I went from Netscape to IE to Firefox to Chrome and back to Firefox. Sure they're different, but it's not jarring. It's like switching to another car. You can just hop in and drive away. Then you gradually adjust the seat just how you like it and install your favorite air freshener in a natural progression, and so on.

The car analogy doesn't quite work that way.

Disliking one browser's UI/UX over another is like trying to drive two different cars: one with a touch screen console and another one with an analog console. There are genuine reasons to want one over the other and it will color how you use it day to day.

Sure, but at the most, having to put up with a touch screen is a minor annoyance, and for the most part, you really don't need the functionality that's gated behind those controls. It's a little annoying, yes.

You might consider it minor whereas others will base a car purchase around it. Different strokes for different folks.

For example if a car refuses to work with ad blockers I'm going to be buying a different car instead.

I use a browser a lot too, but I almost never interact with Firefox UX. Firefox just displays a website and I interact with that.

Browsers are just a window to display web apps and pages, though. And these display identically in Chrome as they do in Firefox. Hence the interactions, which 95% of the time are with the web app, not the browser, are practically identical for the most part as well.

I don't know.. but.. it's the way people may use the computer. A former colleague used exactly one window, no matter if it's word or any other software. And most important: the other programs have to be closed, firstly, before switching to eg. browsing. Even my 85y old grandfather who bought his first computer with 73y is capable to use more then 2 windows at once.

So for me, i work with chrome, edge and Firefox (main) at the same time. Firefox is 3 Windows with 150 tabs each. Chrome for quick and dirty - when I visit or do something I know I won't need it later anymore - and edge is used for being chat and/or differential search with goog and bing and other search engines (I know, it's easier to use a meta search engine, but it's ok like I do)

So.. basically. Each window is a room space in my brain for me and I store knowledge in separated rooms, so I know exactly where the tabs are I'm searching for. It's like a library where I always can look up something. Using favorites within the browser is not possible for me, because I just forget about them. Not so if I work with all the thousands of tabs open :)

So, it's possible to use different browsers without saying "maehhh.. but, I .... "

>So.. basically. Each window is a room space in my brain for me and I store knowledge in separated rooms, so I know exactly where the tabs are I'm searching for. It's like a library where I always can look up something. Using favorites within the browser is not possible for me, because I just forget about them. Not so if I work with all the thousands of tabs open :)

I have a similar thing.

Firefox as the main browser for everything. I don't like Electron apps and since Firefox doesn't do PWA anymore, Edge hosts all those. Chrome for all the Google apps I have to use and streaming services (Chrome has a media hub in toolbar which can control multiple streams/PiP windows).

If you just like the mental separation but don‘t want Chrome, you could also create Firefox profiles with different themes. You can even tweak the browser icon, so I found that sufficient for mental separation

Yea, of course.. thank you for mentioning this, never considered..

450 open tabs? I really have to think it would be worth the time to adapt to using some kind of clipping/note-taking software instead.

No it's ok.. but you're right here. There are better suited tools for me. But I'm too lazy haha

Just got used to it and I fear notes will be the same like favorites in the browser :)

The big difference for me is that with clipped notes the full contents are searchable. I agree that browser bookmarks are generally poor for reference material, as you tend to forget what you've bookmarked. But by clipping the whole page you essentially build your own searchable database. I use Evernote for this because I started in 2012, but I would look at alternatives first if I were starting today.

If you can't replace your handheld drill to another model because no other model "fits your hand that well", all the other carpenters in the market are going to have an edge over you.

How nice to not be a carpenter.

The differences are bigger between Chrome on Windows and Chrome on Mac than between Chrome and Firefox on one OS. At least all of the keybindings are the same.

I took my muscle memory a couple of days to readjust. Switching away from vim to anything else would take me years!

yet huge ux changes between chrome updates are fine? *ponderingfaceemoji

It's also happening with Firefox. Stupid redesign, felt, each new version. It's not about the design.. but it is, because less readability, less contrast, less visible difference between active/inactive tabs.. and so on.. but you're right. Changing browser is a no-go, but having suddenly different UI is not???? Lol.

Are there UX changes? I haven't noticed any.

exactly. odd uh.

most firefox changes are actually to copy what chrome is doing.

like removing the search bar and forcing sending everything you type in the address bar to a search engine, having a logged in account in the browser, etc

Do you not see the irony in this? By admitting that you don't notice the (real and fairly recent and large) UI changes in Chrome you've just dropped all credibility from any argument you might have had about caring about the UI being different.

Firefox is really not that different. Even the keyboard shortcuts are the same.

I use 3D modelling software in the browser

What like when chrome updates it for you and changed the ux? At least with firefox you have powerful user configurable scripts you can do whatever you like to how things render in the browser. Treestyle tab that fades away when you mouse off of it? Done.