This is a major Duncan-rant.
Yes, many of you will try to respond. But only those "internet savvy" people will look down on this post. Psst, here's a thought - think about the other 99.95% of the population that doesn't know what you know about PCs. That have no clue how to manually download DLLs and install them into their Program Files directory, especially if they are not an administrator of their PC. This is an absolutely horrible solution of FireFox - and yes, it's for new installs. Read on.
New OS format. Old machine upgrades. Latest version of everything. Blah blah. I've tried. I really did try to give FF a chance for a few years. But after what I had to do tonight to get plugins working, I'm soo done with FireFox - because this is the most ridiculous method I've ever seen to get a plugin installed, for first time use!
I just spent over an hour tonight trying to track down what the hell is wrong with my FireFox plugins, specifically for Windows Media Player (WMP) and Real Player. You won't believe the fix (yes, the fix is below for those of you looking for it). It receives the worse-ever-fix award for a new application install. No normal user will know how to perform these steps, and the target audience for this one website I was looking to fix for FireFox are not Internet Savvy. Absolute horrible solution guys.
The problem?
When you view a page that has a plugin, such as Windows Media Player, Flash, or Real Player, you are displayed with "Click here to download plugin." And of course, when you click it, you get "Unknown Plugin". Then there's a button for Manual Install, which itself has so many flaws in that concept! The web designer sets the link for the Manual Install, which all of them point to some type of Download and Install - which is absolutely the wrong link to be linking to! Re-installing the software will not resolve this issue!
The fix?
Use IE7 or Safari. Oh wait, we're talking about fixing FF - I'm sorry for those of you. Ok, the fix. Download old/3rd party specific DLLs and place them into a specific directory, as long as you are an administrator of your machine. How horrible of a fix is that? It's not even a "fix", it's what is required to get the plugin installed for the first time! No, FireFox 2.0 does not even resolve this issue ladies and gentleman.
You can read up on how to install WMP for Firefox on Mozilla's very own Plugin Install page for WMP.
Developers, this is also the proper link to put into your plugins page attribute for your <embed> tags of your object - well, if it's WMP. Other links are there for Flash and Real and such as you embed each.
If you had an older version of WMP installed (version 7.1 or earlier), you won't have this issue as those DLLs were included with that version. What does that tell me? It tells me that FireFlux needs to get their ass in gear and update their software to utilize newer versions. Period.
Absolutely the worse method I've ever seen to install a plugin guys. I'm done with FireFox. Goodbye.