Hardware 2.0

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Mozilla readies to pull support plug on Firefox 3.6

By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes | January 5, 2012, 8:14am PST

Summary: April 24, 2012. Mark it in your calendar, Firefox 3.6 users!

Mozilla has announced a date for the end of support for Firefox 3.6. April 24, 2012. Mark it in your calendar, Firefox 3.6 users!

Why is this date significant? Because after this date there will be no more new releases to fix security patches. The browser will get real old (and real dangerous to use) real fast. Using Firefox 3.6 beyond the end of life date is NOT RECOMMENDED.

Something else is happening on that day too … Firefox 10 will be released, and it will be Mozilla’s first Extended Support Release (ESR) release.

See how modern browsers stack up - The BIG browser benchmark! Chrome 16/15 vs Opera 11 vs IE9 vs Firefox 9/8 vs Safari 5

Since Firefox 4.0, Mozilla has been on an aggressive update schedule which sees a new version pushed out every six weeks. While this might be acceptable to home users, business and enterprise uses find this aggressive update cycle to be too much to handle. Back in September of last year Mozilla announced plans for a Extended Support Release cycle that would see a version of the browser supported for 42 weeks. Initially Firefox 8 or 9 was slated for ESR, but this slipped.

It seems that a lot of regular users are sticking with Firefox 3.6 too, for one reason or another. Currently Firefox 3.6 is at #6 in the browser version charts. Mozilla has tried nudging Firefox 3.6 users to the latest release already. Now it’s putting the squeeze on them. While there’s no doubt that the latest releases offer far better JavaScript performance than 3.6, it’s not been enough to convince the stalwarts that upgrading is worthwhile.

ESR support for Firefox 10 will mean that Mozilla will backport security bugs qualified as “Critical” and “High” to the ESR where feasible. However, Mozilla is at pains to point out that there may be exceptional cases where a backport cannot be applied with reasonable effort. Other security and stability backports to the ESR will be included at Mozilla’s discretion.

When an ESR version reaches end-of-life, no further point releases will be offered to users, and an update to the latest supported version of the ESR (or Desktop Firefox, if the ESR for that platform is discontinued) will be offered to users of the end-of-lifed version.

While this decision won’t please some, I think it’s the right decision to make. Mozilla can’t remain committed to Firefox 3.6 (and its users) indefinitely.

Will an ESR version of Firefox help to appease those who file the current update schedule too aggressive, or will users migrate to different browsers?

Related:

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily e-mail newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

More from “Hardware 2.0”

How many iPhones did Apple sell last quarter?

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

Topics

Mozilla Firefox, 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.

Full Bio
Disclosure
Contact

Vendor HotSpot

Here to help you with your Document Management Needs

Read the DocuMentor blog now

Learn More »

Talkback Most Recent of 26 Talkback(s)

Follow via:: RSS; Email Alert

RE: Mozilla readies to pull support plug on Firefox 3.6

Wait, Firefox 10 isn't coming until April? Or do you mean Firefox 11? I coulda swore Firefox 10 was already in the beta phase.
Cylon Centurion
5th Jan
- Reply to
- Flag
RE: Mozilla readies to pull support plug on Firefox 3.6

@Cylon Centurion That has me confused too. I just checked Mozilla's Features/Release Tracking page and it says Firefox 10 will be released January 31.
jgm@...
5th Jan
- Reply to
- Flag
RE: Mozilla readies to pull support plug on Firefox 3.6

@Cylon Centurion

Good spot (or will they have hit v12 by then?). All this serves to highlight how NO ONE will be able to keep up with this newfangled version update madness as time goes on. Wait till they hit v37.0.3x or v42.2.25 ... will anyone care, or even be aware of what they're running by then?
klumper
5th Jan
- Reply to
- Flag
RE: Mozilla readies to pull support plug on Firefox 3.6

@klumper The only madness is those who continually report or comment on the updates. The only thing one needs to care or aware about is if you're currently running the latest, most feature-rich, bug-free, secure version of Firefox. Linux users (depending on their distro) are already getting updates automatically, and Firefox 10-13 will be implementing all the pieces of silent updates for everyone else.
jgm@...
5th Jan
- Flag
If only it were that simple in the no-shoe-fits-all real world

@jgm@...
The only thing one needs to care or aware about is if you're currently running the latest, most feature-rich, bug-free, secure version of Firefox.

Meet Firefox 3.6x. and its user base. Need I say more?

