Foxload Web & Apps

Mozilla has introduced a new release policy with the release of Firefox 4. New major releases should be deployed faster in the future and so Firefox 5 is already available a few weeks after the release of the new Firefox 4. But not only the end users have their problems, also companies complain about the arrogant policies of Mozilla. But even Mozilla wants to know anything, they still believe that a user finds it great when he "should" upgrade his browser every 6 weeks with a complete new version.

Previously, there were security updates that were automatically recorded by Mozilla and this were usually incremental, they were not particularly large, quickly installed and the browser has worked as well as before. A major release is a complete upgrade to a new major browser version with new functionality. Moreover, many add-ons doesn't work in new major versions, because the developers did not adjust these as fast as Mozilla screwed up the version numbers. Especially in the online banking sector, some add-ons and plugins has an extensive test run when the base of the browser changes.

The freaks say, it does not change so much in Firefox 5 and you have to adapt to the add-ons, but only the version number. But the end users does not care, because a bank won't release a new plugin without a large test run. The bottom line is that users are frustrated because new major releases are shipped as an automatic security update and after the update things are not working anymore. The result is then a drift to a competitor.

For companies, it looks even worse. Large corporations have to handle 500.000 installations and more. A change is not done from today to tomorrow. There are even companies that have invested much time and money to switch to the new/old Firefox 4. After 6 weeks Mozilla was presenting Firefox 5 and announced to discontinue support for Firefox 4. This is a hit in the face, because according to Asa Dotzler (Mozilla), companies have never been the target group.

Now you would think that Asa Dotzler will at least make the home user happy. But as it seems, they are also very acidic. If we are looking at a couple of comments, it's clear that Mozilla somehow digging itself a grave:

I've had with the 4.0 version already massive loss of speed, but the 5.0 version is worse, since IE is built on 10 times faster.

With the new Firefox 5.0 online banking is no longer possible. The website bw-Bank.de only works with 4.0.

Mozilla finally earns its money for the development from Google and Yahoo. The Google Toolbar for Firefox 5 has the same problems, such as Yahoo with the completion of its own Edition for the Firefox 5 release. The Firefox browser has been one of the best browser. We can only hope that Mozilla comes to its senses and responds to the needs of the users. If no more users are there, there is no need for new major releases, which must be published every 6 weeks.