News Mozilla Firefox Finally Arrives in Microsoft Store for Windows 11

[Admin]

Firefox is now accessible in the Microsoft Store with Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Mozilla Firefox Finally Arrives in Microsoft Store for Windows 11 : Read more

 

[Dr3ams]

Why? What's so hard about downloading it from Mozilla? Setting up a particular web browser as the default is simple. Settings/ Apps/Default Apps/Web Browser and then choose the flavor you like. It's not rocket science.

 

[kinney]

I check the MS Store first for software just for the centralized updates. This will set your browser defaults for you in Win11 as well. I don't like having every program running its own scheduler for updates. Just open the MS Store and check for updates, get it all at once. Just like Linux package managers.

 

[ezst036]

Mozilla scores a win in its long-fought battle with Microsoft.

..... Microsoft prevented browsers using an independent engine from appearing in the Microsoft Store.

There's a response somewhere here regarding the hard work Valve is putting in toward building Linux as a new gaming platform. I wonder what that could be? 🤔

Why? What's so hard about downloading it from Mozilla?

Downloading .exe files from a provider's download page is so 2000s and is not what users expect. If something isn't on an app store, it might as well not even exist.

In all modern operating systems (Linux, Mac, Windows) on any platform(Mobile, tab, laptop, desktop)[iOS, Android] users go to app stores or package managers and download bundles from the easy click and one stop location that reside on multiple repositories with access to other alternate repositories. Heck even Visual Studio uses a form of an "app store" in NuGet, where you simply click the package you want(perhaps select the version you're seeking) and go. Nobody downloads exe files anymore.

The one exception may be operating system(distros) aimed at power users or those specifically looking for something technically challenging. Two examples that come to mind are LFS(Linux from Scratch) or perhaps Arch or perhaps the BSDs. - another might potentially be one offs designed for targeted use cases, such as Intel's Clear Linux.

 

[King_V]

That seems like a long time for Microsoft to have held on to a grudge . . "WHY DIDN'T YOU HAVE THE DECENCY TO DIE WHEN WE TRIED TO KILL YOU??!"

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

So Mozilla's argument for people to use Firefox and not Edge or Chrome is that it's in the Microsoft Store and can change your default in one click?

Yeah...If Firefox were a true competitor again then people would use it as their default, but with Edge in the state it's in, and especially with the state Firefox is in, there's little reason to use anything other than it as your main browser in my opinion. Firefox is good as a secondary browser, but not primary, and anyone who uses multiple browsers, which I imagine is all advanced and expert users, won't care that it's in the store and may go out of their way to avoid using that version, instead using the direct download.

 

[TJ Hooker]

Downloading .exe files from a provider's download page is so 2000s and is not what users expect. If something isn't on an app store, it might as well not even exist.

In all modern operating systems (Linux, Mac, Windows) on any platform(Mobile, tab, laptop, desktop)[iOS, Android] users go to app stores or package managers and download bundles from the easy click and one stop location that reside on multiple repositories with access to other alternate repositories. Heck even Visual Studio uses a form of an "app store" in NuGet, where you simply click the package you want(perhaps select the version you're seeking) and go. Nobody downloads exe files anymore.

Chrome is the most used browser (about 2/3 market share on desktop), and requires downloading an installer on Windows, Mac, and most Linux distros (although some may have chromium in their default repos).

 

[King_V]

So Mozilla's argument for people to use Firefox and not Edge or Chrome is that it's in the Microsoft Store and can change your default in one click?

Yeah...If Firefox were a true competitor again then people would use it as their default, but with Edge in the state it's in, and especially with the state Firefox is in, there's little reason to use anything other than it as your main browser in my opinion. Firefox is good as a secondary browser, but not primary, and anyone who uses multiple browsers, which I imagine is all advanced and expert users, won't care that it's in the store and may go out of their way to avoid using that version, instead using the direct download.

Huh? No, nobody's saying that the reason to use it is because it's in the Microsoft store. That's just a convenience.

