Why do you prefer Mozilla browsers (Firefox, PM) to Chromium browsers?

[Latitude]

My reasons:
1. Blink's rendering result is worse than Gecko/Goanna's in some sites.
2. Chromium/Chrome has no setting to handle .PAC (Proxy Auto-Configuration) file. I always to use a .PAC file to bypass internet censorship, so it's a must for me.

[adesh]

Just one: Google

[Night Wing]

A very easy and simple answer for me.

I do not like "minimalistic" browsers. I like a Menu Bar where I can see everything. I do not care for the "hamburger button" for settings in Chromium type of browsers. Also, I can't move the buttons around to position them where I want to since I want lots of customization within the browser and Chromium type browsers can't deliver this for me. Chromium type browsers are fast and that is the only good thing I have to say about them.

[Dustie_Rose]

Ditto: Google, word. enough said. freedom of choice plus many more.

[FranklinDM]

It's a long list but I'd just state the important ones (and I think the 2 items here will apply only to Pale Moon when November comes..)

• Customizable interface (you can move the toolbar buttons - something we can't do in Chrome(e/ium), create toolbars, and much more)
• Extension capability (XUL/XPCOM - has more access to the browser interface and some low level functions without the need to request for an API to do something very different - well can't explain it much)
• Complete Themes (personas and by simply changing of toolbar icons - the one currently proposed in FF57+ are too limited. At Moz-based browsers, we can customize a lot of parts of the browser through CSS)

[adisib]

Firstly because the years I've used Chrome I was constantly beset by performance and stability issues, likely due to the multi-process nature. Gecko-based browsers, though they have poor rendering speed, are much less resource intensive and don't have to be periodically restarted.

Secondly because of customizability. I get more settings to change, and it makes it easy to fix stupid choices that browser developers may have made.

[tooshorttoolong]

When I tried Chromium a few years ago it was simply unusable due to a complete lack of customizability (no addon, no "night mode", no ad blocker, very few options). On top of it it has a non-standard GUI (like Firefox) and can’t be trusted (it once downloaded a binary blob to listen on the microphone without user intervention, and it’s made by Google).

[martywd]

Extensions, extensions, EXTENSIONS!

With a few exceptions, there just are _not_ extensions on the chromium side that compared to the functionality and ease of use found with extensions that continue to be available for use with Pale Moon.

I.e., chromium extensions = much too limited functionality and flexibility.
.

[RexyDallas]

(Reasons I use Pale Moon)
1. Extensions
2. I prefer browsers which have more features, which are not dumbed down for people who don't know how to use computers, like modern Firefox is, and Chrome is by design.
3. I prefer tabs-on-bottom with menubar
4. Everything isn't in tabs, and uses native appearances more.
5. Themes/ability to customize the interface
6. DOM inspector (I Like the interface, and helps with customizing the interface)
7. Doesn't have 10,000 unnecessary and hackish processes that make my process list messy and confusing.
8. I don't like hot dog menus.

[CharmCityCrab]

A very easy and simple answer for me.

I do not like "minimalistic" browsers. I like a Menu Bar where I can see everything. I do not care for the "hamburger button" for settings in Chromium type of browsers. Also, I can't move the buttons around to position them where I want to since I want lots of customization within the browser and Chromium type browsers can't deliver this for me.

Have you tried Vivaldi (A Chromium-based browser)? If so, what did you want to customize that you weren't able to? Honest question. This is not me trying to get a particular answer.

I found with Vivaldi's very extensive built-in settings menu that I was able to get basically the same interface that I use Pale Moon's preferences and themes to get on Pale Moon. I'd say my experiences with the two were a tie in that regard- similar results through different methods. That doesn't mean everyone can get what they want that way, because not everyone is going for the way I like an interface to be setup. That's why I'm curious how it works for others.

It is true that Chrome itself is less customizable than Firefox, and the same is probably true for stock Chromium, both of which are minimalistic by design. However, once you get into the world of forks, it would seem like anything could be possible- at least in theory.

I will say on Android Firefox has one huge advantage for me over Chrome, which is that Firefox allows add-ons including ad-blockers on that platform and Chrome does not. Its been a real mystery to me why techies who wouldn't dream of running a browser without add-ons and ad-blockers on a PC haven't jumped ship from Chrome to Firefox on their Android phones. I can safely say that most haven't, becauee Firefox's Android market share is like half of one percent, a small fraction of its Windows marketshare. Kind of weird.

There are plenty of reasons not use Firefox in general these days, and on a platform like Windows where almost every browser has a decent add-on ecosystem, including Chrome and Microsoft Edge, I can see why people have jumped ship on that platform. I jumped ship on that platform years ago- way before abandoning Firefox was cool. With Android, though, its almost like Firefox is the only browser that's trying. Chrome for Android is the equivalent of Internet Explorer 5.0- the bundled browser that doesn't compete on features because it doesn't think it has to. I swear by Firefox on Android to the point where I have disabled Chrome completely on Android. You can run your choice of ad-blockers, https everywhere, personas (light theming), expire by days, all sorts of things on FFA. CFA offers nothing in those areas.

