I was a very avid Firefox using until the decision was made that crippled the add-on framework. In fact I continued using version 47 for that very reason until Microsoft disabled Windows 7. It would not install on Windows 11.
There as some key add-ons that I think should always have been built-ins. There are two reasons for this. They are essentials for any first class browser. A built-in is compiled and far more efficient than a plug-in.
Data Security
1. The built-in ability to save a page as one file. The discontinued 'MAFF archiver' should always have been a built-in, and was poorly named making it hard to find. Nobody wants a clutter of files and folders for every web page saved. The MAFF archive also needs to be restored. It allowed clear evidence of when and from what site a file was saved. It was also tamper proof. Great it you forgot where you saved it from - even better if there was a dispute.
2. The ability to save named sessions including the current window or all windows. Formerly the 'Session Manager' app did this. An entirely new ability to save multiple selected windows would be better still. This is vital for keeping work save with windows blue screens (increasingly common on Windows 11), issues caused by updates, user error ... This was always a problem both for heavier users, or for those looking for something hard to find.
An example of why this is needed
As a disabled person with both memory and physical issues, I often need to research things that for the general populous would be obscure. This can require many hours, days or weeks of opening many links from search engines and working through them one by one. Since those search engines are now plagued with advertising, and irrelevant results caused by fuzzy searching this cannot be solved by simple bookmarking. The issue is further complicated by the searches returning results inconstant order. Even when search engines worked better, the simple issue of even good matches to the search criteria, not being what people look for was always a complication. A recent example was the mechanism a motor operates to lift a footrest. These are very hard to find. My browser crashed within moments of finding one... I have never found it again.
Multiple Tabs
2. The ability to group tabs using a Tab group bar .. in other works a leaner version of the facilities provided by the Tab Groups Manager add-in. This was always a built-in with Chrome and an obvious need.
3. The ability to select multiple tabs and then move or close, manipulate them as a group. I could never understand why this was not a built-in and used the very popular 'multiple tab select' add-in for this reason. This should work with the other facilities for handling multiple tabs.
4. The ability to change the title, colour, or icon of tabs. A built in ability to give a useful title would make finding tabs much simpler. Many sites add superfluous text to the start of tab titles, or site wide titles... This could also block that awful flashing created by some sites messing with titles - an issue for those with some health issues. Some built-in icons such as coloured circles, or email icons would be a bonus.
That's my proposal.. over to the members now...
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