back to firefox?

Back when I used Windows XP, someone told me about Mozilla's Firefox web browser, which had recently come out. That was the first time I'd heard of open source software. I started using Firefox instead of Internet Explorer, and as I became more aware of other open source projects (OpenOffice was something else I started using at about that time), I found out about Linux, which kinda left me with a sentimental attachment to Firefox -- in a way, it led me to using Linux. It was the first step I took in that direction, anyway.

Later, Chromium and Google Chrome were released. I liked that interface even better than Firefox's (I also liked the way Chromium/Chrome started up so much faster than Firefox did); I've been using mainly Chromium as my default web browser for about five years now. So much for that sentimental attachment; I guess I'm not really much for brand loyalty.

It might be time to switch back to Firefox. Mozilla recently released Firefox 29; the interface is somewhat similar to how Chromium/Chrome looks, with the tabs placed up at the top and the so-called "hamburger menu button" to get to the browser's settings.

A few more add-ons (Omnibar, Tab Mix Plus, and Hide Caption Titlebar Plus) give me a Firefox browser that looks and performs almost like Chromium. Here's my set-up in Kubuntu 12.04, using Openbox:

Lots of people are very unhappy -- even angry -- with the changes Mozilla brought with Firefox 29, but I'm thrilled and excited. For the first time in a long while, I'm seriously considering switching back from Chromium and making Firefox my default web browser again. I'm gonna take a closer look and spend more time using Firefox over the next week or so, but so far I'm quite pleased with what I'm seeing. Looks like Mozilla may have won back this former Firefox devotee!