After loving Google for years, I've finally migrated over to using Firefox and DDG as my primary daily browser. Slightly painful but I'm getting used to it. I recommend giving it a try.
I switched from Chrome/Google to Firefox/DDG three months ago, as part of a larger switch from macOS to laptop Ubuntu. There are things I don't like about DDG. DDG continually offers to play YouTube videos in its own window due to privacy concerns, and it's not clear to me when it redirects and when it offers its own window. Some searches don't work well; for example, "weather 22203" returns weather for Arlington, TX instead of Arlington, VA in the DDG modal, and for things like precipitation I still need to g! the query.
These minor concerns are all peanuts compared to the benefits though. I've found I'm very much a "live free or die" kind of guy, and I like how both Firefox and DDG care about the user. I also like how they work well without too much configuration out of the box :P
Two of my co-workers migrated completely to Firefox in the last month. I don't expect Firefox to regain it's market share, probably ever, but I can't stand Chrome, it's ads, it's backer. DDG extension installed.
I agree, the browser has gotten better over the years. But I was lured away to Chrome because of its integration with Google services. I stopped using most of them and about a year and a half ago switched back over to Firefox. Sadly, there are some sites that seem to render perfectly in Chrome, but not at all in Firefox.
Also, FF was late to add meaningful JS debugging tools.
And I had kind of a bad experience working for Mozilla. Still... I have respect for the Firefox team and don't have a problem using the browser.
I made this switch myself recently. The web dev tools in FF are still a bit weak in pseudo areas and media queries but I'm living with it for now. BTW, why doesn't Firefox have "paste & match style"?
DDG is also my go-to search engine.
Personally, I feel better supporting Mozilla and DDG more.
I switched away from Firefox because at the time it was bloated, buggy, and slow. I haven't switched back because I am more familiar with Google's developer tools.
I'm glad to see more and more people switching (back) to Firefox, as I admit I'm quite a Firefox fanboy.
I've never made the full switch to Chrome. First, as a long time linux user, Firefox was never so bad on it (startup time, random freeze for i/o...).
Second, when Chrome was (a lot) faster Firefox had way more addons. Now Chrome has kinda fixed that (I still miss some essential addons, like Tree Style Tab), but Firefox is again about as fast as Chrome.
Regarding Google, I've found that it's result are often better than DuckDuckGo. But I promised myself that sometime I'll make a week using only DuckDuckGo, and see if I can survive without Google.
Me too. I switched back to Firefox after 2+ years using Chrome. But it's more because I like Mozilla's way of doing things, principles and filosofy. And I'm trying to avoid stuff that companies like Google offers.
Me too. I'm using FF since 3.6, and before that Camino (a derived version for the mac), and the only thing Google has done is strengthen my resolve to keep using Firefox, but I still prefer to debug on Chrome (well, Chromium). It just feels better, even though it's starting to slip and FF is improving slowly.
Same here. Theres something about Firefox and Mozilla in general that feels more inviting to me, but its just seems dumb to use FF over Chrome these days, especially on my Mac. Hoping they turn things around in the next year, we'll see.
I made the switch to DDG about 2 years ago and am pretty happy, though I do occasionally use the !g.
Switched back to FF on my desktop a couple months ago when I got my keon and I love it. The only thing that's hard to get used to again is a search bar separate from an address bar. Chrome really had that figured out. A unified bar in FF would make it the perfect browser.
Every time I try to switch to Firefox, it just doesn't work as well, and I switch back. I'd rather Firefox over Chrome for philosophical reasons, but I feel like Firefox just isn't there technologically. It's getting better, but they really let it stagnate back in the day.
I am at the opposite end of this. I have stuck with Firefox even as others have left for Chrome. But recent changes have made me consider abandoning Firefox.
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