How To: Make Firefox in Linux Look and Act Like Firefox in Windows

Linux Firefox Tweaks
Making Linux Firefox Behave Like Windows Firefox

One thing I do as soon I install a Linux distro is tweak Firefox to act like it does in Windows. This includes fonts, mouse behavior, and program actions. I will base this on Ubuntu so for different distros, tweak as needed. So here goes.

1. Fonts: The fonts that are used in the Linux version of Firefox are not the same as the ones you are used to seeing in the Windows version. This is due to a couple reasons, a big one which is the Windows fonts don't come pre-installed on Linux as they are proprietary. There are lots of methods. I just show two.

Method 1

Either find "msttcorefonts" in the Package Manager or open a terminal and type:

Quote:

sudo apt-get install msttcorefonts

Click to expand...

Method 2

First, download the font package here.

Open a console and make a truetype directory in your fonts folder:

Quote:

sudo mkdir /usr/share/fonts/truetype

Unpack the font files to the directory:

Quote:

sudo tar -zxvf msfonts.tar.gz -C /usr/share/fonts/truetype

Download the font configs here.

We now unpack these:

Quote:

sudo tar xvjpf fontconfig.tbz -C /etc/fonts/

And update the Font Cache:

Quote:

sudo fc-cache

Log out and then back in and you should now have the Microsoft fonts installed.

Click to expand...

Applying Fonts in Firefox

Now, we enter the Firefox options and go to the Content tab. Here, set the default Font and Size as seen in the screenshot:

Then click the Advanced button and set the fonts as shown in the next screenshot:

Okay, now you have the fonts the same as the Windows version. To me, it feels much cleaner and friendly. On to the next one.

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2. Address Bar: In Windows, when you click on the address bar, it immediately selects the entire address so you may begin typing to replace it or copy it. In Linux, a single click in the address bar simply places your cursor in that spot.

To change this, go to the address bar. Type
Quote:

about:config

Say you'll be careful (and be careful, this is like opening the hood on a car). In the Filter bar, type:

Quote:

browser.urlbar.clickselectsall

Double click the only entry that remains to change its value to True. You're done. Now when you click the address bar, it will select the entire address.

Click to expand...

3. Middle Mouse Button: When you click the middle mouse button in Windows on a link, it opens that URL in a new tab. In Linux, however, it is sometimes set to open whatever is on your clipboard.

This is an easy fix, however. Just enter:

Quote:

about:config

Say you will be careful (if you didn't uncheck the box last time) and in the Filter bar, type:

Quote:

middlemouse.contentLoadURL

Change this value to False and then type:

Quote:

middlemouse.copennewwindow

Make sure this set to True. That should solve this little annoyance.

Click to expand...

So now your Firefox under Linux looks and acts strikingly similar to Firefox in Windows. It has been a little while since I have installed a Linux distro so if I missed something or something doesn't work, let me know so I can fix/add whatever it is. Feel free to leave comments.