Frankly, Firefox has been my browser for years. Not really sure where you're getting the idea that it's substandard. What "state" is it in that's so disappointing?

I use multiple browsers at work, of course, but that's due to having to support multiple browsers with our software.

Even with Edge using the Chromium engine, thus far, we've STILL run into the occasional issue where something doesn't quite work right on Edge. Don't get me wrong, it's light years ahead of IE (which was irritating as hell to support).

Firefox is my primary. Chromium is what I use when I get into an annoying site that won't support Firefox properly. Looking at you, gotomeeting...

 

[wifiburger]

and... if I need to install Firefox it's a 2sec google search lol.... no idea what so complicated about it

if you have problems with a google search, I doubt the MS store will be any help

 

[wifiburger]

I check the MS Store first for software just for the centralized updates. This will set your browser defaults for you in Win11 as well. I don't like having every program running its own scheduler for updates. Just open the MS Store and check for updates, get it all at once. Just like Linux package managers.

lol... don't kid yourself it's not Linux package manager

 

[wr3zzz]

I prefer downloading exe for installation. MS Store opens slowly and sometimes take forever to refresh on my PCs. Grabbing exe file is usually faster. Also programs that have exe usually provides change logs. Store, whether it's Windows or Android almost always keep users in the dark in regards to changes in updates.

The only Store App I use is Netflix because other options don't support 5.1 audio pass through.

 

[gernstsmit]

I've been using Firefox on Windows 11 since the day of launch. Don't understand the fuss. If your horizons are only as wide as the MS store that's sad to me.

 

[RodroX]

It seems Im old, by many standards today, because I don't like Microsoft Store. Then again if that was the only way to get an app I need, then I would use it.

The store still needs a lot of work, I just tried typing "firefox" on the search engine and this what the auto complete results looks like:

But hey, If I wana install any of the Asphalt games (which I enjoy every now and then) it shows it right away

 

[Dr3ams]

The apps in the Store are not always the same as the ones you would get from the developer's site. Some apps, like Paint.NET, are free when you download it directly from their site, but will cost you if you want it from the Windows app Store. Also, the version of Minecraft you get in the Windows app store isn't nearly as good as the Java version. Just saying...

But to be fair...some apps in the Windows store, like the PC version of Whatsapp, are more stable than the one available on the developer's site.

 

[kwohlt]

and... if I need to install Firefox it's a 2sec google search lol.... no idea what so complicated about it

if you have problems with a google search, I doubt the MS store will be any help

App Stores are what the vast majority of consumers just expect out of their computing platform of choice. App stores have been a thing on mobile for over a decade - there's an entire generation of casual users who are not familiar with downloading .exe's from websites and have used mobile OS's as their platform of choice.

Besides, all else being equal, why wouldn't I just get the app store version of Firefox and use the centralized updater?

 

[kyzarvs]

So Mozilla's argument for people to use Firefox and not Edge or Chrome is that it's in the Microsoft Store and can change your default in one click?

Yeah...If Firefox were a true competitor again then people would use it as their default, but with Edge in the state it's in, and especially with the state Firefox is in, there's little reason to use anything other than it as your main browser in my opinion. Firefox is good as a secondary browser, but not primary, and anyone who uses multiple browsers, which I imagine is all advanced and expert users, won't care that it's in the store and may go out of their way to avoid using that version, instead using the direct download.

There's a billion people more experienced / qualified than me, but for context I own an IT consultancy that works with small schools and companies in the SME sector. I've been working in the 'tech' side of tech (servers and development) since ~1994.

I use firefox as my main browser on PC and my (android) phone /shrug. It's quick, uses less RAM and does things that Chrome just didn't (such as allowing me to paste images directly into my webmail composer) for a very long time. I use Chrome / Edge / Safari / Opera when proofing my teams website developments and IE when some ancient ERP system needs an ActiveX plugin. It also has a really useful sync / password manager and isn't quite as "yeah I promise we aren't peeking honestly" as Edge or Chrome.

