Worried New Features Will Mean Firefox Bloat? Relax

One person's exciting new feature is another's stupid software bloat. So how do you keep both camps happy?

That's the dilemma Mozilla faces as it begins to map out plans for the next big release of Firefox, the free, open source browser that now commands about 20 percent of the market.

With the next revision of Firefox already in the planning stages, Mozilla's programmers are wrestling with adding innovative new features and accusations that the browser is becoming Microsoft-like bloatware.

Some of the plans under consideration led one Slashdot commentator to suggest that perhaps Mozilla should just "build the entire internet into the browser." For those that want Firefox to remain a simple and lightweight browser, the additions Mozilla is considering represent nothing more than bloat and feature creep.

Feature creep, adding new features that most will never use to satisfy a few people, is the bane of all software developers. Developers want to add innovative new features, but the danger is that Firefox will become overwrought and, in its quest to satisfy everyone, end up satisfying to no one.

On the other hand, those who welcome new features will be happy to learn that Mozilla is giving some serious thought to including a few experimental Mozilla Labs projects in the next version of Firefox:

* Ubiquity, a natural language search and mashup tool which could become part of the “Awesomebar”
* Prism, which allows you to turn websites into desktop-style, standalone applications
* Personas which allows you to easily skin some elements of the Firefox interface.

These features are have proved popular with power users and have a strong following, but they may not be for everybody. And there's the rub.

Many people just don't bother with (or are unaware of) browser plug-ins, whose purpose is to increase the browser's functionality. They include such things as in-browser IM tools, buttons for interacting within social media sites and blogging shortcuts. Even the now ubiquitous Google search bar began its life as such an option — but the circulation and viral adoption of these non-core apps is an important way browsers evolve for the common good.

Once something seems to catch on — or seems to be a paradigmatic imperative — the philosophical question for browser developers is to decide what is for the common good, and the practical considerations can be awesome and (at least for a time, perhaps) thankless.

Firefox architect Mike Connor recently told PC Pro that Mozilla's goal is to put more features in the browser, where everyone can take advantage of them. "We're looking for more pure innovation than just incrementally getting better," says Connor.

Connor certainly leaves one with the impression that all three projects are indeed going to land in the next Firefox. But Mike Shaver, Mozilla’s VP of Engineering, tells Wired.com that no final decisions have been made. "We're still very much evaluating what form those tools will take," says Shaver, adding, "we're not committed at this point to bringing Ubiquity or other Labs projects in wholesale."

But even Connor's perhaps-unwarranted optimism has already raised the ire of those who would prefer the browser remain focused on the one, core functionality that unquestionably benefits everyone: speed.

A thread on Slashdot is filled with complaints that Firefox is in danger of becoming bloated and unwieldy. All the new features under consideration began life as plug-ins and, argue the dissenters, that’s exactly where they should remain — as optional features for power users.

Still, the cries of bloat are largely premature. Shaver assured Wired.com that Mozilla is trying to balance cool new features, like Ubiquity, with the need to keep Firefox lean and fast. Mozilla's long-standing criterion for accepting new features — that they enhance the browser without bogging it down, and that they are useful to at least 90 percent of Firefox's users — are still the guiding principles.

In the case of Ubiquity, while power users generally rave about it, the average user might well find it overwhelming since it does employ essentially a command-line interface. If the majority of Firefox users won't welcome Ubiquity or the others then you can bet it probably won't make the cut.

Shaver did hint that perhaps a smaller subset of Ubiquity's tools — for instance, some additional keyword shortcuts — might be included, while others might not.

One thing that might ease the fears of bloat is to bear in mind that that, even if they are part of the next version of Firefox, Ubiquity and Prism aren't the end of the story.

The project is also slated to see the arrival of Tamarin, an update to Firefox's JavaScript rendering engine that promises significant speed boosts, as well as an updated version of Gecko, the rendering engine that powers Firefox and offer some speed improvements of its own.

So when might we see this next revision of Firefox? Mozilla is currently prepping the third beta for Firefox 3.1 and Shaver says that it should be available in the next couple of weeks. After that will likely come the release candidate and then the final, polished version. Once Firefox 3.1 final is in the wild, look for Mozilla to start making more concrete plans about what comes next.