Mozilla Countering Firefox Update Fatigue with Silent Updates, Add-on Compatibility

[btarunr]

Throughout 2011, Firefox users have seen their browser's major version number go up very 6 weeks or so, something that was unheard of, in the years before, when it could take years for a major version number increase. Mozilla was obviously inflating version numbers for better market placement with other browsers that have crossed version 9x (such as Chrome, MSIE, and Opera). With Firefox already at version 11, Mozilla wants to slow down with the version number game, which caused "update fatigue" among users. Apart from keeping track of their browser's version number, users that have important add-ons installed, stay away from updates because major version number changes break the add-ons.

Mozilla wants to counter update fatigue with a two pronged approach. Firstly, it will change the way browser version numbers affect add-on compatibility. With Firefox 11, any add-on that's compatible with Firefox 4+ will just run, without compatibility issues. Add-ons disabled by older versions of the browser will now resume working. Next up, Mozilla will introduce completely silent updates, which get downloaded in the background, and don't notify you about restarting the browser to apply updates. You'll never notice when your Firefox reaches version 9001.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Flanker]

 

[johnspack]

Meanwhile my 64bit firefox continues to climb....:

 

[RejZoR]

I hope silent updates will at least include notification like "Your Firefox has just updated to version X". So you'd know it has updated. Other than that, i don't mind it since i update it regularly anyway.

 

[eidairaman1]

id rather still be notified that there is a update/newer version instead of automatically downloading anything

 

[Depth]

id rather still be notified that there is a update/newer version instead of automatically downloading anything

You mean using the little "Check for updates" ticker instead of using "Automatically install" in the Update tab of the Advanced section in the Firefox options menu?

Yeah I really wish we had that because clearly we've looked for it several times.

 

[sclera]

Wow finally, welcome to 2007 Mozilla.

 

[RejZoR]

It was about time they fixed extensions. They jumped the Chrome version numbering bandwagon not taking into account their addons system which isn't like the one in Chrome.
Now i'm just waiting for them to make the damn 64bit version... I know there is Waterfox but no one really supports (specifically avast!'s additional features for browsers) it because it's not widely used.

 

[micropage7]

interesting
its been a while firefox like to chasing chrome with number and it goes pretty sick every couple weeks you hit newer version that still feel the same

 

[johnspack]

Check above, I am running the 64bit version..... nightly is it!

 

[faramir]

Meh, I'm still on 3.6.x.

They should revert their idiotic numbering scheme back and call the most recent version what it is - 4.11.0.

 

[ironwolf]

You'll never notice when your Firefox reaches version 9001.

...which will be out by the end of the year.

 

[Arctucas]

<SNIP> Next up, Mozilla will introduce completely silent updates, which get downloaded in the background, and don't notify you about restarting the browser to apply updates. You'll never notice when your Firefox reaches version 9001.

Sources: TheNextWeb Insider, Mozilla

With no option to opt-out of the 'automatic updates'?

 

[BUCK NASTY]

I know it's an exaggeration, but it seems that every time I open FF, there was an update being applied:shadedshu. I have since disabled auto-update since.

 

[Red_Machine]

With no option to opt-out of the 'automatic updates'?

Yes, there is. Open the options box, click on Advanced and go to the Updates tab. From there, you can specify how you'd like to receive your updates.

 

[Arctucas]

Yes, there is. Open the options box, click on Advanced and go to the Updates tab. From there, you can specify how you'd like to receive your updates.

I must have misunderstood; I thought that the article meant that any and all updates would be silently downloaded and installed, regardless of user preferences.

And, has that not always been an option?

 

[johnspack]

Or if you're weird like me and want the latest nightly build, whether it be 32bit or 64bit, both can be found at this ftp link at the bottom of the list: http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/

 

[bmaverick]

I'm already dizzy from all of these update notices. Just went to FF-10 last week. Already FF-11 pops up asking to be install. What-the-hay!