Unread post
by Night Wing » 2013-06-07, 12:45
This post concerns the Add-on bar, but you'll have to wade through the first three paragraphs so please be patient.
I think in v20, Firefox added their new Telemetry button and it is in the Advanced tab of their Options. If you have it checked, I think it sends back certain info to Mozilla and Mozilla can tell how you configure your Firefox browser along with the customizations people do in the Customize box.
I remember the small stink which was created by the FF developers adding in the New Download Manager since many people, like me, prefer the Old Download Manager. By going in to "about:config" we could get back the Old Download Manager. The FF developers were annoyed by this because I saw on one of their blog posts they were upset because it seems many users were preferring the Old Download Manager. The FF developers said this fix was temporary and they would take out the code in v21 and people would only be left with the New Download Manager.
However, in v21 of Firefox, the code is still there since the Old Download Manager is still working for me. I don't know why they didn't remove the code, but because of the new Telemetry button, it could be the FF developers actually saw how many users didn't care for the New Download Manager and didn't want people jumping ship by choosing to use another browser and/or by staying with the last version of Firefox which had the Old Download Manager.
When I downloaded version 20 and now 21 of Firefox via the FF installer, I always go into Options and check the Telemetry button and then I do my usual configuration of Firefox via Options and Customizations. I make sure the I always do the check which adds the Add-on bar. Maybe if enough Firefox users choose the Add-on bar, the FF developers might see the error of their ways (although I doubt it) and the Add-on bar might stay where it is at the bottom of the browser right above the Taskbar and won't be removed.
I've heard through the grapevine, the FF developers think whatever add-ons are on the Add-on bar, those add-ons will go to the right of the Navigation/Address bar. If that is so and if you have quite a few add-ons on the Add-on bar, the Navigation/Address bar will be shortened and if people also have the API bar to the right of the Navigation/Address bar, that is really going to look like a cluttered mess in my opinion. BTW, I don't have the API bar in my Firefox browser, but I don't want the add-ons I already have on the Add-on bar to go where the FF developers want them to go when they do away with the Add-on bar.
I hoping the Telemetry button in Firefox might save the Add-on bar since the FF developers might actually see exactly how many users have the Add-on bar enabled. If this guess is correct and there are hopefully millions of users which use the Add-on bar, the FF developers might back off concerning the removal of the Add-on bar.
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