Ask HN: Switching from Chrome for Firefox – what does a newbie need to know?

10 points by nomilk 3y ago ↗ HN

In the last 10 minutes I downloaded firefox (macOS), imported logins/bookmarks from chrome, set firefox as the default browser, removed its redundant second search bar, and installed ublock origin extension.

Newbies can take days or weeks to discover the essential configs/extensions for any new software. Looking to fast track that! - all suggestions appreciated.

6 comments

[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 22.8 ms ] thread

slater 3y ago ↗

Have a rummage in about:config to switch off all the telemetry BS, pocket integration, and "experiments" that Firefox marketing likes to re-enable every six months or so

ReallyOldLurker 3y ago ↗

I suggest using the ESR version rather than the rapid release version: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/#product-desktop-e...

I suggest learning about policies to manage the above mentioned annoyances: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/products/firefox-enterpris...

Once you have fairly good policies.json it only needs an occasional updates. A backup copy is all you need to "instantly" configure any new installations.

mostlysimilar 3y ago ↗

If you do any client-side web application development you should start now getting to know the dev tools. They're just as functional as Chrome's but there are differences.

As far as extensions, well you already have the most important one. But I also like:

- ClearURLs: remove tracking elements from URLs automatically

- "I still don't care about cookies": automatically block most cookie permission popups

- Refined Hacker News: adds nice QoL features like highlighting new posts, extra links in the nav, etc.

- Vimium: vim keybindings for browser navigation

halosghost 3y ago ↗

I'd strongly suggest switching to Librewolf [1] before you fully setup everything and get a bit locked-in. It's a friendly-fork of firefox, done right (imo); it stays up-to-date with upstream rapidly, and predominantly has the goal of enabling better privacy defaults.

Beyond that, I strongly prefer tridactyl [2] over things like vimium (if you plan to use a vim-like extension); redirector [3] is fabulous (I use it particularly to setup redirects to minimal front-ends like invidious).

All the best,

-HG

[1] https://librewolf.net/ [2] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tridactyl-vim... [3] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/redirector/

heresjohnny 3y ago ↗

Firefox’s right click + Q to immediately focus on a DOM element in dev tools is such a powerful feature. I’d try to get that in your system if you’re a web dev.

muffa 3y ago ↗

You can get ublock origin on Firefox mobile