Can't open new Firefox window if only Downloads window is showing

[Kent deVillafranca]

Binary package hint: unity

If only the "Downloads" window of Firefox is showing, then clicking the Firefox icon in the Unity launcher does nothing, and there is no easy way to bring up a new window. This is because clicking Unity's Firefox icon makes it focus on the existing Firefox window instead of creating a new browser window.

The end result is that you are unable to browse the web until your download completes (or you open a terminal and launch Firefox from there, but that's hardly user friendly).

To reproduce:
-Click the Firefox icon in the Unity launcher to start Firefox
-Find a nice, large file to download
-While the file is downloading, get bored of browsing the web and close the browser window
-Think of a site to visit, click the Firefox icon in the launcher, and watch as nothing happens

This is on Ubuntu Natty, alpha 3.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: unity 3.6.4-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-6.34-generic 2.6.38-rc7
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-6-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,gnomecompat,move,place,mousepoll,resize,vpswitch,session,put,compiztoolbox,wall,staticswitcher,imgpng,snap,regex,resizeinfo,animation,expo,workarounds,fade,scale,unityshell]
Date: Tue Mar 15 23:13:45 2011
ExecutablePath: /usr/lib/unity/unity-panel-service
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Alpha amd64 (20110302)
ProcEnviron:
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 LANGUAGE=en_US:en
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
SourcePackage: unity
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Robert Roth (evfool)]

You should always be able to use middle click to launch a new instance of an app pinned to the launcher. Does that work for you?

[Kent deVillafranca (kdevilla)]

My laptop doesn't have any way to middle-click, so it's a bit hard to test.

Maybe some sort of "launch new instance" (but with better phrasing) option in the app's right-click menu would be a good addition to the Unity launcher.

[manny (estelar57)]

yes, should definitely be added to the right click menu and/or CTRL+leftclick (like tabs in browsers).

middle click is not an option on most laptops.