I also find that in the past year or so, all of our browser complaints from our user base (about 3000 users) have been regarding unwanted popup notifications in Chrome from spammy advertising sites - that needs sorting out and making significantly harder to accidentally activate (and having the fix buried in settings really doesn't help the user sort it out themselves).

 

[hotaru.hino]

Yeah...If Firefox were a true competitor again then people would use it as their default, but with Edge in the state it's in, and especially with the state Firefox is in, there's little reason to use anything other than it as your main browser in my opinion. Firefox is good as a secondary browser, but not primary, and anyone who uses multiple browsers, which I imagine is all advanced and expert users, won't care that it's in the store and may go out of their way to avoid using that version, instead using the direct download.

The only reason I suspect Chrome has gotten as popular as it is is because Google's been the most popular search engine since forever and YouTube is one of the most visited websites, and Google blatantly advertises Chrome every chance they get.

 

[King_V]

The only reason I suspect Chrome has gotten as popular as it is is because Google's been the most popular search engine since forever and YouTube is one of the most visited websites, and Google blatantly advertises Chrome every chance they get.

And Chromebooks. With unskippable ads.

I mind the unskippable part. I don't mind that sometimes they're in Spanish, even though I can't string together more than 2 or 3 phrases, and most definitely NOT a complete sentence. It's confusing that they're giving me ads in Spanish, but I don't particularly mind it.

 

[Dr3ams]

The only reason I suspect Chrome has gotten as popular as it is is because Google's been the most popular search engine since forever and YouTube is one of the most visited websites, and Google blatantly advertises Chrome every chance they get.

Plus...sign in to most web sites using a Google account, access to a Google account on any media hardware in the house, Google mail, Android...

All of these and more, are good reasons why Chrome is so popular.

The same reasons why people here are saying they like the Microsoft store (because of easy access to favorite apps and games) are pretty much the same reasons why people like Google and Chrome.

 

[spongiemaster]

Why? What's so hard about downloading it from Mozilla? Setting up a particular web browser as the default is simple. Settings/ Apps/Default Apps/Web Browser and then choose the flavor you like. It's not rocket science.

If you're stuck using a system with Windows S, you can only install apps from the Microsoft Store. Downloading and installing from another source is not possible.

 

[deshimaru]

If you're stuck using a system with Windows S, you can only install apps from the Microsoft Store. Downloading and installing from another source is not possible.

Even if you download Firefox from Windows Store you still can't install it until you disable the S mode. That i find very annoying.

 

[Deleted member 1353997]

Why? What's so hard about downloading it from Mozilla? Setting up a particular web browser as the default is simple. Settings/ Apps/Default Apps/Web Browser and then choose the flavor you like. It's not rocket science.

and... if I need to install Firefox it's a 2sec google search lol.... no idea what so complicated about it

if you have problems with a google search, I doubt the MS store will be any help

Funny anecdote:

I have a side gig as "the only IT guy" at some small company. My boss once sent me a Dropbox link via email. I asked him what I was supposed to do with that link, and he told me to open the link and download the files. Once I had downloaded the files, he told me to send him the files back via email.

I was so confused, I thought I might have misunderstood something. I almost feared I was being rude when I asked why he couldn't do this himself. He told me he had other stuff to do and didn't have the time for it. That confused me even more, because he probably spent more time sending me that mail and explaining step by step what I was supposed to do. It probably took me 5 minutes to complete the job, not because it was difficult or complex, but because I was constantly doubting whether I was actually doing what he wanted me to do.

It turned out I actually did understand what he wanted, and the task really was that simple. They weren't kidding when they told me I'd be the only guy who understands anything about computers when they hired me...

Long story short: Doing a 2 second Google search and downloading Firefox from Mozilla might very well be rocket science to some people.

PS: I'm not joking. This is a true story that actually happened to me.