Give Firefox 4 an Internet Explorer 9 makeover

By , Published April 21, 2011

“Lolwut? o.O”

No, seriously.

For all the sins that Microsoft’s browser has inflicted upon the world – and there are many – there is no denying that the interface of its latest iteration,  Internet Explorer 9, has found a lot of fans with its design revamp. The clean, compact and content-considerate makeover has given a pretty face to an otherwise ugly browser.

Firefox users wishing to “mimic” the look can do so with a bit of CSS magic courtesy of DeviantArtist ~BigRZA.

How to make Firefox 4 look like Internet Explorer 9

  • Install the ‘Stylish’ extension from addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/stylish/
  • In Firefox click Edit > Toolbars > Customize and drag the URL bar, stop/reload buttons into the top toolbar. Ditch everything else by dragging it off of Firefox and onto the Customize window.
  • Head into the Stylish add-on and click ‘write new style’.

  • Name it ‘all in one toolbar’ (or similar) and enter the following CSS to create the basic version (pictured below). Hit ‘Save’ to apply.

#urlbar-container {
max-width: 400px !important;
min-width: 400px !important;
}

To create the more ie9-akin version (picture at the tip of this post) you’ll need copy and paste the CSS from pastebin.com/raw.php?i=iFkaRFPg.

An elementary-esque ie9 style can be found @ here.

Undo

To undo these changes first disable the Stylish script via Addons > Stylish > all in one toolbar > disable. Click Edit > Toolbars > Customize > Restore default set.

Related posts:

  1. Reduce the Firefox 4 menu button to an icon in Linux
  2. A neat collection of Linux-friendly add-ons that work with Firefox 4 beta
  3. Firefox 4 Theme For Linux – Tabs on Top, Tab Peek, Lots More!
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  • http://twitter.com/timdavies3 Tim

    Whilst the chrome-like tabs in IE9 are quite nice, why anyone would want their tabs alongside their address bar I don’t know!
    (I’m aware it’s an option that you can turn off, but why would people want to enable it in Firefox?)

    • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

      It’d be boring if we all like the same thing I guess. Thanks to Open source – and unlike internet explorer users – we have the option of changing things to suit our tastes – even if that taste is very much “marmite”.

      • Yi Sun-sin

        Marmite ? What do you mean ?

        • http://twitter.com/dandandrums Dan Pullan

          Marmite is a popular product put into sandwhichs, which has a very popular slogan “you either love it or hate it”. People other refer to things as marmite when they really mean you either love it or hate it OR to show how people have different tastes.

          • Yi Sun-sin

            Thanks. I knew Marmite as French word for some cooking tool, but I couldn’t make sense out of that ;).

          • Anonymous

            A lot of posts here are quite British ;) I am French, but it so happens that I LOVE Marmite, however all my French friends thinks I am a freak!

            English and French are very similar languages, because English is a mixture of Latin, Saxon and French. Marmite actually has a marmite on the label! But for computing, most of the French people use a lot of English words as we don’t always have equivalents.

          • Yi Sun-sin

            Yes, I know, I’m French too. Don’t get confused by my Korean pseudonym ;).

          • Yi Sun-sin

            Thanks. I knew Marmite as French word for some cooking tool, but I couldn’t make sense out of that ;).

          • http://mark-y-a.myopenid.com/ Mark

            Is Marmite open source? If so, under GPLv2 or v3, or maybe Apache? ;P

        • http://skorchcomputers.com Antony Derham

          He means there seems to be a love or hate attitude to this post.

        • Anonymous

          Ever heard of the Australian Vegimite (the black tar stuff). Based on Vegimite but worse. Made form left over beer brewing yeast.

          • Yi Sun-sin

            Never heard of Vegimite.

          • Anonymous

            It’s great on toast.

          • Anonymous

            Then you have never heard of Australia.

          • Yi Sun-sin

            No, I never went there. But I’ve been to Iran. Does that count ?

        • Anonymous

          Ever heard of the Australian Vegimite (the black tar stuff). Based on Vegimite but worse. Made form left over beer brewing yeast.

      • Yi Sun-sin

        Marmite ? What do you mean ?

      • http://twitter.com/timdavies3 Tim

        d0od, I totally agree, just offering my viewpoint. I know exactly who would want their tabs like that – people who don’t really use tabs. But.. most people who use Ubuntu surely will?

    • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

      It’d be boring if we all like the same thing I guess. Thanks to Open source – and unlike internet explorer users – we have the option of changing things to suit our tastes – even if that taste is very much “marmite”.

    • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

      It’d be boring if we all like the same thing I guess. Thanks to Open source – and unlike internet explorer users – we have the option of changing things to suit our tastes – even if that taste is very much “marmite”.

    • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

      It’d be boring if we all like the same thing I guess. Thanks to Open source – and unlike internet explorer users – we have the option of changing things to suit our tastes – even if that taste is very much “marmite”.

    • Anonymous

      I do. It saves insane space. Now I don’t recommend it if you have a gazillion tabs open, but it’s nice for my use.

    • Anonymous

      I do. It saves insane space. Now I don’t recommend it if you have a gazillion tabs open, but it’s nice for my use.

    • Anonymous

      To have more space to see the web page! It’s confortable really. Take a look at chrome, there is a loooot of wasted space just to see a URL!!!
      Think netbooks my friend, netbooks!

    • http://nicoburns.com/myopenid Nico Burns

      If you don’t use many tabs, then it saves a lot of space. I actually think the new IE 9 design (which does include the option to add a separate tab bar) is great. I wouldn’t use it, but for non power users who use few tabs it provides a very clean interface.

  • http://twitter.com/teotoo Daniel

    Lol saw the twitter announcement of this and couldn’t help but should “WHAT!@!!” aloud…yeah.
    On a side note, why would you prefer this to Firefox 4?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_43QWMHEO2T24W5ONPMHAADTMOY alex

    It’s good for netbooks, >11″. But the difference isn’t changing too much, though. If you want a really good space-saver then just press F11.

  • http://profiles.google.com/trevor.w.philip Trevor Philip

    Hopefully this article won’t have the “THAT’s IT I’m moving to Arch” trollers ;)

    • http://twitter.com/TyrantWave Chris Johns

      That’s it I’m moving to gentoo.

      • http://profiles.google.com/trevor.w.philip Trevor Philip

        -.-

      • Parry

        I might move to Suse though… Just for something new for a while.

      • http://twitter.com/me4oslav Georgi Karavasilev

        That’s it, I’m going to compile Linux from source! :D

        • http://twitter.com/SarcasticSloth Steven Garza

          That’s it, I’m moving to Plan 9 from Bell labs.

    • http://twitter.com/TyrantWave Chris Johns

      That’s it I’m moving to gentoo.

    • http://twitter.com/TyrantWave Chris Johns

      That’s it I’m moving to gentoo.

    • http://twitter.com/TyrantWave Chris Johns

      That’s it I’m moving to gentoo.

    • Yi Sun-sin

      That’s it, I’m already using Arch for more than a year now !

    • http://profiles.google.com/pyruzan Pyruzan Arman

      Internet Explorer 9 look on Firefox 4?? THAT’s IT I’m moving to Chrome :D

      Seriously though, that’s only an option, we made and use it just because we can :powersign:

    • http://profiles.google.com/pyruzan Pyruzan Arman

      Internet Explorer 9 look on Firefox 4?? THAT’s IT I’m moving to Chrome :D

      Seriously though, that’s only an option, we made and use it just because we can :powersign:

    • http://profiles.google.com/pyruzan Pyruzan Arman

      Internet Explorer 9 look on Firefox 4?? THAT’s IT I’m moving to Chrome :D

      Seriously though, that’s only an option, we made and use it just because we can :powersign:

    • http://profiles.google.com/pyruzan Pyruzan Arman

      Internet Explorer 9 look on Firefox 4?? THAT’s IT I’m moving to Chrome :D

      Seriously though, that’s only an option, we made and use it just because we can :powersign:

    • http://joajimenez.tumblr.com That’s it, I’m moving to Arch!

      Problem?

    • Anonymous

      THAT’s IT I’m moving to Arch!

