While many commenters agreed with the broader desire to downplay version numbers, they disagreed with the change, since the version number remains useful when diagnosing problems, and users expect to see it in the about dialog. The reaction, however, was almost universally negative. The desire to get rid of the version number is coming from the top. This was no mere trolling or attempt to start a discussion: the request was made by Asa Dotzler, Firefox's Product lead, and he says he filed the bug at the suggestion of Firefox's usability lead, Alex Limi. There won't be a version number-just an indicator of whether the browser is up-to-date or not. Instead, the intent is to make the About box do two things show the product name and links to legal information, as it already does, and show how long ago Firefox checked that it was up-to-date, with some kind of provision to check right now. A feature request entered into Mozilla's bug system (feature requests aren't bugs in any traditional sense, but Mozilla uses one system for managing everything) calls for the removal of the version number from Firefox's "About" dialog. However, Mozilla wants to take this a step further.
Again, Chrome is the obvious example here if you look at the Chrome download page, for example, there's no indication of which version of Chrome you're going to get. Mozilla-as with Google-wants developers to cease targeting specific browser versions, and instead target standards the regular releases are one step towards achieving that goal.Īnother key part is downplaying version numbers. Even articles such as this one, which attach some significance to the new release, are probably not what Mozilla wants-press coverage should focus on features, not version numbers. Firefox updates should be automatic and essentially invisible. Bigger features will still arrive from time to time, but for the most part, users will just experience a continuous improvement. This smaller release-bug fixes, behind-the-scenes improvements, but little user-visible difference-is likely to be the norm for future Firefox versions.
More substantial improvements are in the pipeline for Firefox 7-most notably a JavaScript engine that uses much less memory-but nothing so substantial is evident in version 6. The domain name in the address bar is now highlighted, to make phishing more apparent-mimicing a similar feature already found in Internet Explorer-sites with "extended verification" certificates appear slightly differently in the address bar, and Mozilla is claiming that there's some speed improvement. Just as with Firefox 5, not a lot has visibly changed. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.The Mozilla organization has shipped Firefox 6, eight weeks after the release of Firefox 5.
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