Edit: Ah I see you're already familiar with it.
klumper
5th Jan
- Flag
RE: Mozilla readies to pull support plug on Firefox 3.6

How about instead of changing they way a product looks, we start focusing on fixing bugs and making stuff faster. I'm one of those that got tired of being told to upgrade to the shuffled new browser and just dropped firefox.
Net-Tech_z
5th Jan
- Reply to
- Flag
RE: Mozilla readies to pull support plug on Firefox 3.6

@Net-Tech_z
I'm getting ready to ditch Firefox. IE may not be "the best thing since sliced bread," but at least it doesn't crash.
TsarNikky
5th Jan
- Reply to
- Flag
RE: Mozilla readies to pull support plug on Firefox 3.6

@Net-Tech_z Sigh. Your empirical justification for your subjective opinions are...? Firefox 9 had over 1000 bug fixes and improvements, and as this same ZDNet columnist has documented, the speed difference between Firefox 3.6 and Firefox 9 is astounding... as is, the Javascript engine in Firefox 9 gives speed improvements of 30%-50% in real-world use.

SO... you most likely dropped Firefox because it's the cool thing now to drop Firefox. Other people might have valid reasons for dropping Firefox, but lack of timely bug fixes and speed improvements (you know, the whole reason for switching to the agile development process and release cycle) aren't valid ones.
jgm@...
5th Jan
- Reply to
- Flag
RE: Mozilla readies to pull support plug on Firefox 3.6

@jgm@... 1) Those using plug-ins are frustrated by plug-ins no longer working; 2) Crashes on whatever version happens to be installed are ticking off users; 3) With some users, firefox freezes and all must be shutdown. Regardless of your opinion, this process has not worked for many.
shanaza
5th Jan
- Flag
RE: Mozilla readies to pull support plug on Firefox 3.6

@shanaza To quote myself, "Other people might have valid reasons for dropping Firefox...". I was disputing that lack of bug fixes or speed improvements were valid ones and I stand by that.

But to address your points...
1) Only those using old, unmaintained plug-ins are frustrated. I don't recall the exact figures, but a few versions ago Mozilla was reporting something between 95-98% of the top 500 plugins were working. In addition, Firefox developed a plug-in that let you activate a plugin even if it was automatically disabled. You could then click to indicate whether the plugin worked or not, and this information would go back to Mozilla and let them update their info accordingly. All of the plugins hosted by them also have compatibility information automatically handled. Lastly, in the pipeline (Firefox 10, to be released January 31), all plugins should default to being compatible.
What more can people ask? It's like these corporate people who complain they're using some software that only works with XP or IE6. Instead of complaining to Microsoft, they need to complain to their vendor to update their product or find a new vendor, not expect the rest of the world to stay frozen in time. Users need to replace their antique, unmaintained plugins with ones that are actively developed and supported. They'll lose their plug-ins if they leave Firefox entirely anyway, so this would be the sanest approach.
2) Every piece of software crashes for someone, somewhere. There are no reports of Firefox being bug-ridden or crippled with bugs that go unfixed for years (*cough*Opera*cough*). The rapid release cycle should get bug fixes to people sooner. If there IS some glaring problem being unresolved, they should post the bug report # here and I'm sure one of the ZDNet columnists (especially Mr. Perlow or Mr. Bott) would love to write about a major bug that's been left open for months despite the new release cycle.

3) The options are to go to Opera, who keeps their bug database secret so after submitting a bug report you don't even know if it's been verified, is considered a bug, or if or when it will be fixed, Internet Explorer (only if they run Windows) which has better bug support but no rapid release cycle, "Patch Tuesdays", and certain versions of the browser will only run on certain versions of the Operating System (those running less than Windows 7 can't get the latest versions), or Chrome/Chromium, which also has a rapid release cycle, open source code and isn't necessarily any more stable than Firefox. In short, there's nowhere to go to get better technical support, and some options are worse from that perspective. Mr. Bott has also written a piece suggesting that Chrome has seen little significant improvements this year, but I vociferously disputed his methodology for arriving at that conclusion. I have no information that they fix bugs any sooner or later than Firefox.

What I see a lot of is people going to the page where you can ask Mozilla questions, posting something like "My browser crashed once... I HATE FIREFOX IT SKS CHROME RULES IM SWITCHIN TO CHROME". No specifics on their problem, no bug report filed, no attempt to get help from users... just venom that sounds like something from a klan rally. They just want to hate, the same way some people don't support sports team X, they just want an excuse to hate sports team Y. These types of posts are so far the only evidence anyone on ZDNet has shown me of significant problems with Firefox, and as such I take them with a Dead Sea-full of salt. Show me critical, unresolved bug reports that have remained open for months and I'll agree that Firefox has a serious problem. Firefox also lets users opt-in to having Firefox send usage data and CRASH reports back to Mozilla. Surely this information must be as open as the rest of Firefox... if this information showed a problem, or any Mozilla developer who has seen the data blogs that there is a problem or a rise in crash reports, that would also be good evidence. I don't see why the wouldn't, as when they did have an issue with the debut of their syncing function, they eventually wrote a blog piece suggesting they should be as open with explaining what happened as with the rest of the development process and proceeded to outline how the problem occurred, including all of the mistakes that were made on their end. Unlike my dealings with certain other browser makers, Mozilla seems remarkably open and transparent. I have a hard time believing there are serious problems with Firefox that are going ignored and unaddressed.
jgm@...
5th Jan
- Flag
RE: Mozilla readies to pull support plug on Firefox 3.6

