firefox-2

Mozilla is going to implement ‘end of life’ (EOL) plan for Firefox 2, which is a part of its policy of ending the support of previous version of product six months after the new version is released. The policy is specifically framed to make the Mozilla developers focus more on the current browser version, Firefox 3, which is likely to be released in mid-May.

EOL plan for users means an end to security and stability updates for the existing version of Firefox plus an end to release of new features of old version. The support for Gecko 1.8 layout engine that underlies Firefox 2 and Thunderbird 2 email client will also be stopped. This is going to have high impact on third-party Gecko based browsers like SeaMonkey, Mac-only Camino and Unix/Linux browser Galeon.

Mozilla has confirmed its statement on the web page that is specially meant for older versions of its software. It is stated that “Firefox 2.0.0.x will contain security and stability updates till mid-December, 2008. All the users are encouraged that they upgrade to Firefox 3”.

Although, many organizations have found the new browser Firefox 3 unusable because of particular bugs, but the company is pressing on with the transition. According to some users, Firefox 3 can be more prone to crashing in comparison to its older browser or it might face problems with too much memory usage. The new location bar of the browser is also heavily criticized by users. Last month, a system administrator from the University of Bergen said that a virus related to the network drive usage means that organization can not install Firefox 3.

Firefox 2 is still fighting with significant number of bug fixes, it is receiving in new releases. Firefox 2.0.0.18 and Firefox 3.0.4 released by Mozilla had dozens of security flaws and half of them were critical. So, Mozilla is currently planning to release only one more update of Firefox 2, version 2.0.0.19.

Mozilla has assured of supporting Thunderbird 2 till 2 past December, regardless of the fact that it is based on the now-outmoded Gecko 1.8 engine. According to Michael Connor of Mozilla, “they will provide support for Thunderbird based on their official lifecycle policy”.

Whereas, director of Firefox Mike Beltzner states: “the support situation for third party browsers, which are based on Gecko 1.8 is indefinite”. He said that Mozilla developers will no longer focus on Gecko 1.8 and third party developers will be free to maintain the software and fix the bugs.

In his recent Mozilla mailing list post, Beltzer wrote “EOL not at all means that everybody should stop coding and doing reviews. It is because we do not have a team, which could do weekly triage on blockers and milestones releases”. He also disclosed in October that two-thirds of Firefox users are already using version 3. A record was set by Mozilla when more than eight million downloads of Firefox 3 were done in June.