Filed under: Freeware, Internet Tools
Preview of Firefox with OS X native form widgets
As we've mentioned before, the forthcoming Firefox 3 will feature OS X native form widgets on the Mac. If you'd like to see what they're going to look like, Josh Aas has produced a preview build for Intel Macs (no PPC yet, though the final build will be Universal). This is very much alpha software with the attendant risk of bugs, etc., but if you're a Firefox user who can't wait for version 3 and native forms, it's probably worth a look.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Fernando said 11:50AM on 5-22-2007
GOD FINALLY!
lol
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GT said 12:02PM on 5-22-2007
Keychain is all I want. :(
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Rick Lyon said 12:09PM on 5-22-2007
Finally is right.
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C said 12:28PM on 5-22-2007
Cool. When it comes out, maybe I won't have to use Firefoxy [native-esque looking widgets for Firefox].
Nothing wrong with Firefoxy though...very easy to install too.
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Craig said 1:10PM on 5-22-2007
I just wanna know one thing (and I only have access to PPC Macs); can I edit text in the address bar like I can in any other Mac application? That is, can I click in the middle of a URL, and then shift+up arrow to select all the text to the left? I would never have guessed how much of a frustration that would be until I tried using Firefox!
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ThunkDifferent.com said 12:31PM on 5-22-2007
Radical. I'm so used to the x86 buttons on my mac with Firefox, it will be a change. "Finally" is right though, everyone is likely happy about this... will it be faster, i wonder? We should investigate.
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Spencer said 12:40PM on 5-22-2007
If you're interested solely for the aqua form widgets, there's also the option of using an optimized build of Firefox from Beatnik Pad where you are given the choice of either aqua or 'firefoxy' form widgets:
http://www.beatnikpad.com/archives/2007/03/29/firefox-2002
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! said 12:51PM on 5-22-2007
Sorry, it's not about the widgets. It's about the holistic, comprehensive philosophy of user interface design that is sorely lacking in the Firefox team, at least in any discernably Maclike character. The widgets are only the most immediately visible manifestation, but the river of shit runs far deeper.
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Jim said 2:16PM on 5-22-2007
Craig, if you're already clicking into the middle of the url, why don't you just drag select to the left what you need selected?
Sure, being able to do what you describe would be nice but it's not like using the mouse to do exactly the same thing is less efficient. After all your hand is already on the mouse. I can think of alot more frustrating things with Firefox or even OSX for that matter than what you describe.
As for some of the other comments Firefox needs work on its speed and stability far more than worrying about silly little widgets.
As for keychain support I hope it's nothing more than an option. I find the keychain annoying not to mention I work in a cross platform world and want my stuff easily transferable.
Damn Mac only people...feh! ;)
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leobolin said 2:34PM on 5-22-2007
There's a Preview 2 available: http://boomswaggerboom.wordpress.com/2007/05/19/firefox-mac-os-x-native-form-controls-preview-2/
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Dave Chartier said 3:22PM on 5-22-2007
Yea, as a Mac user I would really like Firefox get a little more Mac styling, but I think the far more important problems to solve are functional in nature.
Keychain, Keychain, *Keychain.* I love 1Passwd, I really do, but It doesn't quite solve this problem in the right way (Firefox passwords saved by 1Passwd are in its own Keychain, so other apps don't have access to them).
Would also kill for AppleScript support.
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Fritz Laurel said 3:35PM on 5-22-2007
@9-Jim -- it is less efficient, not to mention a huge pain in the arse. Anyone who doesn't agree doesn't understand Fitt's Law.
I can only hope they don't forget that the address bar needs to be a standard Mac text box, too. That should take care of the method(s) of editing the text in that box.
I DO agree about keychain support, though. Am I the only one who recognizes what a huge security leak keychain really is?
On a side note, when did form elements start to be called widgets?? Widgets are those things that are used with Dashboard. Forms have "elements," not widgets. Widgets DO things. Elements just sit there and collect data. I propose that we start calling them what they have always been called and stop confusing the issue. Any takers?
Cheers,
FL
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Chris said 3:50PM on 5-22-2007
Commenters 7, 8, 9, 11, and 12:
*cough* Camino *cough*
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Sparks said 3:56PM on 5-22-2007
My great joy from this announcement is that it seems likely the support for native OS X form controls is in Gecko itself. To me, this translates as "Camino will get native form controls," which is definitely great.
For those who don't need 7 billion XPIs installed, and just want Firefox browser compatibility, Camino's a great choice anyway; it's smaller and fast and does things in an OS X-ish way (Keychain, etc.), but the Win32-ish widgets of the Gecko engine always throw me when using it.
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Thad said 6:07PM on 5-22-2007
Fritz Laurel,
"Widgets are those things that are used with Dashboard. Forms have "elements," not widgets. Widgets DO things. Elements just sit there and collect data."
True, forms have "elements". However, "Widget" has been co-opted as a marketing name by Apple for little Dashboard programs. The much older usage for "Widget" in computing is as an all-purpose name for GUI controls, such as buttons, scroll bars, etc. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUI_Widget
In fact, this usage apparantly dates back to 1980, over twenty years before Apple called a dashboard application a "Widget". Anyone who isn't a developer could definitely be forgiven for not knowing this one, though!
"I propose that we start calling them what they have always been called and stop confusing the issue. Any takers?"
Yes, I'm 100% with you! But not in the way you thought! :-)
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Danny Choo said 7:49PM on 5-22-2007
If all browsers do this to form buttons then whats the point of being able to style buttons through CSS?
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colin said 7:21PM on 5-22-2007
You did my English homework, thanks. I had to find alliteration in the news: "forthcoming Firefox 3 will feature OS X native form widgets..."
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(01) said 7:57PM on 5-22-2007
Thad, thanks for clearing that one up for me. I've know there were different types of Widgets, but not being a developer I wasn't sure about the difference :-) I'm glad I use Bon Echo with the aqua form widgets, haven't had to deal with the boxiness for a while. and now I know what that means!
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Jason said 8:12PM on 5-22-2007
Camino's UI seems rigid and frustrating compared to being able to completely modify Fx's UI. That's why I don't use Camino. Stiff UI. The optimized builds of Fx run just as fast to me on my MBP.
That said, bring on improvements already. It seems like Firefox 3 has been in development forever.
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Justin said 9:46PM on 5-22-2007
I don't know much about this widget stuff, so I have a question...
Besides appearance, how is this beneficial to mac users? Does it make Firefox open faster? Because that is pretty much my only gripe with it, not what the font of the "search" button looks like haha.
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