  • http://profiles.google.com/trevor.w.philip Trevor Philip

    Hopefully this article won’t have the “THAT’s IT I’m moving to Arch” trollers ;)

  • http://profiles.google.com/trevor.w.philip Trevor Philip

    Hopefully this article won’t have the “THAT’s IT I’m moving to Arch” trollers ;)

  • http://profiles.google.com/trevor.w.philip Trevor Philip

    Hopefully this article won’t have the “THAT’s IT I’m moving to Arch” trollers ;)

  • Anonymous

    I don’t want to make my OS look like Windows, I don’t want my browser to look like Internet Explorer and I don’t want KDE to look like GNOME!

  • Anonymous

    I don’t want to make my OS look like Windows, I don’t want my browser to look like Internet Explorer and I don’t want KDE to look like GNOME!

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_43QWMHEO2T24W5ONPMHAADTMOY alex

      Stop viewing things from the perspective “what i like”, and more from “(1)It’s an option. (2) Somebody may need it.”.

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VU5NRVJKOXNRY3QCEZGLO2FCOI Fauzie

        I totally agree with you.

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VU5NRVJKOXNRY3QCEZGLO2FCOI Fauzie

        I totally agree with you.

      • http://mastropino.deviantart.com/ MastroPino

        nobody needs an option that decreases the usability

        • http://twitter.com/icyeh Shelby

          Can you give evidence that changing the look of Firefox decreases its usability?

          I doubt it.

          • http://mastropino.deviantart.com/ MastroPino

            Chenge the look of firefox doesn’t decrease its usability, but copy a feature from IE can! And of course that’s my small opinion ;)

          • http://mastropino.deviantart.com/ MastroPino

            Chenge the look of firefox doesn’t decrease its usability, but copy a feature from IE can! And of course that’s my small opinion ;)

          • Anonymous

            Yes, it is your opinion, so why state it like a fact, next time try writing something like
            “I don’t need an option that in my opinion decreases the usability”

          • http://www.martinsmucker.com Michael Martin-Smucker

            I’d argue that changing the look of Firefox to make it more like IE9 decreases usability because you lose the dedicated search box, the address bar is shorter making it hard to see long URLs, and tabs are crammed in there, making it hard to have more than 4 or 5 open at once.

          • https://launchpad.net/~cscarney ~cscarney

            That only decreases usability if you’re the sort of user who (a) cares about the URL beyond the domain name and (b) uses more than 4 or 5 tabs in parallel.

            Which is mostly to say that it’s only a decrease in usability for expert users. A typical non-expert user gets more screen space dedicated to the page with no downsides.

          • http://identi.ca/LauRoman Laurențiu Roman

            I use the Omnibar Extension for Firefox and i have for years now. I certainly don’t give a rats behind about the search box because it’s integrated in the Awesome Bar because of that extension. Anyway this “hack” will give just a little more vertical space to Unity netbook users, wouldn’t you agree?

            Of course, the first time i used IE9 on my girfriend’s notebook i put the tab bar below the address bar.

          • http://profiles.google.com/kurt.bruneau Kurt Bruneau

            @ ~cscarney

            The only thing wrong with your argument is that usually (I am not saying always) people who want to make their browser, operating system, etc similar to windows or mac do not follow blogs “all about Ubuntu”. I do agree that it serves as another option for users, although most people following this blog would rather stay with what they have because they are either used to it or despise Microsoft.

            I want to make it clear that I do like options, but most of the people here reading this blog would rather see something new, not an imitation of another company’s work, ESPECIALLY an imitation of Microsoft’s work.

          • http://www.martinsmucker.com Michael Martin-Smucker

            I’d argue that changing the look of Firefox to make it more like IE9 decreases usability because you lose the dedicated search box, the address bar is shorter making it hard to see long URLs, and tabs are crammed in there, making it hard to have more than 4 or 5 open at once.

          • http://twitter.com/tomdwright Tom Wright

            It is a simple matter to prove:
            – Step 1: Open more than 2 or 3 tabs.
            – Step 2: QED.

          • http://twitter.com/tomdwright Tom Wright

            It is a simple matter to prove:
            – Step 1: Open more than 2 or 3 tabs.
            – Step 2: QED.

        • http://hector-macias.blogspot.com Hector Macias Ayala

          Well I see here an option to save space, whats so bad about it? For somebody with basic needs its good.

        • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_43QWMHEO2T24W5ONPMHAADTMOY alex

          To those that wrote “don’t want to make _my_ OS look like” & “don’t want _my_ browser to look like” & ” _I_ don’t want KDE to look like GNOME” & “nobody needs an option that decreases the usability”.
          Oh, so it looks like your are the gods of OSS and you can dictate its future or impose an opinion to everybody (like “nobody needs it…”).

          Stop trolling around! spewing hatred just because _THOU_ (old english for “you”) don’t like. Or _THOU_ doesn’t see it as an improvement. Somebody may JUST like it that way. And it’s time for you to JUST accept other people’s opinions/decisions about what they do or like.

          Fanboy-ism looks nothing more than 14 year olds arguing about who’s mom is better (which is always obvious). So, dear community, please don’t go into “tribalism” (just like Shuttleworth said).

          • http://www.facebook.com/darris.hawks Darris Hawks

            I just wanted to make a point of order. Verbs conjugate differently when you use “thou” (p.s. I think every native English speaker knows that’s what ‘thou’ means)
            What you should have said is “thou doth not like it” and “thou doth not see it as an improvement”.
            Another smaller point of order: ‘thou’ is not Old English, it’s archaic English. Old English can’t be typed on a standard keyboard (to my knowledge)

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jeremy-Newton/512458865 Jeremy Newton

        Like tricking your friends into using Linux ;)

    • Anonymous

      You don’t want, someone may want. You both can do what you want and than discuss if Christmas is better than Easter. You CAN. And that’s the beauty of Free Software.

    • Anonymous

      Then move on to other posts? :p

    • Anonymous

      Then move on to other posts? :p

    • http://twitter.com/JairJy Jair Jaramillo

      But Ubuntu is trying to look like OSX, with a toolbar that looks like Windows 7′s one. KDE is trying to look like Explorer, when GNOME always has trying to look like Aqua. Firefox and IE9 are trying to look like Chrome, who resembles some aspects that Safari has.

      You are doomed, because the best interfaces are the propietary ones, and everything on Linux is trying to look as those.

  • Anonymous

    I don’t want to make my OS look like Windows, I don’t want my browser to look like Internet Explorer and I don’t want KDE to look like GNOME!

  • Anonymous

    this is a good option for users who are moving from ie (win) to firefox (linux)

  • Anonymous

    this is a good option for users who are moving from ie (win) to firefox (linux)

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_43QWMHEO2T24W5ONPMHAADTMOY alex

      I don’t think many (or even any) win user would want to get their hands dirty with that. :)

  • Anonymous

    btw – nice ASK widget!

  • Anonymous

    btw – nice ASK widget!

  • http://www.redtube.com ActionParsnip

    Or install tinymenu, bluefox then shuffle stuff around and you can have a top bar like this:
    http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj93/andrew_woodhead666/thin.jpg?t=1303386339
    Great for netbooks.

  • http://twitter.com/piratelv Levi

    ‘An elementary-esque ie9 style can be found @ here.’
    ‘Now Leaving deviantART.com’
    Did this site got renamed since the last time I was here?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_HHS3YNBYUFBBEPUESRLV747QOM Dylan

    *looks at picture*

    *vomits*

    • http://yourethemannowdog.com Shasta McShasta

      *wakes up hungover*

      *vomits*

    • Anonymous

      :/ are you allergic to Microsoft, you should probably get that checked.

      • http://profiles.google.com/nathanlee2 nathan lee

        Maybe they’re not allergic to Microsoft, but only to ugly?

        • http://twitter.com/MarcCoquand Marc Coquand

          then they’re allergic to Microsoft?

      • http://profiles.google.com/nathanlee2 nathan lee

        Maybe they’re not allergic to Microsoft, but only to ugly?

      • http://profiles.google.com/nathanlee2 nathan lee

        Maybe they’re not allergic to Microsoft, but only to ugly?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_HHS3YNBYUFBBEPUESRLV747QOM Dylan

    *looks at picture*

    *vomits*

  • Anonymous

    WTF? if i need more screen i just use fullscreen, it’s only a F11 away

  • Anonymous

    WTF? if i need more screen i just use fullscreen, it’s only a F11 away

  • http://twitter.com/kahn_onjy_bryce Brice Lamotte

    Sooooooooooo useless…

  • http://profiles.google.com/p4d573r Pad Ster

    EWW! NOOOOOOO!
    IE9 has the worst UI i have ever seen in a browser.
    You have no room for tabs, why would you want Firefox, a proper browser to look like it!?

