Mozilla advances with enterprise Firefox

Browser developer Mozilla has announced that plans for an enterprise-friendly Firefox browser with a slower update cycle, has moved from just a proposal to a "plan of action".

In a blog post Tuesday, Mozilla official Jay Sullivan wrote that its Extended Support Release (ESR) version of Firefox, which is ideal for enterprises, public institutions, universities and other organizations that centrally manage their Firefox deployments, is moving ahead in the development process after the idea was mooted last September.

He noted that releases of the ESR will occur once a year, compared with the current rapid-release cycle of just six weeks. This will allow organizations to have a version of Firefox that receives security updates, but does not require changes to the Web or Firefox Add-ons platform, Sullivan added.

"We have worked with many organizations to ensure that the ESR balances their need for the latest security updates with the desire to have a lighter application certification burden," he said.

He also stated that implementation specifics will be posted within a week to the mozilla.dev.planning news group as well as the Enterprise User Working Group (EWG) mailing list, and those interested in the ESR development process can participate in discussions and monthly conference calls, the official pointed out.

Analysts ZDNet Asia spoke to last August had slammed Mozilla's rapid-release cycle, saying it was "insane" and unreasonable to expect organizations with large deployments of the browser to keep up with its constant updates.