Hardware 2.0

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Firefox 3.6 users - What will you do when the plug is pulled on your browser?

By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes | January 5, 2012, 12:37pm PST

Summary: Four options available to current Firefox 3.6 users.

For the first time Mozilla has set an euthanization date for the aged Firefox 3.6 browser - April 24, 2012. If you’re a Firefox 3.6 users (and there are quite a few of you reading the hardware 2.0 column) how will you be browsing the web after this date has passed?

You have a number of options:

Stick with Firefox 3.6
Not recommended! No, really, this is a really dumb thing to do given how fast security vulnerabilities for browsers come along. Once Firefox is EOL (End Of Life) there will be no more security updates, and using an out-of-date browser is a bit like putting out the welcome mat to hackers.
Upgrade to the latest version for Firefox
Begs the question … why haven’t you upgraded to the latest release already? What’s changed to make his now a non-issue (or are you just have to suck up the problems and
Upgrade to the ESR version of Firefox
Like the latest release, but this version will be supported for 42 weeks and won’t be updated to the newer version every 6 weeks. This is a good option for business/enterprise users who don’t want the hassle of a new browser version every month and a half.
Move on to a different browser
There are plenty to choose from. However, a new browser means a new learning curve, and having to leave behind any plugins or addons that you rely on. If this is the option that appeals to you, what’s kept you on Firefox 3.6 for this long?

So, what will you do?

Poll

Firefox 3.6 users - What will you do when the plug is pulled on your browser?

Related:

Image credit: Jo Naylor

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Mozilla Firefox, Plug, Web Browser, Mozilla Corp., Web Browsers, Internet, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

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RE: Firefox 3.6 users - What will you do when the plug is pulled on your browser?

CAP198462 11th Jan

Upgraded to the latest version on my Linux box, also upgraded to Mint 12. Firefox is still the most secure browser out there.

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Nothing

toddybottom Updated - 5th Jan

I pulled the plug on Firefox a long time ago. I'm a very satisfied Chrome user although IE is pretty good too. I would rank Firefox a distant 3rd. Safari doesn't even make the list. If Apple didn't have Safari as the default (and only) browser on OS X, Safari wouldn't even have the tiny desktop marketshare it has today. I think the Europeans were onto something with their browser ballot screen. OS X users should get the same browser ballot screen on initial startup so they would be informed about alternatives.

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RE: Firefox 3.6 users - What will you do when the plug is pulled on your browser?

itguy10 Updated - 5th Jan

@toddybottom

Very satisfied Safari user here. It works well and sometimes better than Firefox. Firefox loves the memory and loves to take lots of it and not give it back.

On Windows I use Chrome, then Firefox. I avoid IE like a $2 hooker with an STD (which is pretty much what it is).
On OS X I use Safari then Firefox.
On Linux I use Firefox then Chrome.

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Funny

toddybottom Updated - 5th Jan

@itguy10
On Windows, I use Chrome, then IE. I used to use Firefox. I avoid Safari like a $1 hooker with AIDS.

Don't use OS X or Linux since they both suck like a $5,000 hooker (they suck all night long).

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RE: Firefox 3.6 users - What will you do when the plug is pulled on your browser?

Cylon Centurion 5th Jan

@itguy10

That's funny considering Safari is the least secured out of all the browsers available for Windows. Apple's attitude towards security has me avoiding their software like the plague it is.

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RE: Firefox 3.6 users - What will you do when the plug is pulled on your browser?

jgm@... 5th Jan

@itguy10 Tom's Hardware, which periodically puts browsers through a grueling competition, found that Safari does indeed perform poorly in many areas on Windows. HOWEVER... it gets the gold medal when pitted against Opera, Chrome and Firefox on OSX. SO... you're both right about Safari. Toddybottom is wrong about Linux and OS X, of course, but that hasn't changed. happy

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Battle of the hookers

klumper Updated - 6th Jan

@itguy10
I avoid IE like a $2 hooker with an STD.
@toddybottom
I avoid Safari like a $1 hooker with AIDS.

That's just so wrong lol.

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RE: Firefox 3.6 users - What will you do when the plug is pulled on your browser?

Loverock Davidson- 5th Jan

I'm on the latest release version of Firefox. If I encounter someone running version 3.6 I'll upgrade them to the latest.

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RE: Firefox 3.6 users - What will you do when the plug is pulled on your browser?

Cylon Centurion 5th Jan

I'd love to see what my old school is going to do. They were in love With Firefox 3.6 and Windows XP. They were still running that when I graduated last year, and had no plans to upgrade. I'm hoping that has changed now, because I do recall them starting to get backlash from staff and students alike.