    • Anonymous

      Why do so many people assume their personal motives for doing things/opinions are (somehow) universal?

      • http://profiles.google.com/nathanlee2 nathan lee

        Because the opposite – thinking that everyone has completely different motives for doing things/opinions – is useless and generally wrong.

        • Anonymous

          *sigh*

        • http://mernen.com/ Daniel

          Yay for false dichotomies!

        • http://twitter.com/zc456 Squeaks

          Sorry, but I don’t speak Borg.

      • http://profiles.google.com/nathanlee2 nathan lee

        Because the opposite – thinking that everyone has completely different motives for doing things/opinions – is useless and generally wrong.

      • http://profiles.google.com/nathanlee2 nathan lee

        Because the opposite – thinking that everyone has completely different motives for doing things/opinions – is useless and generally wrong.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ivan-Calderon-Perez/100000152614256 Ivan Calderon Perez

        Why do so many people assume other people assume their personal motives for doing things/opinions are (somehow) universal?

    • http://profiles.google.com/nathanlee2 nathan lee

      Every version of IE I’ve used made me cringe in wonder how they come up with such horrible designs.

      Looking at pictures on wikipedia, I do think the new version looks cleaner, but that’s more superficial than substantial. For consistent and coherent user interfaces, putting the search engine right there is a horrible idea. It’s a sacrifice of usability for the sake of size. Hey, while we’re at it, why not just cut out tabs and search engine, and make the default homepage to Google.com. You’d get the same effect, with an even cleaner interface and even less of a user interface.

    • http://profiles.google.com/nathanlee2 nathan lee

      Every version of IE I’ve used made me cringe in wonder how they come up with such horrible designs.

      Looking at pictures on wikipedia, I do think the new version looks cleaner, but that’s more superficial than substantial. For consistent and coherent user interfaces, putting the search engine right there is a horrible idea. It’s a sacrifice of usability for the sake of size. Hey, while we’re at it, why not just cut out tabs and search engine, and make the default homepage to Google.com. You’d get the same effect, with an even cleaner interface and even less of a user interface.

    • http://profiles.google.com/nathanlee2 nathan lee

      Every version of IE I’ve used made me cringe in wonder how they come up with such horrible designs.

      Looking at pictures on wikipedia, I do think the new version looks cleaner, but that’s more superficial than substantial. For consistent and coherent user interfaces, putting the search engine right there is a horrible idea. It’s a sacrifice of usability for the sake of size. Hey, while we’re at it, why not just cut out tabs and search engine, and make the default homepage to Google.com. You’d get the same effect, with an even cleaner interface and even less of a user interface.

  • Anonymous

    With no offence intended towards the no doubt skilled BigRZA, nobody can make Firefox suck so much as to look like Internet Explorer.

  • Anonymous

    With no offence intended towards the no doubt skilled BigRZA, nobody can make Firefox suck so much as to look like Internet Explorer.

  • http://thestrayworld.com/ Rewarp

    I have to admit, I like the design. And I haven’t touched anything IE related by choice since 2000.

  • http://www.erickjohncuevas.com erickjohncuevas

    Firefox should be Firefox, Let IE mimic Firefox not the other way around.

  • Anonymous

    Oh dear, tell people a design is made by Microsoft and they will hate it on principal.
    On a wide screen computer that design is fairly practical, might set it up on Firefox at some point.

    • http://alaukik.myopenid.com/ Alaukik

      have you tried f11?

      • Anonymous

        Yes, I have tried F11, surprisingly. F11 gets rid of the menus and panels etc. This does not loose any functionality, but gain space

      • Anonymous

        Yes, I have tried F11, surprisingly. F11 gets rid of the menus and panels etc. This does not loose any functionality, but gain space

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000528522053 Ladislav Ezr

    Hell NO!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000528522053 Ladislav Ezr

    Hell NO!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IH4OBL3AGQV2WPP2OGHZRRKG64 Helder

    Internet Explorer 9 may be the best browser Microsoft has ever made, in regards to speed and compliance to standards, I’ll give them that, but the interface is loathsome to say the least. Why anyone that uses Linux and/or Firefox would want to copycat it boggles my mind.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IH4OBL3AGQV2WPP2OGHZRRKG64 Helder

