932772 - Feature Request - Preload and run in background before the user launches the application

Status: UNCONFIRMED

(Toolkit :: General, enhancement)

Description

[Stamimail]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:24.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/24.0 (Beta/Release)
Build ID: 20130910160258




Expected results:

I tried the AddOn - Minimize to Tray, and it does not suit me.
What am I looking for?
My goal is to Run FF in the background so that it would be faster to restart when closing the application.

Required features:
1. There is one constant ICON in task tray. Even when many windows open even when all windows are closed, it would be running in the background.
2. When you click on that ICON it opens a new window each time you press (Homepage).

This idea is not new. Is very well implemented in the application Everything.
Option-> Run in Background
http://www.voidtools.com/

See how it works there and rip off to Firefox.

Comment 1

[Tomer Cohen :tomer]

This bug started on a forum thread (http://mozilla.org.il/board/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=11827), where we suggested the reporter to use the Firefox Preloader addon - https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/firefox-preloader/. 

I feel that this request is to revive something similar to the Quick Launch we had back in the days of Mozilla Suite - http://www-archive.mozilla.org/xpapps/QuickLaunch/.

Comment 2

[Stamimail]

I'm talking about leaving the application open, even though I close all the windows = Running in the background. Only after first run of the application, would be an Icon in system tray that will act like QuickLaunch.

I think Preloader is intended for Windows startup, and doesn't leave the application open when closing all the windows.

BTW, I think in Beta version of Everything there is an option of "Running in the Background on Startup",
so that the system tray icon appearing at startup and the application start Running in the Background from Startup.

Comment 3

[Stamimail]

Ok, now I'm on v29.0.1.
I still think that the start-up process is too slow.
And I still think that the idea I proposed can bypass this problem.

Comment 4

[Nickolay_Ponomarev]

The Firefox owners decided against this a long time ago.

Reporter, does Firefox start fast enough with a clean profile? Often enough there's something about the profile that makes startup slow (too many tabs, extensions, etc.)

Comment 5

[Stamimail]

Hi Nickolay_Ponomarev,
Now I'm on v31.0.
I'm not sure but I think there is a little improvemnt.
But still if I compare the startup speed of IE and FF, there are no words. IE wins.
I close all browser windows and open the browser again many times, so it's really annoying to use FF as the default browser, because I have to wait a while before it is opened.
So currently i'm using IE as the default browser, because it is more light and fast, and I'm using FF for additional missions that can be performed by extensions (In other words I'm using Firefox as the Heavy Tools Browser).

If FF will come in 2 versions - The one as a light-fast browser, and the second as a Heavy Tools Browser, It would be the best from my point of view.

Another suggestion is to load FF without extensions, to increase speed, and only when the user needs the extensions the extensions will be loaded. The user will be asked to choose which extensions he must run in startup, and what he can get later by pressing a special button to load additional extensions.

As for your request, Is there a command-line operator to run FF in clean profile mode to test its speed?

Comment 6

[Nickolay_Ponomarev]

To create a clean profile for testing, see: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles

If a clean profile works faster for you, you can set up two profiles, one of which (the light one) will be used by default, and the other one you can start manually for 'heavy' browsing.

Comment 7

[Stamimail]

Hi again,
I managed to create a clean profile for testing.
I compared the FF clean profile with IE (IE8, what I'm using for years).
I did not use a measuring tool, just by what I see in the eyes.

Results:
Startup - IE8 is still faster, although the difference is minor. Regarding FF, I find that the difference between a clean profile and "full" profile, is a very significant difference of a few seconds.
Loading page content - FF wins.

Your solution to create two profiles, one light and one heavy, I'm afraid it's not practical solution, Since the browsing experience is affected greatly adversely. The user wants his tools available at hand, when he needs them, Instead of dealing with changing profiles. It is also possible that there are tools he needs them critically without a page reload ...

Comment 8

[Nickolay_Ponomarev]

Thanks for testing! 

re two profiles I was just saying you can implement your own suggestion with available tools:
> If FF will come in 2 versions - The one as a light-fast browser, and the second as a Heavy Tools Browser,

If the problem with startup speed lies with extensions you have installed (you can test this by disabling extensions in your 'heavy' profile and testing the startup speed), there's not much that can be done in Firefox to fix this.

