Hi Purebeads, Everything you say is correct but I dont think its a deliberate attempt to emulate or copy other browsers. What I believe has happened is an attempt to capture the Touch screen portable computer market, unfortunately this has been at the expence of the desktop computer and all features are now geared for tiny processors with minimal ram and Fat fingers. I am reliably informed that up till version 28 they were actively developing 2 seperate versions side by side ie desktp and touch screen versions but with the introduction of the version 29 they have now merged and bingo the desktop has been totaly screwed in favour of the touch screen and the low powered toy computer market and thats dispite all the evidence that the two environments are so totaly different and require different stratagies and methods. I believe the only real option for the desktop at this stage is to use one of the alternative browsers based on the FF engine like Palemoon or Waterfox or Seamonkey

Bee, thanks for the interesting info. I never heard of Palemoon, Waterfox or Seamonkey. I'll look into them. Are they secure? Are they customizable? Do they support add-ons?

Thanks again.

purebeads: seamonkey is ok; waterfox is great but it doesn't play well with the latest updates for windows 8.1 x64. my personal experience (and i'm still trying to figure out why) has waterfox not loading completely, then locking up(not responding). the only way to close it is to use system explorer or task manager to force a shutdown. of the two variants i think waterfox is better, providing you stay away from 8.1(it works wonderfully on my 7 machine)

Hi Purebeads, I have windows 8.1 and find they all work fine. I dialed back to FF 28 plus finding I use Waterfox more than the others. You might find this conversation informative https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1000634

But what about security and add-ons? Do FF add-ons work with them?

I have Windows 7, so I could use Waterfox.

Hi, yes most addons are good for both waterfox and Palemoon

Tried V29 what a mistake !!!! To get back to V28 .... was simple ... I downloaded Version 28 from the Mozilla FTP Site .... Installed it right over Version 29 ... Was a little weird looking so I used Chuck Baker's FEBE Backup add-on (I create it daily) and used it to create a new profile under a new profile name ... Now everything is fine .... FEBE is a great Add-on.

By the way, just to blow off a little steam ... what the H E double hockey sticks is going on at Mozilla. I have used FF for years and was quite happy with it . They were the 2nd most successful and that was only because Windows comes with IE installed. When you think about it, Mozilla had absolutely phenomenal success by word of mouth distribution. They did not have the benefit like IE being factory installed.

THEN THEY HAD TO ARGUE WITH SUCCESS AND FIX SOMETHING THAT WAS NOT BROKEN .... AND IN THE PROCESS NOT ALLOWING US TO GO BACK TO SOME STUFF WE LOVE.... They now think like a last place loser instead of number two.

They dumped Thunderbird.

They made a mess of Firefox Android/mobile.

Other big companies acknowledge them as an "800 lb gorilla on the block" by taking Firefox into account when creating software and websites.

And Mozilla continues to screw with Firefox.

Please Stop fixing what ain't broke!

One other question about Waterfox. Since FF is open source, and these other flavors are based on the same code -- can they coexist on the same computer? Can I install Waterfox and keep FF until I decide I want to switch? And can I use my bookmarks from FF?

Todd, I completely agree. As I've said, version 2 was my favorite version, and it has been downhill from there. Regarding downgrading, a lot of people don't want to start with a new profile because they'll lose their customizations.

Hi Purebeads, Yes all versions can be installed and co exist on the one system. At least thats true on windows

Hi Purebeads, I just got a shock when my FF 28 decided to do an unaproved and radom upgrade after a week without issue to version 29 this is despite all telemetry and upgrade options all being turned OFF. I installed a new youtube plugin and suddenly I got upgraded without warning. Very unwelcome.

So for all you Forum Gurus How do I stop this from happening Period. I dont ever want to see version 29 on my computer Ever again so HOW DO WE STOP PERMANENTLY AUTO UPDATE TO VERSION 29

I now have the version 28 installer pinned to my task bar for emergency reinstall of version 28 whenever it does an unwanted update to version 29. I have now lost all faith and hope in the Firefox project. This is the most discusting and insidious behaviour from any software provider I have ever experienced. So somebody please fix this Auto upgrade issue permantly or its Good by Firefox for good

oops - I hit "not helpful" but it WAS helpful . . . THANKS! I agree.

Make 29 emulate 28.

Its not possible. Your only real option is to use Alternative browser like Waterfox which is based on the Mozilla engine or Palemoon

http://www.waterfoxproject.org/

http://www.palemoon.org/

I have uninstalled Firefox and use waterfox almost exclusively now. The nice thing is that waterfox will pickup all your previous settings from Firefox and when uninstalling if you leave your settings and prefs then waterfox will continue like the old Firefox

This thread is solved already. It is drifting on to other subjects. The discussion of developer decisions, other browsers and feature requests are all considered out of scope of this forum.

• Current guidelines

     Posts in the Mozilla support forum must be either questions about the use of Firefox, ....  or answers to those questions. Users who post about things other than Mozilla support will be directed to an alternative discussion place ....  . 

I will close this thread with links to other posts that including

• An explanatory quotation from a developer
  /questions/998084#answer-566525
• A and a list of resources relating to Firefox 29 use and modification
  The I-do-not-like-Firefox-29-layout topic /questions/998106?page=2#answer-568374