    Internet Explorer 9 may be the best browser Microsoft has ever made, in regards to speed and compliance to standards, I’ll give them that, but the interface is loathsome to say the least. Why anyone that uses Linux and/or Firefox would want to copycat it boggles my mind.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SWNQSEZPOPXQ5E3B4SS5D56AMU Mark Anthony Magalong

    looks nice! but i think i’ll pass. =) never used IE, so no plans of having its interface too. it really is a “love it or hate it” post! but good work.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SWNQSEZPOPXQ5E3B4SS5D56AMU Mark Anthony Magalong

    looks nice! but i think i’ll pass. =) never used IE, so no plans of having its interface too. it really is a “love it or hate it” post! but good work.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SWNQSEZPOPXQ5E3B4SS5D56AMU Mark Anthony Magalong

    looks nice! but i think i’ll pass. =) never used IE, so no plans of having its interface too. it really is a “love it or hate it” post! but good work.

  • http://twitter.com/larryfroot Larry McCauley

    That’s IT, I’m moving to tea and buns!

  • http://twitter.com/larryfroot Larry McCauley

    That’s IT, I’m moving to tea and buns!

  • http://www.martinsmucker.com Michael Martin-Smucker

    I’m not a fan of IE9′s UI. At work I’ve set IE9 to put its tabs in a second row because I can’t stand having them packed up against the address bar. That said, it would be nice if someone would make Firefox’s tab tearing and reordering more like IE9. It’s rare that IE is the best at something, but I haven’t seen any other browser that handles tab tearing that well.

  • http://www.martinsmucker.com Michael Martin-Smucker

    I’m not a fan of IE9′s UI. At work I’ve set IE9 to put its tabs in a second row because I can’t stand having them packed up against the address bar. That said, it would be nice if someone would make Firefox’s tab tearing and reordering more like IE9. It’s rare that IE is the best at something, but I haven’t seen any other browser that handles tab tearing that well.

  • http://openid-provider.appspot.com/TheMerkinman Merk

    If this is how Safari was styled on OSX all you nay-sayers would have to change your pants you’d be so eager to do this…

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LOR655GR4ZFHCMSV7FW5ROPSAA Cliff W

      Hey, pant-changers are people too!

  • Glaasje

    It feels like they smashed chrome and safari together and named it IE9. :P

  • Glaasje

    It feels like they smashed chrome and safari together and named it IE9. :P

  • Glaasje

    It feels like they smashed chrome and safari together and named it IE9. :P

  • Anonymous

    Hm, why would anyone want this? I mean, I haven’t seen anything more stupid design-wise since I’ve started using the Internet. MS could have gone with tabs on top like others and no one would blame them for copying ideas (hey, it’s MS afterall). But now you either don’t see half of the url of the website you’re in, or you don’t see half of the tabs opened.

    • Anonymous

      Why would you want to see the entire URL?
      If you need to copy it just copy it, you don’t have to SEE it all the time…

      • Anonymous

        Why would one want to see toolbars at all? :) If they made it visible they should have made it fully visible. Not shrink everything to one toolbar thinking ‘just in case’.

        • Anonymous

          To change tabs easily.
          Perhaps they could autohide tabs? That could be a simple solution

      • Anonymous

        Why would one want to see toolbars at all? :) If they made it visible they should have made it fully visible. Not shrink everything to one toolbar thinking ‘just in case’.

  • Anonymous

    Hm, why would anyone want this? I mean, I haven’t seen anything more stupid design-wise since I’ve started using the Internet. MS could have gone with tabs on top like others and no one would blame them for copying ideas (hey, it’s MS afterall). But now you either don’t see half of the url of the website you’re in, or you don’t see half of the tabs opened.

  • http://www.facebook.com/MeduZaPaT Patricio Rossi

    good idea if you need to made some dumb to think he is still using WINTENDO

  • http://www.facebook.com/MeduZaPaT Patricio Rossi

    good idea if you need to made some dumb to think he is still using WINTENDO

  • http://alaukik.myopenid.com/ Alaukik

    Instead of doing this crap how about you press f11 ?