Extensions can be written to minimize the impact on startup, in particular they can delay initialization to avoid slowing down startup. Some extensions are not written this way, but it's a problem they need to fix.

Firefox can not delay loading of extensions on its own, it's very hard to implement and will break some extensions.

I believe the best course of action is to figure out what extensions slow down startup and make sure the extension's author is aware of this. Here is an example where Adblock Plus' effect on startup was improved:
https://www.mozdev.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=20410
https://adblockplus.org/development-builds/faster-firefox-startup

Comment 9

[Stamimail]

The problem still: How can I create 2 shortcuts on my desktop to run each profle without the need to wsitch the profles from "firefox.exe -p". And another problem, probably sometimes I will want to run those two browsers simultaneously...

When I come to think about it again, I think my original suggetsion, to create a new option/extension in FF called "Run in Background" (as this option is implemented in Everything   http://www.voidtools.com), it would be the best practical solution. The user will have to wait a while on startup, only once, and from then on, he can close all the windows of FF and re-open them with no speed issues.
Perhaps I need to mention that Everything put its icon in the system tray, when "Run in Background" is enabled.

Do you think it is something hard to implement?
Do you think there are drawbacks to this method?

Comment 10

[Stamimail]

Everything software was updated (New Stable Version: Everything-1.3.4.686), and there are some changes.
To get what I meant, go to:
Tools > Options... > UI (tab)
and check all the first checkboxes.
GoodLuck

Comment 11

[Nickolay_Ponomarev]

> run each profle without the need to wsitch the profles from "firefox.exe -p".
> [...] run those two browsers simultaneously...

These are all possible with -no-remote and -P profile_name, although this is not a suitable solution for the average Joe user. I won't be able to guide you through setting this up, and bugzilla is not the right place for this kind of discussion, but you can get help at other sites more focused on support, such as support.mozilla.org, irc.mozilla.org, or mozillazine.

Re: pre-loading Firefox - see comment 1 for an extension suggestion, this will not be implemented in Firefox (the decision is mentioned in bug 276710, for example).

Re: keeping it in background instead of closing - you might find setting browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab=false useful; I don't know of an extension that does what you requested, and I don't think you'll get the Firefox developers to implement this in the core browser, since it's a niche feature.

The way to improve things, really, is figuring out what makes the startup slow and helping fix that. And/or getting a more powerful computer with an SSD instead of a spinning drive :)

Comment 12

[Stamimail]

Hi,
I found a soultion here:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Multiple_Firefox_Profiles
"Available browser development channels"

I've been told I can install and use Release and Aurora channels simultaneously.

So I want one of them to use as The Light Browser (for Speed), and the other as the Heavy Browser (for Tools, Many Add-ons).

My question is:
What of them to use as the Default/Speedy Browser, and what to use as the Heavy/Tools Browser? (Release/Aurora/Other)?

Comment 13

[Tomer Cohen :tomer]

There is no point to run different versions of Firefox instead of using the -no-remote parameter to run two instances of the same version. Beta and Aurora are mostly future versions of the official version, so there is no best practice for having Aurora for some tasks and Beta for the other tasks. 

Also you could enjoy sharing browser history and passwords between multiple profiles (or browsers and devices) using Firefox Sync, just make sure not to synchronize your addons between profiles unless you wish to end up with two profiles sharing the same data.

Are you sure that one of the minimize to tray extensions could not solve your multiple browsers requirement?

Comment 14

[Stamimail]

I've already tried to run 2 profiles, with -no-remote parameter. I discovered there is a problem with Shift+Clicking (New instance) while both profiles open.

Do you know such "minimize to tray" extension can solve my problem?

Comment 15

[Stamimail]

Hello, I've tested now the "minimize to tray" extensions:
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/search/?q=minimize+to+tray&appver=34.0&platform=windows

Unfortunately, None of what I've tested lets behaviour like "Run in Background"

Comment 16

[Stamimail]

Hi again. I opened a Request in FireTray extension, and I don't know to give a technically answer to his question:
>"I think the crucial point is: what happens when you close the last window ? Or possibly the last tab ?"
I'm not a developer. I need your help.

https://github.com/foudfou/FireTray/issues/164