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35a32c5
(Get the code!)
I am using Ubuntu ("Lucid Lynx"): fully up-to-date. The web browser is Ubuntu's version of Firefox 12. I have been investigating this today, with a new Firefox user profile.
For me, I DO get the warning if I invoke the 'Close Window' operation - even if there is only 1 window open. But I do NOT get the warning if I do File > Quit or Ctrl-Q.
Therefore, one solution to this bug is to rename the relevant setting from ...
"Warn me when closing multiple tabs"
... to ...
"Warn me when carrying out the 'Close Window' operation (i.e. alt-f4 OR ctrl-shift-w OR alt-f + d OR clicking the X in the top right/left corner OR clicking File > Close Window) or when carrying out the 'Close Other Tabs' operation - if doing so would result in the closure of multiple tabs".
However, there probably isn't enough space on the screen for a sentence like that. And if this solution was implemented, I would immediately raise a feature request for an additional "Warn me before Firefox quits" setting. I much prefer for there to be a single setting, as there is now, and for this bug to be fixed 'properly'.
Until then, there IS a workaround involving the Tab Mix Plus (TMP) extension. However, it is no longer just a case of following the instructions in Comment #142. TMP has an options window, with its own "Warn me when closing multiple tabs" setting, but it seems that TMP suffers from the same bug as Firefox: there is no warning when you do File > Quit or Ctrl-Q.
The workaround involves one of TMP's other options: Session > Start/Exit > When Browser Exits > Ask Before Saving. This TMP setting DOES work even with File > Quit or Ctrl-Q. You get a little pop-up with 3 options "Save Session", "Don't Save" and "Cancel". Click "Cancel" and you'll be back where you were before, the adrenaline from realizing you'd accidentally hit Ctrl-Q instead of Ctrl-W quickly subsiding!
Now, you might think this workaround is risky. But it seems that TMP has another bug. If you accidentally click "Don't Save", or press 'd' (the corresponding keyboard shortcut), it saves the session anyway!
N.B. All the above refers to TMP version 0.4.0.1
If you don't like the TMP workaround, you can mitigate the effects of the bug by training yourself to be very careful near the "Quit" option in the File menu, and, (assuming you've got large hands) to use Ctrl-F4 instead of Ctrl-W to close tabs.
One other thing to mention about Comment #142 (which is currently mentioned in this bug's summary). It refers people to Comment #99 which talks about these 2 preferences:
browser.
browser.
AFAICT, the 2nd one is wrong. It should just say "browser.