Mozilla is ready to launch the 11th generation of its web browser on
Tuesday – and it will bring the long awaited Chrome data migration
toolset with it. It’s a first feature that goes much more directly after
Chrome and is an attempt to regain users that were lost to Google’s
browsers.
2011 was a tough year for Mozilla. Not just in the view that Firefox
has dropped significantly in market share and that Chrome has surpassed
it. Probably the most damage was done by a rather slow moving roll out
of some features that were first created by Mozilla contributors, but
were adopted by Google first, stealing the spotlight and leaving the
impression that Mozilla is just not able to compete anymore. Mozilla
appeared, at times, aggressive only in the choice of its words when it
attacked Microsoft and Google, but seemed rather timid when the focus
was on features. After a long road of delays, we are now getting a few
features that are designed to recoup some of the convenience that is
offered by Chrome, combined with claims that Firefox is, in fact, making
some considerable improvements under the hood, for example in memory
performance.
Firefox 11 is not going to be a milestone release that will attract
lots of attention, but there is one feature of particular interest. A
few weeks ago, the beta of the browser got a feature that now allows
users to import Chrome bookmarks, cookies and browsing history. It’s not
complete yet, as Mozilla has yet to add passwords, form data and
settings as well. However, the basic import function is now available
and should make Firefox more attractive to those users who switched to
Chrome a while ago, but may have second thoughts about Chrome as Firefox
is catching back up.
Surprisingly, the import feature is somewhat hidden and not
prominently featured. Users will have to select the bookmark button next
to the search field, click on Show All Bookmarks, choose Import and Backup, and Import Data from Another Browser.
This could probably be implement in a much more transparent way and
Mozilla clearly undersells this feature for its browser. Also, the
imported bookmarks are imported in a folder called “From Google Chrome”
and there is no option to automatically organize the existing bookmarks
in Firefox. Users making the switch have at least some manual work to do
to organize their Chrome bookmarks as they are available in Chrome. The
good news, however, is that this feature worked flawlessly on four
computers here and Mozilla successfully eliminated a hurdle that keeps
Chrome users from using Firefox.
Of course, Mozilla is late with this feature and it has taken way too
long to make it available, but it’s clearly a situation of better late
than never. With a reasonable marketing push, Mozilla should be able to
continue the stabilizing trend of its market share and create a
foundation to gain back market share. By mid-2012, we should expect
Mozilla to have made further improvements: So far, Firefox 12 is rather
insignificant from the feature side, but Firefox 13, due on June 5, will
get web apps integration, a new new tab page, the home tab application,
smooth scrolling, inline URL autocomplete, automatic session restore
and a new incremental garbage collector. At this point, Mozilla
indicates that only the web apps integration might see a delay and if
the current roadmap will actually translate into an actual roadmap,
Firefox 13 could be a browser that Google should pay attention to.
Wolfgang Gruener in Products on March 12
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