[snertev]

A very easy and simple answer for me.

I do not like "minimalistic" browsers. I like a Menu Bar where I can see everything. I do not care for the "hamburger button" for settings in Chromium type of browsers. Also, I can't move the buttons around to position them where I want to since I want lots of customization within the browser and Chromium type browsers can't deliver this for me.

Vivaldi UI is an app that runs in Chromium.

It adds another layer of abstraction when pages are loaded and that slows it down a lot when comparing it to Chromium.

In addition to this, many Chromium options haven't a Vivaldi GUI equivalent option and are buried in chrome://settings rather than in vivaldi://settings.

[Alexium 67]

Just two words: Customizable interface (movable buttons, tabs, fields etc). Chromium appearance is so simple... like a brick and I don't love it!

[mr tribute]

Well, (Firefox) and Pale Moon feel like web-browsers with media-capabilities. Chromium-based browsers feel like media-players with web-capabilities.

Chromium-based browsers are not suited for "serious browsing", there are so many features missing or hidden. It's a workspace that can't be customized and thus best suited for displaying cat-videos or other web-content. I tend to think of Google Chrome as a media-player.

[Night Wing]

@CharmCityCrab

Since you're in the General Discussion forum, go on over to the "How My Pale Moon Looks" topic and find my last post showing my screenshot of how my Pale Moon looks in both linux and windows Pale Moon. It should be in the last two pages in that thread. Can Vivaldi look like that? I'm guessing Vivaldi cannot look like my present Pale Moon and I'll take another guess that Vivaldi can never look like that.

As for Android, that is a smartphone operating system. I do not own a smartphone so a smartphone operating system, whether it be Android or IOS, is irrelevant to me. Why? I've got better things to do with my life than look at a smartphone 85 times a day like the average smartphone user does. I own a plain simple 7 year old Samsung flip style cell phone. And my flip phone is not connected to the internet. In fact, my flip phone is never turned on except for an outgoing call. As an example. If I get a flat tire on my truck; I'll turn on my flip phone, call my wife, tell her I've got a flat tire and tell her I've got to take the flat tire off, put the spare tire on and I'll be about 30 minutes late coming home. Then I turn my flip phone off.

If my friends want to get in touch with me, they know to call my land line phone and if I'm there and I recognize their number, I'll pick up the phone and talk to them. If I'm not at home, the phone answering machine will pick up after the fifth ring and they can leave a voice message and I'll call them back. In a nutshell, my life does not nor will it ever revolve around a smartphone.

BTW; when I bought my simple flip style phone back in 2010, I paid $79 for it. The total cell phone minutes I used for the entire month of September 2017 was all of 9 minutes according to my billing statement for that time period.

[Thehandyman1957]

First, Google . If you don't understand, I won't take the time to explain.

Second, You simply cannot do this with Chrome.

Third, Moonchild.
If you have not had the time to understand who he is, what he stands for and believes a browser should be,
then your missing the most important part of why this browser was created.

Forth, kinda part of the second, is add on's. If I could not use the add on's I have, it would be like driving my
truck without windows and sunglasses and no music. Yes I could get to where I needed to be. But I would be blind, wind blown and
have more bugs in my teeth than I would be willing to admit and I would hate the trip.

Fifth, kinda blends with the third, The Pale Moon Team, these folks, with Moonchild have made this dream possible.
A big shout out to those working in the background that we never see much.

Sixth, The forum, Seriously? Where else can you ask a question about something your browser is doing and actually get a
answer from the creator, or other smart folks that are willing to help.

This is a no brainer for me, Pale Moon wins hands down.

But if you like your big corporate, we don't listen to your requests and we log everything you do kinda browser, then by all means have at it.

[gracious1]

That is really an excellent point. The support you get for Pale Moon is vastly superior to any other browser I have used! It is part of why I keep using Pale Moon!

[snertev]

That is really an excellent point. The support you get for Pale Moon is vastly superior to any other browser I have used! It is part of why I keep using Pale Moon!

Because Pale Moon forum is a community. Once upon a time, Mozilla was too.

I remember it, I was there when the Suite was still a pre-alpha.

Then something happened and Mozilla became a Corporation and the Community changed into... whatever it is now. Customers?

[Anixx]

I use Windows Classic theme, so the only options for me are K-Meleon and Pale Moon.

[Crambie]

I don't care what browser I use as long as it's fast and not snooping, I don't care much about UI customisation. At the moment that's SRWare Iron (chromium based), Pale moon and Waterfox. I'd probably use Firefox instead of at least Waterfox, possible instead of Pale Moon too, if it ran even half decently on my macbook but it doesn't.

[dark_moon]

Easy: because (yet) all chrome & chromium browsers send data and/ or telemetry to google or to others.