[nitrogen]

The most obtrusive recent UI change was the new tab switcher that tries to mimic the OS app alt-tab overlay bar. It was taking 30 seconds (not an exaggeration!) to load the first time I hit ctrl-tab on my fast desktop, and would randomly pause up to 5 seconds after that. It also turned what was a rapid-fire muscle memory action with an ergonomic behavior, into a slow and unpredictable chore. To top it off, it would always display full-screen, outside of my never-maximized browser window. Just glad it could be disabled.

If you work on Firefox, or are new to development -- this is not Luddism, and don't let this attitude discourage you. Let it be a lesson that you need to understand your users and not just assume that everybody uses a maximized window on a 13-inch laptop screen with all day to wait for slow code to load.

[lokedhs]

That one annoys me as well. Would you mind sharing how it can be disabled?

[nitrogen]

I think it's about:config -> browser.ctrlTab.recentlyUsedOrder set to false. If that doesn't work, try searching the web for "firefox disable new tab switcher" or similar.

I also saw a browser.engagement.ctrlTab.has-used key in there; didn't know the config store was also tracking usage...

[lokedhs]

That's the one. Turns out that option is actually included in the main configuration menu: "Ctrl+Tab cycles through tabs in recently used order"

I have to say that the name doesn't explain what it actually does. Thank you for the assistance.