    • Anonymous

      Because it’s more difficult. This way you don’t have to press it. You always -always- have a lot of space to see the website.

      (I pressed Liked by mistake)

      • http://alaukik.myopenid.com/ Alaukik

        you can click on that like and hence unlike the post.

        you can’t be serious! pressing f11 is difficult!!

        and the f11 has MAXIMUM SPACE to see a website .

        • Anonymous

          Im not saying its difficult, Im saying it’s _more_ difficult. It’s borring to go and press f11,this way you don’t have to worry.

          I mean, i don’t use f11, I just like to now that by default I have more room to see the webpage. (It’s a dumb discussion!)

          But, don’t you think there is no point in seeing the entire URL all the time? I can’t think on any practical use of seeing it ALL THE TIME.

          • http://twitter.com/di0nysys Andrew Smith

            flipping back and forth between fullscreen/non-fullscreen is annoying and can become substantive.

            I want maximum usable space within reasonable limits of practicality.

          • http://twitter.com/di0nysys Andrew Smith

            flipping back and forth between fullscreen/non-fullscreen is annoying and can become substantive.

            I want maximum usable space within reasonable limits of practicality.

        • Anonymous

          Im not saying its difficult, Im saying it’s _more_ difficult. It’s borring to go and press f11,this way you don’t have to worry.

          I mean, i don’t use f11, I just like to now that by default I have more room to see the webpage. (It’s a dumb discussion!)

          But, don’t you think there is no point in seeing the entire URL all the time? I can’t think on any practical use of seeing it ALL THE TIME.

  • http://twitter.com/di0nysys Andrew Smith

    the nice thing I like about this is that I can get the same screen real estate that I had with chrome before the global menu. That is… two horizontal sections of non usable space.

  • http://twitter.com/di0nysys Andrew Smith

    In Firefox click Edit > Toolbars > Customize

    should be

    In Firefox click View > Toolbars > Customize

  • Anonymous

    You save maybe twenty pixels of vertical space but lose the search bar and cripple the tabs and address bar. No thanks.

    • daas88

      The search bar is not really necessary since you can type your searchs in the address bar directly, but making the address bar shorter is a big con

    • http://thestrayworld.com/ Rewarp

      I moved the search bar to the Add-On bar on the bottom, which can be separately summoned via Ctrl-/ thus resolving any issues with the search bar.

  • http://twitter.com/di0nysys Andrew Smith

    Anyone know how to do this in Chrome?

    • http://twitter.com/T_Cantara Tom Cantara

      The only IE clones I’ve seen for Chrome are extensions, and they only work if you’re using Windows as your OS. There may be something out there, but I haven’t found it yet.

  • http://profiles.google.com/borisdsp Boris Da Silva Perez

    Thanks for posting that. It was useful for me. :)

  • Anonymous

    Internet Explorer 9: Now a faster way to download a better browser!

    • http://alaukik.myopenid.com/ Alaukik

      or a faster way to download a torrent client and a torrent file of a better os.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000781434516 Patrick Bodemann

    great, did not know about this “stylish” extention… and this makeover is good if used on netbooks on which more vertical space is appreciated ;) I already modified firefox on my windows system in a comparable way (editing this userchrome file) but I did not know how to perform this in ubuntu. thanks a lot!

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/ZCKHVTP4QZOFR3PR2AB6FE7VJ4 Dexter

    I wished the Firefox browser for Linux looked like the ones for Mac and Windows.

  • http://www.facebook.com/tr33m4n Daniel Doyle

    what a waste of time

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LOR655GR4ZFHCMSV7FW5ROPSAA Cliff W

      Thank god you recovered that lost time by posting a comment.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3T3MBED52SVRZKUAFKOMGKC7JE Jonathan

    Is it really that bad? It’s perfectly fine for non-power users and people who have little tabs open at a time. However it is horrid for power users and those who have a billion tabs open at once.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Killer.The.Lord Ramjot Singh

    See it is all about one’s choices someone who has used IE9 too much may like it if someone doesn’t like it just don’t use the guide provided above……….

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for posting. It’s very useful for me.

  • http://twitter.com/sionmnt Teddy Mutombo

    Question: DID YOU CHANGE THE NAME OF YOUR SITE TO OMGMICROSOFT.CO.UK
    THIS IS MOST STUPID POST EVER, POST ON OMGUBUNTU
    Come on!!! Are you out of your f***king mind.

