Quick-start feature?

Discussion of features in Mozilla Firefox

Would a Quick-start feature be worthwhile?

Yes
16
31%
No
35
69%
 
Total votes: 51

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djnr
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Quick-start feature?

Post by djnr »

Phoenix is wonderful, I am currently switching to it for all my web browsing.

One critical feature for me is the quick start; while Phoenix is less bloated than Mozilla; if I inadvertently close all my browser windows Phoenix will again take 10 seconds or so to reload. I really like the way K-meleon implemented this feature, with the option for different levels of pre-loading.

Also, it would be handy to have instant keyboard access to a Google search. A neat way to address this would be to allow keyboard shortcuts to be created for individual bookmarks. Users could then bookmark their favourite search engine and assign a hot key of Ctrl-Alt-F, for example. But again K-Meleon's solution of simply having Ctrl-G pop up a google search box is quite handy.

That said, Phoenix is in every other way superior to K-meleon. Way to go!
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Robert W
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Quick-Start = unused resources taking up resources

Post by Robert W »

I have never been in favor of quick-starts. You are leaving a program running that you may or may not use for the rest of your session. I don't know about everyone else but I do use my computer for more than webbrowsing and I don't consider it any more or less important that Wordprocessing or my Network Managment tools and no one has made a quick start for them.

My $0.02,
Robert W.
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coolsax98
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Seems fine without it

Post by coolsax98 »

I've been trying Phoenix with and without the quicklaunch feature. There doesn't seem to be much of a difference in load time to warrant keeping the browser in memory, IMO.
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hokiegenius
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quickstart

Post by hokiegenius »

I personally don't use quickstarts but it seems like some people like them and since mozilla already has a quickstart so why not leave it in for phoenix. I can't imagine the code for this feature taking up a lot of space, but if it did then I would have to go against the quickstart.
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D. Horatio Smith
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Post by D. Horatio Smith »

Are quick start things really all they're cracked up to be? They sit there eating memory that could be used by applications that you're actually using instead of ones you might use soon.

Also, Phoenix already has keyboard access to google search. Ctrl+; sets the focus to the search bar.

Just my 2¢
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djnr
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Post by djnr »

With memory being dirt cheap these days, and many people having 256MB or more (I have 512) I prefer to take up about 15MB with my browser and have it available instantly all the time, and just have it load once at bootup instead of every time I start browsing again. I don't think this feature would bloat the program and should be an option for those who like it.

Thanks for the tip about Ctrl+; switching focus to the search bar; where would one learn about this and other kayboard shortcuts?

Also, someone mentioned they had used Phoenix with the Quick-start; is it already an option?

Forgive my ignorance...
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Stefan
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Post by Stefan »

djnrempel wrote:Thanks for the tip about Ctrl+; switching focus to the search bar; where would one learn about this and other kayboard shortcuts?


http://texturizer.net/phoenix/keyboard.html

Also, someone mentioned they had used Phoenix with the Quick-start; is it already an option?


Yes, it's still in, but well hidden.
Check the old forum for who to enable it.
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djst
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Post by djst »

djnrempel wrote:Thanks for the tip about Ctrl+; switching focus to the search bar; where would one learn about this and other kayboard shortcuts?


Note: The shortcut just changed to Ctrl+K. build 1105 will use that shortcut instead.
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djnr
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Post by djnr »

The search feature in the old forums seems to be broken; can anyone share here how to enable quick-start?
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djst
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Post by djst »

djnrempel wrote:The search feature in the old forums seems to be broken; can anyone share here how to enable quick-start?


phoenix.exe -turbo
shimage
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Post by shimage »

in the old forum, it was mentioned that the intent is to make phoenix fast enough that quicklaunch isn't necessary or desirable. on the other hand, if you don't mind a quicklaunch, why not just leave the program open? then you don't even have to wait for the quicklaunch to go...

oh, and i don't like the "<insert object> is cheap, just buy more of it" solution. it just irritates me that people assume that i have money to throw around like that... i mean, if i could afford it, wouldn't i already have it? what if i wanna use phoenix on an old computer?
doug
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Post by doug »

With respect to shimage, I do have gobs of memory and like the quick-start. So how about leaving it in, but turned off by default? Then, anyone who wants it can turn it on.

David: how much would the overall file size be reduced to take it out vs leaving it in?
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djnr
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Post by djnr »

The only problem with leaving it open is that it takes task bar space, and it is easy to close it by accident.

I totally agree however that software shouldn't be designed as if everyone had unlimited RAM.

Some people save RAM by disconnecting IE from the Windows shell. The Quick launch then is kind of a way of putting your browser of choice back into the environment so that it starts faster, for those of us who primarily use their PCs for web surfing.
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djst
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Post by djst »

doug wrote:David: how much would the overall file size be reduced to take it out vs leaving it in?


Probably not much, but the developers have already made their point. The quick launch feature is buggy and they're not going to support a buggy feature that few people want. After all, the poll speaks its clear language: most people can do without it.
gonad
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Joined: November 4th, 2002, 9:40 pm

windows only

Post by gonad »

The quick start feature is windows only so shouldn't be concentrated on. It is a nice feature, but phoenix should load quickly anyway.

If you want your browser quickly open it and minimise it. When you need to browse, maximise it.

You may also like to use a utility called Tray It, handly for that sortof stuff.

I use linux and phoenix so am not that sure how fast phoenix loads under windows.
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