355934 - Tabs don't integrate well in Windows Classic

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Firefox :: Shell Integration, defect)

Description

[Bamm Gabriana]

Although the tabs look great, they do not integrate well with the Windows Classic style. Should there be, perhaps, a mechanism where themes can detect whether the user is in Windows XP style or Windows Classic style and adjust accordingly?

Comment 1

[William Bumgarner [:zsinj]]

Could you please privide some more information about the issue you are
experiencing? Please provide us with your current build (Help -> About) and if
possible, a screenshot comparing what you are seeing in the different themes.
Thank you.

Comment 2

[Bamm Gabriana]

Attachment: Firefox 2.0 tabs in Windows Classic

Comment 3

[Bamm Gabriana]

Attachment: How tabs look like in Windows Classic

Comment 4

[Bamm Gabriana]

Hello William,

I am using Firefox 2.0 Release Candidate 2 under Windows XP Pro SP2 with the latest patches, with my Display Properties > Appearance set to Windows Classic style.

My user agent string is Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1) Gecko/20061003 Firefox/2.0.

As you suggested, I uploaded two attachments. The first shows how Firefox 2.0 renders tabs while the second shows how the OS renders tabs using native controls.

It is clear that the new Firefox default theme did not capture the look and feel of native tabs at least for my setup.

Comment 5

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

FWIW, classic tabs in Firefox are a usability nightmare. The active tab stands out mainly because it's connected to the content, which doesn't work well if the content is a web page. Classic tabs were never intended for this use. I think this is where the new theme really makes sense, more than ever.

Comment 6

[Bamm Gabriana]

(In reply to comment #5)
> FWIW, classic tabs in Firefox are a usability nightmare. The active tab stands
> out mainly because it's connected to the content, which doesn't work well if
> the content is a web page. Classic tabs were never intended for this use. I
> think this is where the new theme really makes sense, more than ever.

There should be a way to make the active tab stand out without sacrificing desktop integration. For example, the curves above the tabs and the gradient colors do not fit the classic style. Personally, I never had any problems determining the active tab in Firefox 1.5.

Comment 7

[Andrés Delfino]

Nominating as blocking per the goal of Fx 3 regarding system integration.

Comment 8

[Mike Beltzner [:beltzner, not reading bugmail]]

Not blocking, suggest WONTFIX. Comment 7 is misinterpreting the goal of system integration, IMO.