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I'm not sure what the article means by "ahead of schedule". The release date was set months ago, and new versions are always released a few days early via the

I'm not sure what the article means by "ahead of schedule". The release date was set months ago, and new versions are always released a few days early via the Mozilla FTP servers. Firefox 5 isn't a huge release, and there won't be nearly as much fanfare as there was with 4. The point of Firefox 5 is to switch over to the "train" model. The train leaves four times a year, no matter what-- and if a feature doesn't make the train, it has to catch the next train. There is no waiting for a feature. Incrementing by one each release (rather than 4.1, etc) may seem like Mozilla is making a big deal out of nothing, for the sake of publicity. However, it just means that all releases are equal. There will never be a huge 3.6 => 4 style release ever again, and eventually people will lose track of what Firefox version they have (much like how people have lost track of Chrome versions). tl;dr: While it has a few cool new features, Firefox 5 is more to get Mozilla in the release-often groove.

ender7 15y ago
1. Are they moving to a seamless upgrade system like Chrome? 2. If not, will it be auto-update or opt-in update? 3. Are plugin writers going to have to update their plugins every time there's a new release?
- mbrubeck 15y ago
  1. Upgrades will be downloaded in the background and installed automatically by default. It's not yet as seamless as Chrome, though it's moving that direction. (For example, a while after the upgrade is downloaded, current versions of Firefox will prompt you to restart, with a dialog which is a bit more intrusive than the tiny "Christmas tree" toolbar icon that Chrome uses.) 2. Updates will be automatic by default. They'll be installed without prompting, unless users disable auto-updating. This is important because, just like Chrome, the updates will include security fixes. 3. Add-ons hosted on addons.mozilla.org will be automatically updated: http://blog.mozilla.com/addons/2011/04/19/add-on-compatibility-rapid-releases/ http://blog.mozilla.com/addons/2011/04/19/add-on-compatibili... Lots more details in the links at http://mozilla.github.com/process-releases/ http://mozilla.github.com/process-releases/ and https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease
azakai 15y ago
Small correction, releases are planned each 6 weeks, same as Chrome. Which is almost 9 releases a year. The reason this first release took longer, is it is the first one. But FF6 is planned for release 6 weeks after FF5 and so forth.

ender7 15y ago

1. Are they moving to a seamless upgrade system like Chrome? 2. If not, will it be auto-update or opt-in update? 3. Are plugin writers going to have to update their plugins every time there's a new release?

mbrubeck 15y ago
1. Upgrades will be downloaded in the background and installed automatically by default. It's not yet as seamless as Chrome, though it's moving that direction. (For example, a while after the upgrade is downloaded, current versions of Firefox will prompt you to restart, with a dialog which is a bit more intrusive than the tiny "Christmas tree" toolbar icon that Chrome uses.) 2. Updates will be automatic by default. They'll be installed without prompting, unless users disable auto-updating. This is important because, just like Chrome, the updates will include security fixes. 3. Add-ons hosted on addons.mozilla.org will be automatically updated: http://blog.mozilla.com/addons/2011/04/19/add-on-compatibility-rapid-releases/ http://blog.mozilla.com/addons/2011/04/19/add-on-compatibili... Lots more details in the links at http://mozilla.github.com/process-releases/ http://mozilla.github.com/process-releases/ and https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease

azakai 15y ago

Small correction, releases are planned each 6 weeks, same as Chrome. Which is almost 9 releases a year. The reason this first release took longer, is it is the first one. But FF6 is planned for release 6 weeks after FF5 and so forth.