Firefox 2.0 Beta 2 Default Theme Update 
First of all, in case you don't know what I'm referring to exactly, please refer to the entry in Mozilla's Wiki which I will link to at the end of this article.
Basically, what I wanted to rant about here is the fact that the default theme of Firefox, my favourite browser for a very long time now, has been changed. I admit it, I don't know if this change is planned as something permanent or it is an attempt to test waters, but regardless, I do NOT see why developers are trying to fix something that's been working so well for so long. Especially, at Beta stage, when you'd think they are concentrating on improving the performance and fixing various bugs.
I'm specifically talking about very slow 'cold' start-up issue that's been seemingly getting worse as the builds progressed, browser's high memory usage when running with multiple tabs/windows open simultaneously, even inability(for reasons unknown to me) to duplicate Opera's amazing feature when a page is rendered instantly after clicking the 'Back' button.
No, Mozilla's team went for the new, 'fresh' theme instead. And that's too bad, because the skin of Firefox 2.0 Beta 2 reminds me of an amateur effort done by a bored teenager. Something you see a lot when browsing sites such as wincustomize.org and alike.
What happened to the crisp, sharp, minimalist theme we had in Firefox 1.x and 2.0 Beta 1? It is gone, and replaced by mediocre-looking toolbar buttons, pale and washed-out, plain unusable at times! Looks like Firefox team jumped the 'glossy' bandwagon. You know exactly what I'm talking about - it is the recent trend of glossy, Apple-like UI that have flooded the Internet. There might be just a few people out there that don't like those, you know...
I'm using Classic theme for Windows XP and, oh dear, it looks ugly. With small icons in the toolbar (a setting I prefer) it could get difficult to see what those icons are at all! The refresh one looks like a blurry blue-ish spot for example. Rounded edges of several other buttons (such as the button to pull down the list of search engines in your toolbar) look horrid sitting right next to old-school text boxes.
Perhaps Mozilla is trying to please the mainstream users that use windows themes other than classic, but the reason Firefox became popular in first place was because of all the support it received from enthusiasts! People like me; that enjoy light and highly-useable browser that does not come with a kitchen sink!
I feel that all is changing as Firefox trying to gain more ground and fight IE further in the race for the installed user base crown. Too bad, because I'm looking around for alternatives already and Opera sounds pretty good at this point. Never thought I would say that before last night when I updated to Beta 2.
Ok, enough drama, it couldn't all be this bad. With right information and knowing where to look we can get our classic Firefox look back:
Step 1: Read and understand what some clever people are saying.
Step 2: Download and install Install Winstripe FF Classic for your platform.
Step 3: After a restart you might realize that your toolbar is seriously messed up. That's because it is. To correct the problem apply the Classic Go Button patch.
Restart and enjoy the goodness! I wish you didn't have to do this every time you install Firefox though.
Lastly, as I promised, Mozilla's Wiki entry describing the interface updates. I don't know where they took the images seen on that page from, but it certainly does not look even remotely as good on my system.
FX2 Visual Update/Default Theme Update at mozilla.org
Posted by P1x44r on 01/09/2006 11:50 
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Stinkers!!!!!
Posted by: schmeetz on 01/09/2006 12:53
The 'new look' reminds my of my sisters 'brand new' perm when she was 12. What's up with that back button!
They should spend time working on actual issues eg. copy paste, bookmark misplacement on re-install.
I mean, pay attention to the issues discussed in their forums!!!!. Has anyone ever said anything about interface lacking luster?
gay, gay and more gay.
If someone is interested below you can see all bugs relating to the Bug 347454 (Firefox new theme regression tracking bug). Take a look.
Posted by: P1x44r on 01/09/2006 16:54
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/showdependencytree.cgi?id=347454
Another thing...
Posted by: P1x44r on 02/09/2006 14:59
Starting with Firefox 2, you can prevent your extensions being disabled by creating a new boolean pref in about:config named extensions.checkCompatibility and setting it to false.
Worked well for Firefox 2.0 b2 here.
I think the more people use FF, the more "mainstream" cr@p you will get with it. Its going to get bulky and slow, not because of the devs wanting it, but the people (normal) users wants it that way.
Posted by: SDK on 02/09/2006 15:13
Very good assessment SDK. While I like certain things done to improve Firefox, I agree with you that a lot of bloat comes due to the fact that popularity of the browser has grown tremendously in the last couple of years.Posted by: P1x44r on 02/09/2006 15:48
SDK, I hope that isn't the case, although history certainly shows it can happen (see Netscape Navigator's progression). One beauty of FF's open nature has been that you start w/ a extremely clean & stripped down browser w/ the option to choose amongst the plethora of add-ons written by the community. If FF foregoes the KISS principal, we'll end up w/ yet another bloated mess and a reason to search for yet another alternate browser. Shame, because I adore FF 1.xx. Let's just hope that there will be enough heat about this stuff to get FF 2 back on track.Posted by: Lupine on 02/09/2006 22:33
I think only time will tell.
Posted by: SDK on 03/09/2006 05:48
ps. P1x44r .. we miss you on rage3d :)
I really don't understand this rant or whatever you may call it. First off, the tittle has nothing to do with the content of this article. Then if you consider the whole idea of improving or changing the interface, so unimportant - or something that the dev team shouldn't care about -, why the rant ?
Posted by: Guest on 03/09/2006 15:05
There's seems to be some lack of knowlodge on how software is developed : When you say "... when you'd think they are concentrating on improving the performance and fixing various bugs.". This is a bogus afirmation, any software development project is worked by several teams. You don't expect the interface team and their artistic options have anything to do with bug debuging or any other tech aspect pertaining to other teams.
Anyway, sometimes trying to make nothing having any sense can lead you to a circular answer: there's really nothing and it doesn't make any sense at all ...
I see your point Guest, but that isn't necessarily correct. For example, the new 'Go' button is broken in b2 and that isn't designer's fault, but rather something the development team has overlooked.
Posted by: P1x44r on 05/09/2006 10:18
On top of that, I'm in software development myself and design decisions always affect coding, even if indirectly. Maybe they shouldn't in perfect world, but, alas, this is not where we live unfortunately.
You know what's odd going back and thinking about this right now?
Posted by: Guest on 13/09/2007 19:58
They did update the skin and brightened up those buttons....