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RE: Firefox 3.6 users - What will you do when the plug is pulled on your browser?

jgm@... 5th Jan

@Cylon Centurion I was a student worker at a community college during the early 90s. I compiled and installed the first browser to be used at the college... Lynx, a text browser running on our VAX mainframe. happy

That VAX actually served to net boot our DOS and Windows 3.1 machines, if you can imagine that.

Anyway, I began showing professors the Internet (such as it was) and soon many of them were running the browser from my account, embarrassing the full-time IT folks, who had nothing to do with it. By the end of 1994, when I left for a full-time job, the IT department had declared that their plan was to not allow students access to the Internet, only faculty!!! At that time only computer science students or staff were even allowed accounts on the server. I'm guessing that policy was eventually overturned. happy

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RE: Firefox 3.6 users - What will you do when the plug is pulled on your browser?

mheartwood Updated - 5th Jan

Virtually all of the equipment we use is configured through a web interface. One model of device, which we have about 100 of, has a bug in the web pages. FireFox 3.6 ignores that bug. FireFox 4 and later, Chrome, and IE8 do not. While the company which produces those devices did make an upgrade, that upgrade introduced new features and some far more severe bugs.

Lucky for us, the source code for those devices is available (they run on Linux). So it looks like it's up to us to recompile the firmware with simple corrections to 2 lines of code. Once we've done that, tested it, and upgraded those 100 or so devices, FireFox 3.6 is history as far as we're concerned.

We expect to be finished by the end of March.

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RE: Firefox 3.6 users - What will you do when the plug is pulled on your browser?

CobraA1 5th Jan

@mheartwood That long to recompile and test two lines of code, and upgrade 100 devices?

Lemme guess: You're using a 486 to compile, you're testing via a punch card machine, and you've hired a turtle to deploy.

You should have the compiling and testing knocked out in a day if it's only two lines of code. And you should be able to upgrade far more than one device a day.

It's a wonder anything gets done at all at some of these businesses. Three months to deploy two lines of code worth of changes. Seriously??

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RE: Firefox 3.6 users - What will you do when the plug is pulled on your browser?

jgm@... 5th Jan

@CobraA1 You're my new hero. happy

Someday I'll tell you a story about a billion-dollar company who had a department's network drive fill up. Six weeks later they "still didn't know what they were going to do about it." A temporarily solution was implemented to disable access to the drive for those who *didn't* use it much or at all. I repeated that plan three times, slowly, to the Director I reported to (6 figure salary), and after three tries he still failed to see the uselessness of that. It actually did help in some respects since the whole point was to share files among the department, so those who did place content there frequently found that the other half of the department could no longer check out the files/spreadsheets/beta software they put there, making it useless. A few weeks after that I quit while my boss was away, effective the next day. My former co-workers told me the IT department ended up taking away and re-imaging my machine because none of them could figure out how to undo the wallpaper change I made.

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RE: Firefox 3.6 users - What will you do when the plug is pulled on your browser?

CobraA1 5th Jan

"However, a new browser means a new learning curve"

Learning curve? With the recent trend to minimalism?

Today's browsers are basically forward, back, stop/reload, and an addresss bar. They're practically identical, other than a few minor things.

"and having to leave behind any plugins or addons that you rely on."

True. I haven't found complete Chrome replacements for everything yet. Where are the ones to automatically replace the blank favicons websites sometimes have?

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RE: Firefox 3.6 users - What will you do when the plug is pulled on your browser?

jonb@... 6th Jan

So far all but two or three people have either not answered the question, made statements not even relevant, or do not even use the product in question! Really, nobody f&^&ing cares about your elitist B.S. opinions on which o\s sucks. There are other mom's basements for that.
SERIOUSLY PEOPLE I would like to know what others will be doing after the EOL of 3.6 as I use it, and even though I am a lifetime Mozilla user, I refuse to downgrade to a crappy, more pretty than purpose, visual clone of other browsers, as the newest firefox is.
I have no room for all the flashy bubble gum pablum that the GUI has that cannot be gotten rid of. I love the simple, and very well established layout & familiarity of 3.6.
So my plan so far is to divest myself after almost twenty years of working with Mozilla, and jump hesitantly to Chrome. And not even a micro-moment of thought of letting IE having a byte of consideration.

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I'm giving up

akritchie 6th Jan

I'm giving up on Firefox 3.6, which I have so lovingly customized with a dozen or so plugins. Not only that, I'm giving up on browsing in its entirety. I shall henceforth return to that old standby, books, for my reading pleasure.

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I'm joining ya

klumper Updated - 6th Jan

@akritchie Not only that, I'm giving up on browsing in its entirety. I shall henceforth return to that old standby, books, for my reading pleasure.

Attaboy, it's about time. wink