"The ESR will not have the benefit of large scale testing by nightly and beta groups. As a result, the potential for the introduction of bugs which affect ESR users will be greater, and that risk needs to be understood and accepted by groups that deploy it. To help mitigate these risks, Mozilla will be asking organizations that deploy the ESR for assistance with testing alpha and/or beta builds of the ESR with their user base.
Over time, and ESR will be less secure than the regular release of Firefox, as new functionality will not be added at the same pace as Firefox, and only high-risk/impact security patches will be backported. It is important that organizations deploying this software understand and accept this. "

Are you kidding me?
edkollin
5th Jan
- Reply to
- Flag
Mozilla needs to build sandboxing into Windows and Mac OS X Firefox

@edkollin I really do hope that Mozilla plans to include sandboxing in the Firefox ESR edition as well as in the standard edition with the 6 week development cycle. It shouldn't be that difficult to tap into Windows integrity levels. This is essential if Mozilla wishes to match the security features provided with both IE and Chrome.

Apple will require Mac OS X sandboxing in Firefox offered via the Mac App Store. Otherwise, Firefox will get kicked out.

The Linux desktop, with its 1-2 % market share, can get by without a sandbox built-into Firefox (a la Chrome/Chromium) as the malware miscreants have no economic incentive to target such a small user base. However, Linux distros can choose to provide default LSM profiles/policies for Firefox (some already do) whereupon a user can simply enable (or modify, if necessary) the profiles/policies if he/she desires the added protection.
Rabid Howler Monkey
5th Jan
- Reply to
- Flag
RE: Mozilla readies to pull support plug on Firefox 3.6

@Rabid Howler Monkey
"I really do hope that Mozilla plans to include sandboxing in the Firefox ESR edition as well as in the standard edition with the 6 week development cycle."

I've looked at the Features page for future releases and seen nothing in development like that out to version 12.

" It shouldn't be that difficult to tap into Windows integrity levels. "

Firefox runs on more than Windows and I don't know if they want to include OS-specific features or features that would need to be implemented very differently on different OSes.

"This is essential if Mozilla wishes to match the security features provided with both IE and Chrome."

These type of security issues belong with the operating system, not the software IMHO.

"Apple will require Mac OS X sandboxing in Firefox offered via the Mac App Store. Otherwise, Firefox will get kicked out."

That won't be Mozilla's fault, and users can download it from their web page (until the seemingly inevitable day when MS and Apple opt to prevent installing software any other way than through their respective app stores). Existing users will continue to get automatic updates (which is coming shortly, I believe in the next release).

"However, Linux distros can choose to provide default LSM profiles/policies for Firefox (some already do) whereupon a user can simply enable (or modify, if necessary) the profiles/policies if he/she desires the added protection. "

Like I said, that's where this type of thing belongs, not implemented 100 different times by 100 different pieces of software (some better than others).
jgm@...
5th Jan
- Flag
RE: Mozilla readies to pull support plug on Firefox 3.6

@jgm@... No sandboxing for Windows and Mac OS X? Then Firefox will fall further into decline on Windows and Mac OS X in both the enterprise and consumer markets. And coincident with declining market share will be declining $ from Google (or Microsoft) in the future.

P.S. 1 Google just "did it" with the Chrome versions for Windows, Mac OS X and desktop Linux. They used OS-specific hooks for sandboxing in each case and opted not to use LSM for desktop Linux.

P.S. 2 It doesn't matter to me personally as I can deal with sandboxing Firefox myself on both the Windows and Linux platforms that I currently use it on.
Rabid Howler Monkey
5th Jan
- Flag
RE: Mozilla readies to pull support plug on Firefox 3.6

@edkollin No. That's what happens when people/companies refuse to upgrade to the latest versions of software. Sticking with old software out of an idea that it's safer is often an illusion... laziness and stinginess are often the real reasons behind the decision.

I remember when I developed software in the 1990s and one customer of the firm I worked for continued to use the Windows *3.1* version of our product and simply wouldn't buy an upgrade, even with many new features in the upgrade version, including a completely open/modular "plug-in" design that would let users update and add functionality on their own. It was a major drag on my time, as I had to maintain two different versions of the software, using two different versions of the development tools. As my development tools upgraded and added new features I couldn't add them to the Win 3.1 version so the codebase diverged. The modular style of the system let me have one main program and just minor different modules to produce custom versions for each client, cutting down on work and potential errors, but the Win3.1 was monolithic and a pain to update/fix. Finally I talked the CEO into just giving the client the new version because of the toll it was taking on development and essentially needing to do everything twice.

Mozilla should not be expected to divide its development team in half and do everything twice for a handful of users afraid of updates. That would cripple the main, "real" product's development pace. ESR users should be happy and thankful they're getting bug fixes at all, especially as they're not paying for this long-term support.
jgm@...
5th Jan
- Reply to
- Flag