True, but if you're running a beta test and the feedback is negative, you can't be surprised that people don't feel "respected" when you decide to push the change anyway.

Every UI change has negative feedback to some degree because a part of the user base just doesn't like change.

Overall FF is just as usable as the decade before in my opinion. And I kind of like the new tab design. The old super rounded tabs looked great for a while but it was time for a change.

I'm not a designer, but in my experience it helps to change up user interfaces now and then. However I wish we as users had more control over that. Color themes are not enough.

> it was time for a change… it helps to change up user interfaces now and then

Why? I mean if users are used to the interface, can use without any friction and there's no real need to, why change it just for the heck of it?

> because a part of the user base just doesn't like change

So don't force them to change? Or has Mozilla really forgotten that they got their users by making the most customizable browser in the first place?

Would that be so bad? Netscape Navigator 4.6 circa 1999: https://ia902901.us.archive.org/21/items/netscapecommunicato...

Twenty three years of churn has brought what UX benefits exactly? Hiding the protocol, hiding details about secure connections, hiding the status bar, hiding the text on tiny buttons, hiding the menus: https://mk0ghacksnety2pjrgh8.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/upload...

and for what? Optimising for people on 1366x768 laptops and people who don't want to do very much but search and click one result?

Judging by my coworkers and relatives, I don't think many users care that much about the screen real estate. Those of us who do customize the hell out of the browser chrome anyway.

Firefox 2 looked fine in my opinion, I would be happy if they just kept it as it was back then.

Changing menu item names and locations is just stupid. A month later and I am still looking for "Undo Close Tab." Was it really that important to change the name to "Reopen Closed Tab?"

The UI/UX team's salaries need to be justified.

Just learn the shortcuts. It's ctrl+shift+t. I've been using it for 16+ years and have no idea how it's called now, or how it was called before.

ctrl+shift+n to reopen the last window.

If the shortcut isn't listed next to the menu option, I'm never going to learn it unless I need to use it constantly. The top level menu items show the shortcuts but the context menu items don't! Inconsistent!

The funny thing is that I just tried to find the "shortcuts" list for Firefox and is is nowhere to be found in their menu or in Preferences! Do I need to find it on some webpage?!?

I see no problem with that. I downloaded the most recent version of Netscape Navigator a few days ago and while it's unusable for HTTPS websites, plain HTTP browsing is quite pleasant and surprisingly fast (even though it uses only one core). What is particularly nice is the SERP page of Google - very tidy and without any ads.

For me it is not so much they change the ui, it is that they changed the ui like 2 or 3 times in the last like 5 years.

Where do I sign up for that browser? When it comes to UI, less change is better.