April 24th, 2007
End of the line for Firefox 1.5 support
[Updated: Mar 25, 2007 @ 2.25 am] Support for Firefox 1.5 has been extended until "mid-May."
Wanted to notify the community that Mozilla will only supply security and stability upgrades for Firefox 1.5 until mid-May of this year. We encourage all Firefox 1.5 users to visit http://getfirefox.com to download the latest version of Firefox today. We will provide updates as we get closer to the date.
We are focused on delivering a faster and more secure online experience. We want all of our users to benefit from the new features in Firefox 2.0.
I've also been asked by a few readers if I think that this is a good move on the part of Mozilla. Yes, I believe that it is. Encouraging users to move up to the latest version of browsers is key to security and allowing users to continue to use older browsers is sending out the wrong message. Personally, I'd like it if Mozilla (and other browser makers) time-bombed the browser so that users had to update after a specific period of time had elapsed. Using old browsers is very bad for security.
Six months after Firefox 2.0 was released, Mozilla is now ending support for Firefox 1.5.
Today (April 24th) is the final day of official support for Firefox 1.5, so if you haven't upgraded yet, it's time to do so. Figures indicate that Firefox 1.5.0.x users accounts for about 40% of the total Firefox user base, so there are plenty of people let to upgrade.
The shorter product lifespan comes as the Mozilla team has moved to a consumer-oriented model. This is good for home users but not so good for corporate users who tend to be slow (sometimes glacially so) in adopting updates. It also sucks for Linux users who make use of distros that don't, and won't, support Firefox 2.0. As for everyone else, there's no real reason not to make the switch.
[Updated: Apr 24, 2007 @ 2.25 pm] It seems that Mozilla has decided to extend support for Firefox 1.5. I guess not everyone is ready to make the move to Firefox 2.0.
Adrian is a technology journalist and author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology. He also runs a popular blog called The PC Doctor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations
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