564875 - Make it as easy to install AND RUN Firefox betas/nightlies simultaneously with release versions as it is with Opera

Status: NEW

(Firefox :: General, enhancement)

Description

[Zack Weinberg (:zwol)]

This is a tracking bug which should encompass any and all changes required to get us to this user experience, which is no better than what you can already get from Opera:

* When I install a beta or a nightly, I check the "install side by side with current version" tickybox.
* I can have several different installations like this (I might, for instance, want the current release version; the previous major release version; the most recent beta or alpha; and the most recent nightly, all at once).
* I can have all of them running simultaneously.
* The various installations do not fight over the OS settings for opening links from external programs.
* They do not repeatedly ask me if I want to change the default anything.
* It would be nice if the first run of such an installation imported bookmarks, add-ons, etc. from the current default, but I wouldn't much care if it didn't.

* I do not have to do ANYTHING besides check that tickybox to get this to work.

I've added two bugs that appear to be relevant, but there are probably others. We should be able to provide this UX regardless of operating system.

Comment 1

[Jesse Ruderman]

I think "Install in a different location" and "Use a different profile" need to be separate options.  Sharing the profile is essential for long-term testing and for finding certain classes of bugs.

Comment 2

[Zack Weinberg (:zwol)]

(In reply to comment #1)
> I think "Install in a different location" and "Use a different profile" need to
> be separate options.  Sharing the profile is essential for long-term testing
> and for finding certain classes of bugs.

I cannot imagine myself ever wanting one without the other.

Comment 3

[Robert Strong (they/them - no direct email)]

(In reply to comment #0)
> This is a tracking bug which should encompass any and all changes required to
> get us to this user experience, which is no better than what you can already
> get from Opera:
> 
> * When I install a beta or a nightly, I check the "install side by side with
> current version" tickybox.
We already support this without the use of a tickybox by making the install directory the name of the nightly (e.g. Minefield on trunk) and beta's use the release name (e.g. Mozilla Firefox).

> * I can have several different installations like this (I might, for instance,
> want the current release version; the previous major release version; the most
> recent beta or alpha; and the most recent nightly, all at once).
This is supported by doing a custom install and selecting a custom install directory.

> * I can have all of them running simultaneously.
Not an installer bug and not something the installer could control within reason though the app itself should be able to.

> * The various installations do not fight over the OS settings for opening links
> from external programs.
They don't fight over the settings (e.g. take them from each other without user consent) but they do prompt... this is also not an installer bug.

> * They do not repeatedly ask me if I want to change the default anything.
That would be an shell integration bug and relates to the previous item.

> * It would be nice if the first run of such an installation imported bookmarks,
> add-ons, etc. from the current default, but I wouldn't much care if it didn't.
That would be a migration bug

> * I do not have to do ANYTHING besides check that tickybox to get this to work.
This would most likely need to be in the application itself for Win32 and definitely need to be in the application itself for other Platforms.

The MSI installer will for all practical purposes duplicate the existing behavior of the NSIS installer as it relates to the items you have listed.

Since this is a tracking bug I'm moving this over to General especially since the majority of the items you've listed are well outside of the installer's control.

Comment 4

[Zack Weinberg (:zwol)]

No objection to the move to General, but a couple of comments on what you said:

(In reply to comment #3)
> > * When I install a beta or a nightly, I check the "install side by side with
> > current version" tickybox.
> We already support this without the use of a tickybox by making the install
> directory the name of the nightly (e.g. Minefield on trunk) and beta's use the
> release name (e.g. Mozilla Firefox).

Does the user have to type in this alternative name, or is it the default?  (I haven't used the installer itself in a long time)

> [Having many versions simultaneously installed] is supported by doing
> a custom install and selecting a custom install directory.

Opera makes this a single click.  We should make it just as easy.

> > * The various installations do not fight over the OS settings for
> >   opening links from external programs.
> They don't fight over the settings (e.g. take them from each other
> without user consent) but they do prompt...

I'd argue that prompting all the time is in fact a fight from the user's point of view, but more than that, I *have* had a Windows VM with 3.5, Safari, IE7 and local Minefield builds get mixed up to the point where I had to manually edit the registry to get the link handler unstuck from a copy of Safari that no longer existed.  To be fair, this could have been ultimately a bug in one of the browsers whose code we don't control.

> > * I do not have to do ANYTHING besides check that tickybox to get this 
> > to work.
> This would most likely need to be in the application itself for Win32 and
> definitely need to be in the application itself for other Platforms.

I'm not sure what you see as "application itself" about this fairly general request -- it seems like it would be all in the installer and the profile manager, to me.

Comment 5

[Robert Strong (they/them - no direct email)]

(In reply to comment #4)
> No objection to the move to General, but a couple of comments on what you said:
> 
> (In reply to comment #3)
> > > * When I install a beta or a nightly, I check the "install side by side with
> > > current version" tickybox.
> > We already support this without the use of a tickybox by making the install
> > directory the name of the nightly (e.g. Minefield on trunk) and beta's use the
> > release name (e.g. Mozilla Firefox).
> 
> Does the user have to type in this alternative name, or is it the default?  (I
> haven't used the installer itself in a long time)
By default. Also, fFor releases we detect if there is a single previous release install and use its install location to simplify things for the average use case. For beta's the previous release check is disabled. I also forgot that we actually install into Mozilla Firefox Beta x for betas.

> > [Having many versions simultaneously installed] is supported by doing
> > a custom install and selecting a custom install directory.
> 
> Opera makes this a single click.  We should make it just as easy.
As for install the directory it is accomplished without any user interaction so I would say it is actually easier. We do it this way to make it easy for a user to go back to the release version when testing a beta.

> > > * The various installations do not fight over the OS settings for
> > >   opening links from external programs.
> > They don't fight over the settings (e.g. take them from each other
> > without user consent) but they do prompt...
> 
> I'd argue that prompting all the time is in fact a fight from the user's point
> of view, but more than that, I *have* had a Windows VM with 3.5, Safari, IE7
> and local Minefield builds get mixed up to the point where I had to manually
> edit the registry to get the link handler unstuck from a copy of Safari that no
> longer existed.  To be fair, this could have been ultimately a bug in one of
> the browsers whose code we don't control.
I have no problem with removing / improving the prompts... it is just that the installer doesn't control the prompt though it does provide an option to make Firefox default on install via a checkbox.

> > > * I do not have to do ANYTHING besides check that tickybox to get this 
> > > to work.
> > This would most likely need to be in the application itself for Win32 and
> > definitely need to be in the application itself for other Platforms.
> 
> I'm not sure what you see as "application itself" about this fairly general
> request -- it seems like it would be all in the installer and the profile
> manager, to me.
Profile manager sure but the profile manager is not the installer. You also want to run multiple instances side by side at the same time which is entirely outside of the control of the installer.

Comment 6

[Robert Strong (they/them - no direct email)]

(In reply to comment #5)
>...
> > > [Having many versions simultaneously installed] is supported by doing
> > > a custom install and selecting a custom install directory.
> > 
> > Opera makes this a single click.  We should make it just as easy.
> As for install the directory it is accomplished without any user interaction so
> I would say it is actually easier. We do it this way to make it easy for a user
> to go back to the release version when testing a beta.
Just realized this was a tad different (e.g. multiple of the same vs. one of each) than what I initially thought. So, if there is more than one release, trunk, or the same branch a custom install will need to be performed and a custom install directory will need to be selected. I personally believe this is better than having another thing in the UI for a user to select.