vivaldi), the mail and the calendar. So the time that I've been working more with Firefox has been quite a challenge for me, to the point that yes, I've used it more, but always looking sideways (or even hugging) to what I like best now.

Let's talk about the browser itself

But the fact is, Vivaldi is a case apart. It is created for demanding users, and they don't look much for performance (said like that in their communities). It can be very resource intensive, and not a good choice if the machine it's used on is inconspicuous. What the V browser has is that it is a Chromium-based browser and a part of proprietary code, which is everything else (about 4%). If we remove that, we are left with a Chrome with another design.

In the end, in order to assess whether Firefox is a better or worse browser, you have to compare it with browsers that are designed for browsing, despite the redundancies. From my point of view, you have to take into account sections such as performance, compatibility (extensions and other things), philosophy and those kinds of points.

Regarding performance, I have a fairly powerful computer, so it is difficult for a browser to make it suffer. But I have noticed something by spending more time with Firefox: I have had to carry my laptop less often. It is a clear sign that better manage processes. That or that the extras of a browser for power users They melt the battery first.

Extensions: is served

Being the most widely used browser on the market, most extensions are for Chrome in your store, but the most important ones, or some equivalent, can also be installed in Firefox. In fact, by not being under the umbrella of Google you can get rid of some of its tyrannies, like whatever you want in what ended up being what was once called FLoC. But this would only be a problem if you use Chrome, not others like Brave or Opera, so we continue to investigate.

There is something that as someone who has studied web design worries me a little more: when designers are creating a web page, they usually test everything in a Chromium-based environment. Then they look in Firefox and Safari to see if there is something seriously wrong, but they focus on Chrome. In addition, it also seems that Chromium adds before the css properties and it works better with them, that they tell it to a practice that I did, the position: sticky and table cell: Firefox decided that it would not respect the sticky, so the header didn't stay fixed.

But let's think as users: has this harmed me during this time? No. Or if he has, I haven't heard.

And what has been my impression during this time?

A lot of text to say so little about the use I've made during this time, but it's what you have to be working with something you don't feel comfortable with or notice that you're missing little things: you think about other topics while you use it. I have missed Vivaldi's tools, but also I have thought about whether it would be very different with another browser and I have come to the conclusion that it is not.

Yes, it is true that others like Edge or Opera have their side panel, but those panels are unnecessary if they are not used. They take up space and can consume more resources and battery, so they are not always so good to have.

Firefox behaves well, I haven't suffered any crashes or anything strange and it works as a web browser.

Mozilla's philosophy, the best of Firefox

Firefox is a browser that it works for what it works. If I didn't have to do everything I do, it would be my choice; it already was for years. But I need something else. And this is something that also applies to other browsers, I don't prefer Brave or Opera over Firefox. Mozilla's philosophy, partly shared by Brave, is to look out for its users and our privacy.

So in the end my decision was not to go back to using Firefox by default. I would only have one reason to do so, to support more of an engine other than Chromium and so on. avoid monopoly, but the price to pay would be to forget many of the things to which I have already become accustomed. For those who do not need them, Firefox may be the best option. And if not, if you have to go die to Chromium, at least choose something other than the snooping Chrome.