Firefox’s redesigned user interface, nicknamed “Australis”, inches ever closer. The latest move is its appearance in the browser’s Nightly build, which suggests we’ll be seeing it in the mainline version in the near future. Quite a few brave users have already given it a try and the early results are in… and they’re not positive. According to a report published by Mozilla, less than 20 per cent of users are happy with the new UI.
Image: Mozilla
The report, posted to the Firefox developer mailing list yesterday, collates 190 “pieces of feedback” with a breakdown of opinions on Australis and the new version in general. The criticisms with the most overwhelming responses are “generic anti-change” and a lack of customisation options.
Now, there are a few points to consider. Firstly, 190 isn’t a large sample and secondly, you’re naturally going to have resistance when introducing a new look to your application. As for customisation, unsurprisngly you’re going to have issues with add-ons and extensions with a new browser version.
That said, I doubt it’s the type of response Mozilla was hoping for. To add insult to injury, it’s already possible to download an add-on called “Classic Theme Restorer” that transforms the UI back to its classic look.
Fwd: Australis Sentiment Report, Week 1 [Mozilla, via gHacks]
Comments
4 responses to “Less Than 20 Per Cent Of Users Like Firefox’s New Australis UI”
I think Australis is going to be about as popular as Windows 8. Mozilla seems to want Firefox to become just another minimalist Chrome-like browser.
My Firefox shows 40+ tabs, and all menus and all toolbars are visible. I have a 30″ monitor and all browser UI elements are within easy access, not hidden away. That’s the way *I* want it, and Mozilla can go hang if it thinks I will move to any Australis version, unless it also allows me to customise it to the way *I* want it.
AFAIK, that add-on currently only works with the default theme.
They just made Chrome
Yeah, I was going to say the same thing.
What’s actually changed? From that image all I can see is that they removed the Firefox menu and added a rainbow square, and a purple cupcake.
I’m just happy they seem to have changed their mind about the omnibar aporoach. The SOLE reason I still use FF over Chrome is the separate address and search boxes.
People rip on new uis without giving them a chance…I like the look of the new interface. minimalistic = less screen real estate
The upcoming australis changes are a big part of the reason I moved to Cyberfox a few months ago. It’s faster, been very stable and all but one of my addons worked perfectly with it.