    • Anonymous

      People are free to customize their software in Linux however they wish. That’s part of what makes Linux great!

      So please, keep your douchey comments to yourself.

    • http://twitter.com/di0nysys Andrew Smith

      M$ or not, the compact design could be valued by some… some including me and a good handful of others on here. Ones feelings about a design should be made on objective merits.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for posting. It’s very useful for me.

  • Anonymous

    Interesting. Well, this just goes to show- even when Microsoft does something right, we can do it better. Lmao.

    I really do hope Microsoft kicks some arse with Windows 8 and all their new stuff, just because it will motivate us to polish everything and reverberate with them, and it will be better for Windows users and Linux users alike to have these friendly battles of innovation and really push it.

    I don’t think it’s really about one winning. I think it’s about keeping a steady pace and improving all technology. Of course, after a certain point, the open source model will show just how difficult it is to reproduce high quality software features without as many people in a closed model.

    Then again, maybe I’m just hoping against hope Microsoft will keep doing things right all the way across the board, like they’re doing with IE 9. Maybe in 10 more years, we’ll feel like they stagnated since IE 9, and IE 9 will be the new IE 6.

    Or, maybe, HTML5 is gonna’ be what pushes the web over into the powerful cross-platform toolkit and API everyone has dreamt of (you know, aside from Qt XD).

  • http://facebook.com/adammartin1989 Adam Martin

    As I always say, to each their own. That said, I don’t see how anyone who frequently has more than 3 tabs open at a time could ever make use of this UI configuration (especially if one takes advantage of tab pinning). Also, in regards to the actual IE9, what the hell is up with the big blue back button being cut off. It looks god awful.

  • http://twitter.com/Behzad_Sh Behzad Shabani

    IE9 Interface is the ugliest browser interface I’ve ever seen! why I should make beautiful firefox4 looks like that?

    • https://profiles.google.com/harveycabaguio Harvey

      What makes it ugly? I like it.

      • http://profiles.google.com/pyruzan Pyruzan Arman

        He just wanted to say something for the sake of saying something, don’t mind him.

        • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LOR655GR4ZFHCMSV7FW5ROPSAA Cliff W

          Kind of hungry, yes. Thanks for asking.

  • Anonymous

    I agree with those saying it’s nice to HAVE THE OPTION for those who wish to give it a go. It’s just one more option in a sea of literally hundreds or thousands. It doesn’t fit my personal taste, though IE 9 is way better looking than it’s ever been, but hey… to each their own.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000895754408 Kieran Parker

    This is just a huge fight between people who think its ugly and people who think others will need it.

    P.S: Who would need it?!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002092423968 Tom Mack

    Tabs are still below. Is there a step I missed?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002092423968 Tom Mack

    Tabs don’t move to the top. Am I missing something?

    • http://thestrayworld.com/ Rewarp

      Did you move the url bar to the tabs, and right-click on the bar to uncheck the Navigation Bar?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_32DPCAROUO6SDVWZFHTXW2EFUY John Smoth

    u jelly?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_XY4IXS3UFPWPP57LQA5UN5WGL4 Fakhruddin

    Aw man..
    Why do every time someone posted about cross-platform makeover, a polemic like this always happen, and it goes like forever?

    for anyone who dislike anything like this, please stop saying things like “bwah.. why do you want to make your this like that? that’s stupid”
    The reason is simple, it’s all about personal taste. And you can’t tell people to stop doing what they like especially in this open-source universe, where you can choose what you want and throw what you don’t.

    How about usability? Well, some people don’t care anything about usability when it comes to things they love.

    BTW, i got to admit that IE new interface is pretty. It got elementary taste in it.

    Peace.

  • http://www.musicaddict.ro Bogdan

    Does anyone know how I can change the look of Firefox to fit Ubuntu’s theme better without changing the toolbar positioning?

  • http://profiles.google.com/damian.lang Damian Lang

    Change is inconvenient. luckily for firefox  things somehow were better. I didn’t have problems for once. Unity I hate, for example. Firefox goes to  all the work of making a better browser for you to just change it to look like IE.

    Fools!

 
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